Thursday 7 June 2012

The John Frieda Precision Foam Colour challenge: to dye my hair whilst the babies napped

What with my newborn, Kiki and a 2.5yr old crazy toddler, aka The Crazy Kid, finding time to get my hair colored at the hairdresser just isn't possible at the moment. In fact, it had been over 7 months since I had last been to the hair dresser. I have been finding more and more greys in my hair, which drive me mental. I am not sure whether other people can see them but to me they stand out like neon lights and I am way to young to go grey! I used to pluck all of my grey hairs; however, I am rapidly losing the battle and if I don't stop this habit I will soon end up bald! That meant that I was in the market for a great quality dye that would cover the greys that I could easily do myself at home. The John Frieda Precision Foam proved to be such saviour! I had about 2 hours in the afternoon where both of the kids' naps overlapped so my challenge was whether I could dye my hair in that time!

Before shot - hair is pretty dull

The instructions were very simple to follow and preparation was minimal. They dye had to be applied to dry hair so I washed it as usual in the morning but did not apply conditioner. To prepare the dye all I had to do was add the colourant in bottle 1 to the developer in bottle 2, which also served to be the foaming bottle. When the 2 chemicals were added, the solution had to be inverted 5 times to mix then I was ready to go.

What's in the kit

The mixed foam

I applied the dye to my roots first as covering greys was a priority for me. I would squirt a handful of foam then section my hair and work it into the roots. Once the roots seemed covered I applied handful after handful of dye until my hair was saturated and I literally couldn't apply any more. I have shoulder length hair and I could not get through the whole bottle. There was probably still another 20mls or so left so one box would be plenty even for long hair.

I applied as much foam as my hair could hold!

Once the foam was in I had to leave it for 25 minutes. In that time Kiki woke up, of course, so I had to go in and feed her. Even with all the bending and walking around the house I did not spill one drip of foam anywhere, not even on the baby (I think I would have gotten in trouble if Kiki ended up with a big dye stain across her face!). I also usually make a terrible mess in the bathroom when I dye my hair but not this time!

After the time was up I had to rinse my hair until the water ran clear then apply the condition supplied for 5 minutes and then rinse again. This entire process took me approximately 45 minutes.

I have naturally dark brown hair and the colour I trialled was 4BG - dark chocolate brown. The colour was perfect for me. Very close to my natural colour just warmer and shinier. I was super happy with the colour and if I want to stick with a natural colour this will be the perfect shade for me (though next time I might try one of the red shades for a different winter look). Once my hair was dry the first thing I did was to search through my roots to find a grey hair. I couldn't. They were completely covered. Having dark hair means that greys really stand out in contrast but there wasn't one in sight.

The afternoon after dyeing my hair it was very fluffy however I think this must have been because I hadn't completely rinsed all the product out. When I washed it the next day it dried as normal into my defined curls. So the dye left it in great condition - really shiny and healthy looking with complete coverage of greys.

Shiny new hair. You can't tell from this pic but
I can assure you there are no greys!

So, was I successful in my challenge to dye my own hair whilst the babies slept? Nearly...when I got out of the shower after rinsing the conditioner out I found out both kids were screaming the house down. I think Kiki woke up wanting her milky friends and she then woke Crazy, who thought Kiki was getting extra mummy time without him so he wanted in on the action. It took me about 15 minutes to calm them both down, then we were all friends again, although I was disappointed that neither of them commented how pretty mummy's new hair looked!

I will definitely buy this dye again. In fact I have already bought 5R - medium red brown - to try out next!. It was so easy to do at home that I was (just about!) able to complete it whilst my kids napped. There is no way I could get my hair dyed at the hairdresser in even a quarter that time so it is perfect for my needs!! Highly recommended for anyone who wants high quality hair colour but doesn't have the time or funds to go to the hairdresser.

Have you tried the John Frieda Precision Foam Colour. What colour did you go for and what did you think of it? What is your go to home hair colour?

Just a reminder that I am giving away two haircare packs, worth over $60 each, that contain the entire Tousle Me Softly range. Click here to enter.



All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. These products were provided to me by Beauty Heaven as part of their trial team.