After the let down that was the Loncolor HempStyle hair color, I decided to try another one, this one from Garnier. I read that the Olia range is gentler on the hair because it contains all kinds of plant oils and because it’s ammonia-free, so I opted for the color 3.16 Deep Violet. This is my second box. And no, my hair doesn’t look like on the box, but I still got a second box and I will tell you why.

Packaging:

I have the “big kit” variant of this color because it’s the only one I could find available and only in the Notino online shop. That was probably a bad idea because I feel like they’re not selling it anymore on the Romanian market. This means that the oxidant and the color tubes are larger than usual. Either way, the box contains the same products like any other boxed hair color: an oxidant (60 grams bottle), hair color (60 grams tube), a conditioner (54 ml tube) and a pair of disposable gloves.

Texture:

The mixture is quite thick and it does have a scent to it, even if it’s not the typical stingy ammonia scent. It does linger on the hair after I color it, but after the second wash it does go away.

Ingredients:

1233050 B – COLOURANT CREAM: PARAFFINUM LIQUIDUM / MINERAL OIL ● AQUA / WATER ● ETHANOLAMINE ● DECYL GLUCOSIDE ● SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE ● PEG-40 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL ● 4-AMINO-2-HYDROXYTOLUENE ● m-AMINOPHENOL ● ASCORBIC ACID ● TOCOPHEROL ● HYDROXYPROPYL GUAR ● SODIUM METABISULFITE ● THIOGLYCERIN ● TOLUENE-2,5-DIAMINE ● HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL / SUNFLOWER SEED OIL ● 2-METHYL-5-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOPHENOL ● CAMELLIA OLEIFERA SEED OIL ● DISODIUM COCOAMPHODIACETATE ● EDTA ● PARFUM / FRAGRANCE (F.I.L. Z291331/1)
1190229 – DEVELOPER CREAM: AQUA / WATER ● PARAFFINUM LIQUIDUM / MINERAL OIL ● HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ● CETEARYL ALCOHOL ● SODIUM CETEARYL SULFATE ● SODIUM SALICYLATE ● SODIUM SULFATE ● PEG-40 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL ● PHOSPHORIC ACID ● TETRASODIUM ETIDRONATE ● TETRASODIUM PYROPHOSPHATE (F.I.L. C199905/1)
1119728 B – SILICONE-FREE AFTER COLOUR CARE: AQUA / WATER ● CETEARYL ALCOHOL ● BEHENTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE ● CETYL ESTERS ● CAMELLIA OLEIFERA SEED OIL ● HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL / SUNFLOWER SEED OIL ● COCOS NUCIFERA OIL / COCONUT OIL ● DILAURYL THIODIPROPIONATE ● POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE ● ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL ● TOCOPHEROL ● BENZOIC ACID ● PARFUM / FRAGRANCE (F.I.L. Z282167/1)

The claim is that this hair color contains 60% natural oils, which sounds kind of too good to be true, as the only plant oils in here are tea-oil camellia seed oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil. However, a big plus is that the formula is ammonia-free and also silicone-free.

Price and accessibility:

Garnier Olia hair color is available in several beauty stores, pharmacies and online shops, but the problem seems to be with this color because I was able to find it only at Notino. The instructions are also not written in Romanian so I have to look them up online, which makes me think that they don’t sell it here anymore for some reason. It’s sold for around 6 euros, which I think is a very good price and I got it on sale recently for around 5 euros, so it was a good deal.

My overall opinion:

First of all, let me say that I didn’t get that beautiful violet color on my dark brown hair as much as I wanted. It works best on blonde to light brown hair they say, so it seems mine is just too dark. So I have a dark brown color that has some beautiful violet reflections in the sunlight or under direct artificial light.

I don’t mind that the color isn’t perfect because it’s partly my own fault since I thought that it could work on dark hair without doing some bleaching first. I like it because it’s a cool-toned color, which I like. Most hair color turns reddish on me when it fades away, but this particular violet colors turns to brown for some reason and its blends better with my natural hair color.

The second reason why I like it is because it makes the hair look beautiful. It’s shiny and it’s not damaged and I haven’t noticed and increased hair fall-out (this happens to me sometimes). All the care that I normally do is use a little bit of conditioner on the ends (I use the one that comes in the box and it lasts for quite some time) and a hair mask on weekly basis.

The “big kit” was enough to color my entire hair (which is know up to my shoulders and I call it medium length but some say it’s still short hair – whatever). The second box that I got I plan to use it for two colorations. I used half of the products to do my roots and I will use the rest in about a month. Honestly, the color still looked good after about a month, but I had to do the roots because of the grey hairs that I have and that bother me.

Considering all this, I have tried to color my hair with henna, but it was too time consuming and expensive on long term, so I opted for a permanent hair color because I don’t want to do it more often than once a month and I chose something that doesn’t seem to be so bad on the hair. Also, even if I have oily hair, I know that I need to use hair care products to help prevent damage, something that I would advice anyone that uses hair color (permanent or not).

Also, the price/quality ratio is very good on this hair color, so I would recommend it for someone who wants to do it at home. I would color my hair at the salon, but the prices are too high for me, especially since I would have to go every month to do the roots.