L’Oréal Colorsonic overview: shades of grey

When I used to be a child, my mother and auntie would retreat into the lavatory, arms wrapped in latex gloves, newspaper masking the counters and flooring as they combined collectively a darkish, foul-smelling paste in a plastic bowl. For hours, they’d alternately gossip and brush the paste into one another’s hair. When the month-to-month ritual was performed, their grey hairs had been fully vanquished. I, a judgmental know-it-all, would scrunch my nostril and say this all appeared like an excessive amount of effort. 

They informed me to attend till I began graying.

Two many years later, I preserve that I used to be appropriate. Thanks to an ill-fated pandemic experiment with purple hair, I do know at-home hair dyeing is a righteous ache within the butt. I vowed to by no means do it once more. Then, at my final haircut, my stylist tried to upsell me on a dye job as a result of, “You’re too younger to be this grey.” At that second, I noticed my mother and auntie in that previous lavatory, pointing their fingers at me, cackling. 

Thus started my two-month experiment with L’Oréal’s Colorsonic.

I first got here throughout the $124.99 L’Oréal Colorsonic at CES 2022. It’s a high-tech hair wand with bristles that spit out goo so you may rapidly dye your hair. The backside half has an empty chamber the place you insert a refillable hair dye cartridge. The prime half has a nozzle with bristles that oscillate greater than 300 instances a minute to evenly apply shade. You press a button, brush this factor by way of your hair, and voila! You’re performed. There are some further techy options thrown in — as an illustration, the cartridges have chips so the system can inform you how a lot dye is left. The pitch is to make dyeing your complete head, root touch-ups, and masking grays simpler, faster, and extra inexpensive than a visit to the salon. And on this planet of magnificence tech devices, there isn’t actually the rest like this.

Me, and my multiplying grays, wished to consider. Let’s be frank: dyeing your hair isn’t one thing many individuals do on a whim. The Colorsonic’s viewers is primarily girls, lots of whom, on at the very least a unconscious degree, view a wonderful head of hair as a supply of cultural energy. Changing your hair shade is a approach to fully alter your picture. But it’s not simple. It’s a deep dedication by way of time, effort, upkeep, and cash. Something just like the Colorsonic is alluring exactly as a result of it’s saying that energy might be yours for much less work, cash, and time. And hair dyeing can also be a dicey proposition. Unlike at-home straightening or curling, you’re making use of harsh chemical compounds to your head. If performed improper, it may well destroy your hair. There’s a cause so many individuals select to spend a number of hundred {dollars} to see knowledgeable, even when field dye prices $10 at CVS. 

So it’s an excellent factor L’Oreal’s put some guardrails on the Colorsonic. It’s not a one-stop dye machine. This system is just designed to deal with the coloring a part of the method. The cartridges are everlasting hair shade formulation, which suggests they do have a lightening agent. However, they’re not as highly effective as straight-up bleach. If you wish to bleach your hair, you’ll have to purchase a package or see a professional. L’Oréal’s additionally sticking to pure colours for this primary shade vary. For a darkish brunette like me, meaning until I bleach my hair first, I’ve to stay with colours which might be near my pure shade. This isn’t a instrument for advanced dye jobs. That, in flip, minimizes the harm the common individual can do.

With all this in thoughts, I used to be equal components nervous and excited to unbox the Colorsonic. To my shock, all the pieces is thoughtfully packaged and designed. You’re meant to retailer the system within the authentic field insert, and it comes with reusable gloves and an enormous waterproof, tearproof instruction sheet full with QR codes to video tutorials. The directions are simple, and the precise technique of dyeing your hair is shockingly simple. Anyone can insert a cartridge right into a chamber, press a button, and brush their hair. The first time I attempted it, your complete utility course of took 10–quarter-hour.

That’s wild. I’ve a full head of hair. In my misguided purple hair period, dyeing half my head usually took 45 minutes. Brushing the Colorsonic by way of your hair can also be a neater course of than sectioning your hair, clipping it, after which painstakingly making use of dye in skinny layers. The latter not solely takes time but in addition left me and my all-white lavatory trying like I’d simply murdered Barney the Dinosaur. I wouldn’t name the Colorsonic fully mess-free. You inevitably get some dye on your self and the sink. But cleanup — together with rinsing the Colorsonic with its cleansing cartridge — took 5 minutes.

While ready for the dye to set, I believed it needed to be too good to be true. A half hour later, after rinsing and drying my hair, I used to be proper. My hair was a richer brownish-black, however my grays hadn’t gone wherever.

Apparently, grays might be dye-resistant. To conquer the cussed buggers, a number of Reddit boards recommended leaving within the dye longer. Fine. I figured I’d experiment and see if doing that round my temples would make a distinction. After my first utility, I nonetheless had a couple of third of the cartridge left. But by the point I completed the entire warm-up course of, my first cartridge was empty. I needed to order one other one on-line for $30.

My third try has thus far been probably the most profitable. To the purpose the place I’m pretty sure my first cartridge was a little bit of a dud. Not solely did the dye come out thicker however the utility was even smoother. I let the dye set for 45 minutes. I felt assured going into the rinsing course of that my grays can be vanquished.

About 70 % of them have been.

I appeared possibly a yr or two youthful! Coworkers and mates complimented me! A very good chunk of the grays at my temples — those that trouble me probably the most — have been both gone or blended in higher. But my purpose had been to fully nuke my grays. After one other, barely much less profitable fourth try, I can nonetheless discover fairly a number of every time I put my hair up. I’ve been informed by my partner, colleagues, household, and mates that this can be a drawback between me and my vainness.

That’s the factor about hair tech. Whether it’s L’Oréal’s Colorsonic or certainly one of Dyson’s curlers, it nonetheless requires a level of ability, luck, and know-how to get the very best outcomes. I may simply have biblically cussed grays. I’m satisfied my first cartridge was a bit wonky. It’s doable my utility abilities aren’t fairly as much as snuff but. It might be that this explicit hair dye formulation for the Colorsonic isn’t optimized for full grey protection. Maybe, my mother and auntie tag-teamed their grays the best way they did as a result of it was a fastidiously refined course of found by way of a number of trial and error. Perhaps I used to be naive hoping the primary iteration of a gadget would make all the pieces simple and excellent.

My time with the Colorsonic has been a lesson in what tradeoffs I’m prepared to simply accept. I’ve used $60 price of cartridges and a $125 gadget to get middling outcomes. At $185, that’s a lot costlier than if I’d simply purchased two containers of dye however extra inexpensive than the charges at my salon in New York City. (I used to be as soon as quoted $600. Respectfully, no.) It’s additionally a lot much less time-consuming than field dye or the salon. So far, my hair stays undamaged. Sure, I want that the cartridges gave me extra bang for my buck, however I’m a lot happier not spending an hour scrubbing stains out of my lavatory counters and tub. 

Whether the Colorsonic is price it boils right down to what you worth: the very best outcomes, value, or comfort. Pick two. My mother and auntie picked outcomes and value, therefore their laborious dedication to field dye. For outcomes and comfort, a salon goes to get you probably the most foolproof expertise. Personally, I’ve realized I’m a cost-and-convenience gal. I’m pleased with a middle-of-the-road worth and good-enough outcomes. Especially if it means getting plenty of time again. That makes the Colorsonic an excellent match for my wants. It’s simply not an ideal one.