Garnier Olia Review

I purchased this whilst off work on maternity leave. As a hairdresser home colouring is a no no but I was desperate!

I've used a couple of box dyes as I believe it's good to try out & see what your clients are using at home. This one looked good as it's ammonia free & the magazine reviews sounded good! Choosing the fiery red, I headed home to get glam. I followed the instructions, only doing a retouch.

It was hard to apply, although no itchy scalp like some other brands.

Result was poor though, the colour was dull compared to my untouched & faded ends! It didn't cover 100% & I'm naturally very light & take colour easily. My hair felt rough, tangled easily & the colour faded within a few washes.

I also found I had to do treatments more often to get condition back (actually had a review product at the time which was excellent timing!)

Oh dear! It's not often that I find something that I really don't like - as I'm a happy-go-lucky sort; but Garnier Olia was a real disappointment!

I found it to be thin and watery as opposed to oily as the name suggests. I didn't feel that this provided good coverage at all on my hair, with it somehow managing to slip past whole sections I'd applied it to, for no good reason :/

The colour was also a little weak for my liking and the images and chart on the box and for any area that it did cover, it did not cover the greys well, instead coating them and becoming brighter - which to be honest I did think was cool, but that's me. I'm sure someone who's not into crazy hair and fashion, may not be so pleased.

The colour promised on the box was a beautiful vibrant red that I fell in love with. What actually developed was a very subtle colour that promptly faded out with 3 weeks. I was super keen to try it when I saw it at the supermarket, and it seemed like a good buy but the marketing was the best part sadly. The condition of my hair after use was dry and mildly damaged but the conditioner that comes with it seemed to help a little bit.

Ok, so I am naturally blonde but have had blue-black hair for around 9 years now and I colour my hair (touch up my roots) every three or so weeks. I like to try out new box colours from time to time and decided to try this because of the "no ammonia" statement.

Safe to say it didnt take to my hair at all! my roots were still exactly as light as they were before i had put the colour through. Quite disappointed, as i love Garnier colours from using other products.

I went through a phase where I desperately wanted to dye my hair purple. I bleached my hair, and looked online for a purple hair dye from a brand that I new and trusted, because other brands had turned my bleached hair green. I was very happy with the process of using it, super easy and manageable. BUT, and it is a bit but, the colour lasted on my hair for one week before turning copper (you can see in my profile picture) . Luckily it was only the ends of my hair, so I left it. But not impressed at all! What happened to all the purple dye?? DO NOT BUY!

I have been Box dying my hair for years, so i thought i would try Olia. I coloured my hair with dark chocolate i think it was, after hearing about this from a friend. I was very unhappy. It left my hair VERY dry and straw like. It also faded within a week. Usually if i colour my hair red, i expect it to fade, but not a brown! even though it states no amonia, it still had a strong smell which wasnt floral or pleasant. After 2 weeks i ended up using another box dye, so get the colour and softness back.

I decided it was time for a change and went out to get the box of the OLIA red dye... WHAT A MISTAKE!!!! As I sat waiting for it to develop I was hopeful that I was going to have fiery red hair the next day - BOY WAS I WRONG! What I ended up with was blotchy dark red and brown patchy mess! I burst into tears, knowing that it would have to stay that way as it was too risky to dye over it straight away. It stayed that way for over a week until a hairdresser relative of mine took pity and helped me get rid of it!

I was so pleased to be picked to trial Garnier Olia, as I really wanted to find a hair colour that didn't contain ammonia etc. I chose Intense Red, as I liked the shade it promised to be, and I thought, why not do something radical rather than safe..

I was very disappointed in the product unfortunately, and I really didn't want to have to write that... But I'll start with the positives. I thought the information on the website and it's interactive tools were fantastic. The packaging of the product is very eye catching and modern and sophisticated. The pack contains very good information and is user-friendly.

Inside the pack is everything you need to colour your hair and they also are packaged in unique, trendy packaging. If I could make a suggestion I would ask for a second pair of gloves - 1 to apply the colour, and another pair for when you rinse the colour out, I'll explain why soon.

The product is easy to use, it has a very slight scent, which is good, as it's not overpowering, and is much more pleasant than other products that can overwhelm with the smell of chemicals. I got some of the product on my skin (round my hairline and my ears) and it was easy to remove with a little shampoo on a tissue. The design of the application bottle makes it easy to hold in your hand as you apply.

But that is where my positives stop.. The colour developed well in my hair, I waited the suggested 30 mins and followed all the instructions to the letter, I ensured I had distributed the colour evenly and massaged it through at the end. I don't have many grey hairs, but do have some at my temples and a few at my part, so I made sure I coloured those well. I have coloured my hair previously, so I wasn't expecting the shade to change remarkably. Well... you couldn't tell I had coloured it at all... very disappointing. The product claims 100% grey coverage, this was not true.. they were still there. Apart from a bit of colour on top there was none at all anywhere else. In rinsing the product the colour just kept washing out, it never slowed down, there was colour everywhere in the shower and unfortunately all over my towel as well. Other products I have used I have rinsed with warm water until the water runs clear... this is all I did, but it never ran clear, there was just SO much colour..

My hands were dyed, my fingernails a mess... so I wasn't happy.

My supermarket retails the product at $16.99, which I personally wouldn't normally pay for hair colour anyway, but I certainly wouldn't pay it for this one, and I am unlikely to purchase it again.

I read all of the instructions and this time even did the skin patch test. Thank goodness I did as within a minute I felt tingling by my ear and after a few hours I had an angry red patch of skin. Needless to say I didn't use the product as I did not want to have a greater reaction to it. Although this product says no ammonia obviously some other ingredient disagrees with me. I was really disappointed as I thought this product may be the answer to I between salon visits.