oVertone Espresso: Review + Goldwell Elumen (soon)

 I tried Elumen for the first time this week on my roots. I chose a color that was too light from the NN (full gray coverage) range. I was underwhelmed, but due to my color choice, I'm going to give it another go before posting a full review. Since I have switched the location of my part to the other side of my head, I have so few visible grays that I feel like I can experiment for a while.

I tried NN@7. I'm new to this. After watching videos of the other NN shades, I'm convinced they skew too warm. I'm going to try AN@5 and report back. Keep in mind, most of my hair is henna-ed, so I really need something the color of greenish-greyish-blue dirt to neutralize it.

In the interim, here's a review of oVertone in Espresso that I posted elsewhere and felt I might as well keep here as a placeholder:

For those unfamiliar with direct dyes, they essentially coat the surface of the hair/ deposit color near the surface. The more porous the hair is, the more dye is deposited, but that isn't to say direct dyes won't work on healthy or low-porosity hair. I have done a two-step henna/indigo process on my new growth for several years since I started to get gray hairs at my roots along where I part my hair (manual manipulation and heat styling means I have a row of grays in one distinct place on my head). Henna isn't a direct dye, but the dying properties (lawsone) in henna have an affinity for keratin in the hair, so henna coats the hair shaft. Indigo is a natural direct dye, and it works over henna. Orange red (henna) + blue (indigo) = brown, give or take. Henna has the benefit of making hair appear shinier and feel healthier, but the downside is it takes 4 hours, a lot rinsing, and a follow up indigo consisting of 30 minutes and more rinsing. I bought this to try and cheat between henna/indigo treatments. For those who are warm toned and don't mind dark brown hair with strong red undertones, this is a great choice. It offers full gray coverage. I have a very pale olive complexion, and my hair is naturally very dark ash brown (eyebrows are almost jet black), so this just made my hair look like some of the darkest henna stains I have had (different henna from different parts of the world stain differently, but there are no henna "colors"). I was looking for a more neutral brown, and from what I have read online, Overtone tends to skew warm, so this was a miss. Positives include short processing time, full gray coverage, and minimal to zero damage (although direct dyes are not supposed to damage hair, I have found a few of the salon brand direct dyes to be very drying). Your mileage may vary!

Henna & Gray Hair & Semi-Permanent Dyes

I'm back! We'll see. With my gray hairs becoming much more abundant (probably genes + my history of chemically straightening my hair), I have to henna much more often. I only henna my roots, but my henna-ed orange highlights are much more visible.

So, I've taken to using semi-permanent dye over my henna as opposed to indigo. Semi-permanent dye does not (in theory) damage hair; it coats hair strands i.e. wraps around the henna. While henna has an affinity for keratin and permanently remains on the hair, semi-permanent hair color eventually washes out (in theory). I embarked on this test blindly; I could not find any instances of anyone else trying this. For that reason alone, I share this with you :)

Here are my reasons for using semi-permanent dye as opposed to indigo:

- Indigo smells bad
- I hate inhaling the powder
- It is a bitch to rinse out
- It has no benefit to hair
- It costs just as much as most of the semi-permanent dyes I have tried
- There is no interaction with BAQ henna

This is an introduction to a series of posts on semi-permanent dyes I have used over henna. I will be grading based on:

- Final color
- Conditioning/damage
- Cost
- Ease of use
- Staining everything else
- Scent
- How long the effect lasts

Here is a list of products (including color boosting conditioners) that I have tried:

- Lime Crime Unicorn Hair (shades: Sea Witch, Gargoyle, Blue Smoke)
- Punky Colour (Black)
- Clairol Colorista (Midnight Blue)
- Sephora (Tenacious Teal)
- Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel (Dark Chestnut)
- DPHue Gloss+ Deep Conditioner (shades: Black, Dark Brown)
- Cristophe Robin Shade Variation Mask (shades: Ash Brown, Baby Blonde)

I have also used a handful of anti-brass conditioners, but those aren't very useful, so I won't be reviewing them. I also won't be reviewing the last two products listed, as they are masks and not intended to do too much for color. The rest of the products listed are described as providing medium to full coverage color for a certain amount of time.

You may ask why I chose the colors I chose (other than black). Most temporary black dyes have blue undertones. We all know that red + blue = purple. If you look at the color wheel, you will find that green is directly across from red:



Likewise, you will find orange directly across from aqua. So rather than adding blue to the orange/red henna, I like to add a very dark teal. My hair is naturally a very dark ash brown (my eyebrows are black - so dark black that I can't use most eyebrow products, as they all show up warm and brown on me). My goal is getting my hair closest to its natural color. Adding bright teal may mute the reddish orange henna, but it doesn't darken it much.

Okay, so without further ado, on to the reviews!