I've always had black and dense hair right from my birth. My mom still tells me that I was born with a thick cloud of black hair on my head. Till date, I have long, wavy, dense and slightly curly hair. My hair color lies somewhere between black and dark brown. I am saying that coz they look black in normal light and deep brown in sunlight. In past I've colored my hair only once, that too a couple of years back and the experience was pretty good. However, the color I chose hardly made any difference to my natural hair color and none of my colleagues could figure out any difference. So, this time when I decided to color my hair, I chose for medium brown shade for mere two reasons -
Price: INR 519/-
How to perform Strand Test? 
Below are the pics of before and after look of my hair (medium brown shade):
1) I wanted my hair color to visibly change so that people can notice the difference.
2) I wanted to play safe with my hair color!
With the latest launch of Wella Kolestint hair color, I was given this choice to try the product and below goes the review:
About Wella Kolestint hair color:
- Rich, radiant color that lasts
- Perfect grey coverage
Below are some pics of how the kit looks like and what all comes in it:
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| From left to right - Pre coloration treatment cream, After-color conditioner, Cream color, Creme developer, and gloves in the small plastic pouch |
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| Instruction manual |
Some instructions and warnings:
My experience with the product:
I had to carefully read all the instructions given in the manual as the procedure was quite different from the one that came with the hair color I used years back. There are 5 components included in the packet and I didn't want to create any mess so had to follow each step religiously.
Below are the steps:
How I colored my hair:
Step 1: Applying Pre coloration treatment cream
When I took this cream out of the pouch, the first thing that hit me was its pleasant smell. It had very strong and addictive smell, and the cream is also of silky texture. It glided on well on my hair. I followed the process by first applying it evenly on the tips of my hair and built it back to the roots. It did make my hair look a bit oily. My hair consumed the whole pouch. This cream has to be kept on hair for 1-2 minutes before you start with the coloring.
Step 2: Mixing of components of color creme tube and cream developer bottle
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| Color creme tube |
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| Creme developer liquid |
Since I have long hair, I chose to go with the first option of mixing, i.e. to squeeze out the whole tube into the bottle well, take the cover out of its nozzle and shake the bottle vigorously to mix the product and create a thick paste. I had to of course wear gloves provided by the kit to do the same.
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| Ready for the operation - Hair color |
After mixing the product well, I squeezed it out into a plastic container and applied it all over my hair (avoiding roots of course). Earlier I thought that the product was too much for my long hair, but after creating the batter and once I started applying it on my hair, I fell short of the quantity to some extent. However, I covered the hair completely on the outer parts and on the tips. I kept the color on my hair for around 1 hour (instead of regular recommended 40 minutes) and then washed it off with warm water.
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| After mixing both |
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| After 10-15 minutes |
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| The plight of gloves |
I could smell strongly of Ammonia from the color initially while applying it on my hair, but the smell went off after sometime. The color of the mix also became dark with time. I didn't face any allergic reaction on my hair or scalp. While applying the color, I got some stains on my neck and around my ears, but I immediately washed them off and had to rub these areas vigorously to reduce the stains. I'd recommend you to apply a nice petroleum jelly or oil around these areas so that you can get rid of the stains more easily.
Step 3: Rinsing the color off and applying the after-color conditioner
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| After color treatment conditioner |
Rinse the color off thoroughly with water, and once all the color is off your hair, apply the “After-color” intense shine treatment to your hair. It is a conditioner that claims to work on hydrating your hair and sealing the color within, thereby giving shine and healthy look to your hair. Shampooing is not recommended. I liked the texture of this conditioner. I applied it just like any other conditioner on my hair, kept it for 2-3 minutes and then washed it off. It gave a nice silky touch to my hair.
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| Before Hair color |
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After hair color |
Below are some pros and cons of this color:
Pros:
1) I like the fact that the kit provides a complete set of hair coloring needs, right from the pre hair colorant cream to the gloves and then after-color conditioner.
2) It didn't give me any allergic reactions, nor did it make my hair fall.
3) The color didn't make my hair rough after wash. I felt my hair to be normal on touch after I rinsed the color off. The after color treatment conditioner worked well in making my hair silky and smooth after wash.
4) Since, I followed the whole procedure exactly as is listed in their instruction manual, my jet black hair showed the medium brown color well. So, it definitely works well in coloring the hair well.
5) Comes with a nice set of gloves, color absorber and color conditioner to get the best results.
Cons:
1) I found the process too time taking and has to be strategically followed. Also, it just gave a touch of brown to my black here, so might not be very appropriate for dark haired beauties who want to get super light brown or blonde hair using this.
2) The list of warnings and kind of allergies it can give, made me quite scared at first. I could try this color without testing of the allergic reactions on me because I'd already used ammonia based color before and hence I could go ahead with this. But, for first time color users, I recommend you to perform the allergy test first before trying the product full fledged.
3) I still need to check the staying power of this color. It is permanent color but usually hair colors tend to fade away with subsequent washes. I still have to figure out, how long does it stay on my hair. I'll update it accordingly here as soon as I figure it out in next couple of weeks.
4) A bit pricey.
Overall verdict: I liked this hair color a lot, first because of the nice fragrance of almost all products that came in the kit. The smell of ammonia in the coloring mixture also went off after some time, and gave somewhat tolerable smell for me to bear for another 1 hour, which was pretty good as compared to what I experienced from my previous hair-color. It can be good for people who want grey coverage. For people like me who have jet black hair, I don't think it can work very well in giving you the change of hair color to lighter shade.However, this is a complete hair coloring kit in itself. All you need is a plastic bowl and a color applicator brush, and you can simply work on with them yourself to get your hair colored.
Rating: 4/5
Some tips:
1) If you have very long hair, you might need two of these packs as one won't be able to cover your entire hair.
2) Always apply some petroleum jelly on your ears, forehead neck areas near to your hair. This will help you easily remove the stains if you get any while applying the color.
Some tips:
1) If you have very long hair, you might need two of these packs as one won't be able to cover your entire hair.
2) Always apply some petroleum jelly on your ears, forehead neck areas near to your hair. This will help you easily remove the stains if you get any while applying the color.
Have you tried Wella Kolestint Hair color? Share your experience with me in your comments.
Note: PR Sample
Note: PR Sample