A FEW weeks ago, I decided to go from bottle blonde to dark red hair. I’ve got a two-year-old son, and going to the salon every six weeks for bleach was just too much of an investment both on the wallet, and on the clock. I just didn’t want to spend that long away from him every few weeks to just sit in a salon, especially when I can’t seem to find a salon that does wine or g&ts on the house anymore! On a complete tangent, does anyone else remember the wonderful days where going to the salon for an expensive hair treatment was treated like a luxury? When I’ve rung around salons recently they have all acted like I’m doing them a favour by offering them hundreds of pounds, and asked for a 50% deposit up front in case I’m a no show. After about ten years and several thousand pounds spent in expensive salons, I really feel that the service has gone downhill. I was even admonished once for ringing up and enquiring about any on-the-same-day bookings… (looking at you Blue Tit in Peckham). Anyone would think that salons don’t want big spending customers anymore! Back on topic – I dyed my hair dark red using a combination of Garnier Nutirisse and Olio, finally settling on Garnier Nutrisse 3.6 deep reddish brown as my colour of choice. However, after a couple of washes using a brown tinted shampoo, the bleach underneath my hair was coming through again, and leaving the ends of my locks looking pale and unloved. To counter this and avoid having to dye my hair every single week, I looked to try a couple of different tinted shampoo and conditioners, including Infuse My Colour and Joico. 
Upon advice, as well as the ruby variant from Infuse My Colour, I also tried out the copper tone which I’ve been absolutely overjoyed by, and really fell in love with. The copper tone really added a new dimension to my hair tone (see main pic) and is definitely the one that I would buy again. Ruby is good, but I feel that the copper tone is the one that really makes a difference to the depth of colour of my hair. If you have bleached hair then you can use these colours together to create a wonderful rose gold effect. I’m kinda kicking myself for not trying this out before going for the full dark effect. Infuse My Colour is perfect for those looking for a clean formula too as it’s…
- 100% Vegan Formula
- 0% Sulphates
- 0% Silicones
- 0% Parabens
After using Joico shampoo and conditioner
A few notes of worth – I’ve never used these shampoos in the bath for fear of staining, so I whack them on in the shower, leave them on for a few minutes and then rinse. I think they are having a tough time of it over the bleached hair, but they are doing a sterling job of keeping the tone nice and bright. Also, use a decent conditioner after to keep hair in tip top shape, and I use an oil on damp hair afterwards too to ensure it feels silky smooth. I love Super Oil 3 from Envy which literally makes my hair feel soft as satin when I’ve used it. It contains a unique blend of yangu oil, Japanese camellia oil, avocado oil and vitamin E. It’s literally a miracle worker. I’ve also been trying out the red-toned shampoo and conditioner from Joico, which I also rate highly. This lathers up more which helps when you’re in a rush and means you don’t need as much to cover thick hair like mine. It also has a conditioner in the range which means you can double up on the red effect. 
Joico shampoo and conditioner
In the pic, above, you can see that I have a lovely tone on the top half of my hair, which fades a little at the roots as you reach the bleached section of my locks. This is after using Joico, and you can see that it covers the blonde and adds a red tone. My hair has a tendency to show green if it’s not toned properly, and this is definitely reversing that effect. My new routine is to dye my hair every few weeks, and keep maintaining the colour using Infuse My Colour, and Joico. The one that I would re-invest in would be the copper shade from Infuse My Colour though. That has secured a place in my heart! Buy Infuse My Colour for £13.95 here, and Joico for £12.40 here.