This post was developed in partnership with Clairol Nice ‘n Easy, as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.
Size: 1 application
Price: ~ $7.99
Features: 3 Salon Tones in 1 Step | 45 Shades | Natural Looking | CC Color Seal Included
More Information: Clairol Website
For a little while now I’ve been wanting to change my hair but I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. I knew that I needed to cut off a few inches, of nothing but dead ends, but other than that I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I had been waffling between going to a deep brown for fall, going a bright pink shade, or FINALLY making the move towards red hair. Being in Cosmetology School my first reaction was to go with something out there, like the pink hair color, but I may be taking a few business or computer classes after completing my Cosmetology program so I was straying away from that for a more professional option. I finally decided that I wanted to stay close to my natural color but gradually take it to that red shade. Clairol’s stylists came up with the shade Clairol Nice ‘n Easy shade 4BG/113 from the Born Red line which is a Natural Dark Burgundy. Before I tell you how it turned out and if it’s what I wanted let’s discuss my hair history.
When I was younger I use to color my hair all the time, always using at home hair color and sometimes using Clairol Nice ‘n Easy. The joke use to be that when asked what my hair color was no one remembers the natural color because it had been so long since they had seen it. When I met and started dating the Hubs I colored it a few more times, however, I started going longer between shade changes before just stopping all together. While I hated my light brown hair with natural blonde highlights and it’s red undertone, he absolutely loved it…go figure. I let the new growth grow out, the uncolored hair, to the point that it was long enough to go in and just cut off the previously colored hair. The length that you see in the photos is the grow out from that cut. That’s right that is all completely natural hair.
In advance of coloring my hair I did have my Cosmetology instructor cut some inches off of my hair and put in some long layers, we filmed this and I may put it up on my channel in the future. Before we talk about the Clairol Nice ‘n Easy At Home Hair Color I do want to mention that instead of doing this at home I did take it to school with me and I did it there. Mixing the product, applying the product, and even doing the allergy (predisposition) and strand test were easy enough that I could have done them at home. However, I took it to school so that A. I could share in the learning about this product with my classmates and B. I’m a firm believer that if you have friends that enjoy coloring their hair you should always color your hair together…why do it alone when you can have a blast doing it with friends, and have a blast we did! Initially I was just going to apply the Clairol Nice ‘n Easy at home but once I opened the product and realized that Clairol has done a bit of an overhaul to their Nice ‘n Easy formula I just knew I had to share it with my classmates, especially when I saw that 3 Salon Tones right there on the front!
After we marveled about the chosen shade, and guessed about how this was going to turn out, we decided to get started with the process. The first thing that we did was protect my clothing (you can do this at home by just wearing old clothes if you wish but at school we have to be in uniform so a drape and garbage bag it was), then we sectioned off my hair as I knew I wanted to keep the front fringe piece blonde but also because it’s just easier to color hair if you do it in sections (this is also great to do when coloring your hair at home just make sure to use the plastic and not metal clips!), from there one of my friends gloved up to protect herself and we got started. As you can see from this photo she is sectioning my hair horizontally to bring some of it down out of the top clip and then she is sub-sectioning the horizontal down part into smaller chunks to apply product to. We started at the root applied product down the length and then massaged it in. When she got to the end of a horizontal section she brought the whole section together, kind of like she was going to make a ponytail, and massaged down the length of the section getting the product throughout the entire section. We would then pull down another horizontal section and repeat the process.
Once we finished applying product to my whole head we put a plastic cap on and I waited for the processing time. While we wait on processing let’s cover a few things. This right here is why doing the predisposition and strand tests are so important. You should do the allergy test before applying any hair coloring because people can actually be allergic to the aniline derivatives found in hair color. The strand test is important because this tells you how long you need to leave the color on for. According to the instructions you want to start at leaving the Clairol Nice ‘n Easy on for 25 minutes, however, you may need to leave it on for up to 45 minutes. I have very stubborn hair that doesn’t normally like to take color so I kept it on for the full 45 before rinsing and applying the, FREAKING AMAZING, CC Color Seal Cream that comes with the product. If you’ve ever used at home hair colors then you probably know about the little foil packets or bottles that come in them that you put on your hair and leave on for two minutes before rinsing out. Clairol Nice ‘n Easy puts their CC cream in a bottle because not only will you be applying it after rinsing out the color, you’ll also be using it once a week to keep the color fresh. Anywho, after my hair processed and we rinsed out the color we applied the CC Cream and worked it through the hair for two minutes before rinsing. As we were working it through you could just feel how soft and healthy and my hair was getting and OMG it smells soooooo good…Speaking of smell I do want to mention the scent of the Clairol Nice ‘n Easy, it had a fruity scent to it but you could also smell the chemical scent of the hair color beneath it. This was a little off putting at first but we got use to it.
After rinsing the CC Cream from my hair and drying it this is what we were left with. As you can see it’s a very pretty burgundy shade that depending on the lighting and what I’m wearing either looks a bit purple or a bit read. I am absolutely in love with the shade and the contrast of the blonde in the front with it, the Hubs idea by the way, but I’m most in love with the fact that even outside with the sun shining on it looks as natural as burgundy hair can look! I’m so glad that I decided to shake things up and move towards the red family, instead of just going with the darker brown. I went in not expecting much of anything from the Clairol Nice ‘n Easy At Home Hair Color, in all honesty I totally expected to have to fix it afterwards, and was so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hair color. From working with salon level hair products in class I can honestly say that the Clairol Nice ‘n Easy ranks right up there in salon quality. Oh and most importantly, even with my hair cut and layers put in my hair still falls below my shoulder and we only used one full bottle and a small amount of a second bottle. Seriously we only used the second bottle because A. we had already mixed it up and B. we wanted to make sure that since my hair is so stubborn that we thoroughly saturated it. We actually used the rest of the bottle on some mannequins. Actually I lied…the most important thing is that I’m actually writing this post one week after having colored my hair. Yep I’ve kept it a secret that long! I wanted to really test it out and make sure that it was as great a week later as it was that first day, if you’ve colored your hair you’ve probably had that at least once where a shade looks great when you first see it on and then after the first shampoo it fades and you no longer like it….I’m actually two shampoo’s in at this point and my color still looks as good did that first day, pictured above. My experience with Clairol Nice ‘n Easy, and the confidence that starting with this shade gave me, around November I’m thinking about picking up another box of Clairol Nice ‘n Easy in a lighter red shade! If I do this and you’d like for me to cover that as well, leave me a comment below.
Before I end this post I do want to mention that I-C is hosting a giveaway in which you have the opportunity to win 1 of 5 Ticketmaster gift cards (each valued at $500!). This giveaway opened on August 21, 2016 and will end on October 7, 2016. I-C will randomly select winners from all program entries and will handle fulfillment of the winning prizes (5 winners).
Nice ‘n Easy #ColorConfidently Giveaway
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I’ve always wished I could buy that CC cream all by itself because it makes my hair so soft and healthy looking. Your hair looks awesome. I haven’t colored my hair at home in years since it has highlights, lowlights and my hair stylist uses foils.
It would be amazing if they sold the CC cream by itself, I’d use it even if I didn’t color my hair again! We’re actually learning to do highlights, lowlights, and foils this semester in Cosmetology school, I’m loving it!
Nice N Easy is such great stuff! I’ve used it for years, and it always gives me excellent color.
It really is great! I love the color it gave me this go round.
I absolutely love that color that you picked out! When I do die my hair it’s usually close to this color. It looks beautiful on you.
Thank you so much! I love the color as well. When I saw it going on my hair I was a bit afraid because it was PURPLE but after rinsing it turned out amazing!
I love your hair color. The hair is so shiny and smooth and radiant in the sun! I love Clairol, because their products are effective and easy to use.
Thank you! I love how my hair looks in general but it looks absolutely amazing in the sun as that’s when the tonal effects that the Nice ‘n Easy has really show!
LOVE your new fall color!! I used to be a huge Nice n Easy fan until I started getting my hair lady to color my hair for me. She just does a better job at getting all the grays…LOL!!
Thanks! Hey no shame in getting help if you need it. We learned in school my first semester that gray hair is super resistant and depending on how resistant the hair is normally it can actually be super difficult getting it all!
The red looks good on you. I need to color mine. It is boring now with all the pertruding greys.
Thanks! Grey’s aren’t boring, they show that you’ve led an interesting life 😉 If you were to color your hair though what color would you choose?
I haven’t used Clairol in years but it does seem like they have greatly improved their formula. I love how you hair came out (cut and color wise.)
Thanks! Yes the formula for Clairol Nice ‘n Easy is a lot different than what I remember as a teenager. I absolutely love it now!
You look GREAT with red hair. I tried it once and it made my skin look too washed out. Great to know that there are fun and safe ways to change your look at home thanks to Clairol.
Thanks! My instructor was super skeptical when I told her that I was going to be coloring my hair with a box dye. She was so surprised at how it came out and how healthy my hair looked afterwards.
I really love this color in your hair. This color looks great on you for sure. Clairol Nice and Easy I have used before. I have also loved the results of using this hair coloring and love that I can do it at home. Thanks for sharing your experience and the giveaway.
Thanks so much!
I gues Clairol is one know brands and trusted by many. The new color of your is so cool 🙂
Thanks! Yes Clairol has a great reputation!
Awesome choice of color! I love the result, it looks really good with the blonde, indeed. I’ve always liked Clairol, they’re a great brand.
They really are!
Girl, your hair came out great! I love how it just has a red shine when the sun hits it! The Clairol really worked for you.
Thanks so much!
This is a really cool product. I have never really been into dying my hair but have been thinking about it. I may have to try this out, I love that color!
That color looks gorgeous on you! Love that you did it in a fun layered way, too!
That color looks great on you! I have been toying around with coloring my hair as well! Last time I did it myself, the color ended up all over the place (cabinet doors, countertop). This time I will be a lot more careful!
Wow! Your hair came out really nice! Clairol is a brand me, my mom and my sisters use and we are very satisfied with it. Colors are long lasting and it does not dry out our hair!
Your hair looks really great. I’d like to try Clairol on my hair, It’s time for me to have a touch up and I’ve been debating on doing it myself or going to my beautician.
I love that color on you! I used to use Clairol when I was in high school, now I go to a salon because i need the escape and break from the craziness at home
It looks SO good!!!
I’ve been a big consumer and supporter of Clairol for quite some time now, I really love how great their products are for my hair! Thank you for sharing your own experiences, I absolutely adore your new hair! 🙂
I really need to dye my hair again. My burgundy fades pretty quick so I will try Nice N Easy this time.
You can always try a temporary color or glaze before trying something permanent to see if you like it!
Thanks so much! Yeah I had to take off some of the weight and layered let me keep some length but lose the weight.
If you’re worried about making a mess you can always mix the product in a plastic bowl and apply with an applicator brush instead of using the bottle!
Thanks so much! I was actually afraid of a box hair color drying out my hair when I first tried this and I was pleasantly surprised at how healthy my hair turned out!
Thanks! If you think you can get the job done by yourself then for sure try as it’ll save you some money. If not, there’s no shame in going to a professional 😉
Thanks! That is completely understandable lol
Doesn’t it though!!!
Thanks so much! When I decide to change my hair again I think I’ll be sticking with the Clairol brand.
Reds do tend to fade faster just because the nature of them. You really have to baby them with fewer shampoos and when you do shampoo using a color extending shampoo and conditioner. They can be a pain lol