L’Oreal Couleur Experte Haircolor Review

I’ll admit, I overblond-ed my hair myself for years, and it seemed each time I colored my hair was bright white-yellow on the bottom and my natural dark blonde at my roots. Very Britney Spears; not very sexy. I decided to do the big change myself by tossing on a deeper base and some nice highlights with L’Oreal Couleur Experte Haircolor in #9.2, “Light Beige Blonde Creme Brulee”. Was two colors at once an undertaking? Certainly – but if you never try, you’ll never know!

I had some initial concerns, as the color on the box looks VERY warm and almost red in the undertones, yet it notes that it is a “Cooler” shade. I was also worried that applying hair color and highlights one right after another might dry my hair too much, but the box said to do it so I did it! I am nothing if not obedient.

The base color was a nice creamy formula, and my bleachy hair sucked up the color like it was dying of thirst. I was a bit dubious because during the 25-minute waiting process, parts of the color sitting on my hair looked dark red, while others appeared to have that signature bluish green tinge that often comes with ashy haircolor. 

It surprised me that the haircolor instructed me to condition with my regular conditioner; though it was nice to not have another L’Oreal product hawked at me, I thought, “Will this be enough moisture for my tortured hair?” Though I had visible roots, the base color came out cool, uniform and natural-looking. It was so nice in fact that I considered leaving it that way…but I gotta test the whole product for you guys, so that means highlights too!

I dried and styled as instructed and, liking the base color more and more, I became increasingly nervous about adding highlights. Still, the box hadn’t lied about the cooler shade, so I wanted to work some golden tones in there if possible. The highlights went on fabulously with the nifty little tongs-style applicator the box came with. (It comes with the typical mascara wand type applicator too, if you’re wanting less defined streaks of highlights.)

I was then instructed to wait another 15 minutes and condition with the conditioner they’d hidden in the highlighting compartment – ah-HA! I knew they couldn’t put out a haircolor without some special conditioner. I got done, dried it all and discovered natural, pretty highlights that weren’t hugely different from the base color – but of course, that makes it easier for the average DIY colorist to get it looking cute.

The verdict: 10/10! Overall, I really liked the result. The kit was easy to use, and the color came out nice, professional and natural. I’ll definitely be using this again, but I might pick a different shade just to change it up.

L’Oreal Couleur Experte Easy 2-in-1 Color + Highlights is available at Amazon.com for $14.99.