Dessange California Blonde Review

Last year, I traded in my raven locks for my natural dark ash blonde and it's been a challenge ever since. In order to go back to natural, we had to strip and bleach my hair, leaving it damaged. My hair also has some kind of identity crisis going on because it just wants to be red. Like...A lot. With the damage, my hair also protested the change by refusing to hold any other color to tone it or even it out. It's been a battle to say the least. So, when I was notified I was going to get to try the Dessange California Blonde line via Influenster, I was thrilled. Could this be the answer to my hair prayers?

My current routine has involved using an organic, sulfate free shampoo and Redken Extreme conditioner, followed by weekly deposit only toning of my hair to keep from looking like a penny. It's a never ending, time sucking, expensive battle to look natural. I've tried the purple shampoos and ash intensifying add ins and they all ultimately just made my hair darker for a week.

My first use of the shampoo and conditioner here was decent enough. Then, I noticed an increasing amount of broken hair in the bathtub. I have fine hair as it is, I can't lose it! My ends were feeling really dry and it was snagging and knotting a lot. It looked shiny and healthy, but it felt like straw. So, I checked out the ingredients. Silicones, silicones and oh hey! SILICONES. It was even in the shampoo.

If you know anything about hair, it's like wood. It's porous. It needs oils to stay strong and healthy and glowing. Once either has been exposed to the environment, chemicals, or say, LIFE, they wear down. With wood, you sand it down all the old clear junk on the surface and oil it down or you maintain the woods natural oil. If you coat it in some clear coat, the oil can't penetrate it and keep it healthy and whole. The good stuff just wipes right off and the wood beneath just goes dull. The same can be said about hair. If you coat it in silicones, you seal it. Nothing gets in or out really. That's fine now and then. But, doing it all the time starves your hair, preventing it from absorbing the nutrients it needs to stay strong. So, it breaks.

No wonder it looked shiny and felt unhealthy. It was just covered in silicone. I didn't find anything spectacular about the shampoo or conditioner. I felt they missed a great opportunity here in not addressing the things bleached blondes need. (And that's precisely who these products are aimed at) They really should have added some truly nourishing ingredients in these and at least backed off the silicone and sulfates. I'm not an all organic, natural kind of gal. Those that are, more power to you. I get that there's some great man made things out there that I can benefit from. But, there's also a bigger, longer term picture to think about. Although they were decent for the short term, I couldn't even consider a long term relationship with these. It wasn't going to happen with my fine, damaged and dry hair.

BUT...
The color corrector is AMAZING. If you ever want to balance out or tone a color, take a look at a color wheel:

To tone one color out or down, just add it's opposite on a color wheel. For the most part, this is most effective in the basic colors (red, yellow, blue) Most blonde color correctors on the market are green or purple. That's fine if you need to tone out really red or yellow tones, but what if the tone you need to address is a secondary color? The most common "brassy" tone is blondes is orange. What's the opposite of orange, class? BLUE! Right! So, why aren't they available for the savvy, home colorist? How has this missed the mark for so long? You can even go to your local beauty supply and you'll have a heck of a time finding this. But, Dessange did it and they made it available at TARGET. Yes. You read it Target.

Now that we're over the science and analogy portions for the day, here's my experience with the Dessange Color Corrector.

It came in a easy to use, messless tube. There was no cap to come off where I'd have to try and messily pick it up with slippery blue fingers. It was just a small click. It was a fairly thick consistency that I applied to wet, shampooed hair and let sit for a bit while I soaked in the tub. After about 7 minutes, I rinsed and conditioned my hair and for the first time, the orange was at bay.

I didn't have any issues with staining, but I would recommend a good rinse when you're done. I loved, LOVED that I could readily get this, apply it in the shower and not have to go through the full coloring process.

If you're a cool blonde, natural or otherwise, I really recommend this stuff to keep your color looking fresh and natural.

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However, the opinions above are solely my own based on my experience with them.
Tags: #JadoreDessange @DessangeParis and @Influenster