Revlon Colorsilk- Don't Let the Price Fool You

Revlon Colorsilk is one of the cheapest permanent hair colors you can buy in the drugstore, supermarket, or mass-market retail store, but don't let the price deter you from trying this brand because this is one of those cases where the price is not indicative of the quality. I have been coloring my hair since I was 18, which gives me (*cough) 20 years of experience with boxed dyes. I think I have had salon color maybe twice in that time and did not see much difference in the result.


I had tried just about all of the brands that have been on the market- both permanent and demi-permanent (the kind that lasts "28 shampoos), but for the last couple of years I have stuck with the Colorsilk as it has out-performed all the $8-12 box dyes, and it costs less than $4 at my local Walmart and drugstore. Sometimes I can even find a 2-pack for $5.





Currently I color my hair a very dark brown to blend with my natural color and cover up the ridiculous and inordinate amount of old lady white hair (my mother has less gray and white than I do). I happen to like black, but the blue undertone does not work with my coloring even if I am going for a grown-up Goth look. I use #30, Dark Brown most months when I am just doing the roots. I leave it on for 30 minutes to make sure those white buggers are covered. Every few months I need to refresh the ends, so I use #20, Brown-Black, on those months, and I just leave it on the ends for maybe 10 minutes. 





I took these pictures my hair yesterday. I have not touched up the length of my hair in 3 months, but I did the roots a couple of weeks ago.























You can see that there is a little fading towards the ends, but it is not brassy yet. To me, it just looks like natural dark brown hair since natural hair colors are not all one shade anyway. Forgive the bit of frizz- I just brushed my hair for the picture as I am not much for styling it, and I would probably injure myself with a curling iron or flat iron anyway. 



OK, so the "pros" for using Colorsilk over more expensive brands are:

• CHEAP (in a good way)

• Very fade-resistant

• Amazing gray coverage

• No brass, and I say this particularly about #30, which is a rich dark chocolate brown with no obvious red undertone. It is not ashy, but it seems to be very neutral. In fact, I started using it to neutralize a particularly hideous dark red I had been using. That color faded to an incomprehensible shade of blech. CS #30 totally eradicated the red, and I have been a fan ever since.

• No ammonia, which seems to be one of the more damaging chemicals in permanent formulas

• The conditioner included is Ahhhhhmazing- makes your hair really soft, silky, and fragrant!

There are always "cons" as nothing is ever perfect, is it?

• Runny formula- not too bad, but slather some petroleum jelly around your hairline and on your ears to avoid staining. 

• Crappy gloves- this is how they cut costs on the brand, I think. They work, but the clingy cheap plastic can be annoying. I usually have latex gloves on hand, anyway. 

•  Color runs dark- this is not a "con" for me as I am going for a very dark color anyway, but I have read a lot of complaints from other users. If you are choosing a brown shade, try a shade lighter than your target color first to avoid it going too dark. If you want a natural black shade (not blue), try the #20 Brown-Black.