Wella • Color Charm Liquid Creme Haircolor • Hair Color

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melyndaw on 10/15/2012 5:21:00 PM more reviews by melyndaw

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other, Fair, Cool   Hair: Other, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

Was pretty disappointed with the lack of gray coverage with this product. I used the Neutral Protein Filler product prior to applying the Wella Color Charm color, and it still didn't cover the gray hairs. I agree with other reviewers that the color tends to be a bit one-dimensional. I used the Light Golden Blond with 20 volume developer. Won't be buying it again, still looking for a brand that will cover those pesky grays!

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Dlou on 3/9/2012 3:42:00 PM more reviews by Dlou

Age: 36-43   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I read Carekate's review of this product (see under reviews for Color Charm Gel Permanent)--and thought she sounded like she knew what she was doing. I've had some real problems with store dye kits; the color comes out very very dark (even light ash brown), the developer makes my scalp itch and peel, and it all looks very one-note drab.

I bought the color charm colors nutmeg, dark blonde, and dark auburn--and the fabulous Ion Sensitive Scalp developer in 20. Mixed the colors pretty evenly (next time will use a little less nutmeg in the mix), used the developer to the 2:1 ratio, and added the ardell red/gold color corrector. I wish I'd had the nerve to strip that dark nice-n-easy dye from my hair, but I was scared to be too hard on my fine, dry hair.

Anyway, the color came out great! And I had NO problems with my scalp--a huge difference. The color itself isn't perfect, but that's because of my refusal to strip the hair. But it is much, much, much better. A lovely darkish auburn and very sophisticated. And it seems to be really covering my greys.

I am a fan. I also love the sort of chemistry set experimenting with the colors. . .kept a notepad with the amount of capfulls of each dye used. I really like this stuff, and thanks to Carekate for telling me how to do this!

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Rosse3685 on 2/27/2012 1:06:00 AM more reviews by Rosse3685

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal, Tan   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I had high hopes for this product to be honest... A hairdresser said she swore by it. Used it on my mom followed the directions to a T. (I used dark ash blonde on her) and it turned out lighter at the roots and a very warm light golden brown color! Not even remotely close to ash. Not an awful color,just not what she wanted at all! I mean if it's professional stuff it should come out the color it says it is!!! Oh and it smelled so potently bad. Very dissappointed.

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RedNinjaGirl on 2/5/2012 7:53:00 PM more reviews by RedNinjaGirl

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Green    

Never again! It does fade more slowly than most, but the color is very flat with no highlights. And, they recently changed the formula, so the colors are not the same.

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HollywoodIceQueen on 12/13/2011 12:01:00 PM more reviews by HollywoodIceQueen

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

I love the color I used to get, only problem, it is "permanent" but totally faded with a month or so.

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*TOP REVIEWER* garstrieper on 10/31/2011 5:08:00 PM more reviews by garstrieper

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

This haircolor is divine. I used the color 1N this weekend to dye my hair black for the first time ever. Major success. I had this irrational fear that the black would not cover my bright red hair, but cover it did, and the result is fabulous shine!

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renzokuken004 on 9/24/2011 1:19:00 PM more reviews by renzokuken004

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Olive, Warm   Hair: Red, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

Used 7R to freshen up my red....I normally use Ion Color in 7RR but it was not available at the time so this was the closest I could get. I was disappointed in the results....this color had a lot more brown in it than I wanted and my hair came out looking less red than it did before. It just looked like a nice red dye job that had faded over time. :/ I expected it to be a lot more vibrant and intense. The color is nice if you're looking for a more subtle shade of red, but if you want something dramatic I'd choose a different brand.

It also left my hair feeling very dry and stripped, similar to the way your hair would feel if your shampoo was too harsh and you over-washed your hair.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* suzyqz1970 on 8/21/2011 7:39:00 PM more reviews by suzyqz1970

Age: 36-43   Skin: Oily, Fair, Cool   Hair: Red, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

I've been lightening my naturally dark brown (and increasingly grey) hair for about 2 years now and I have experiemented with several different brands of haircolor. For the price, I get a beautiful reddish-goldish-light brown color with 7WR Tan Blonde. You have to buy a separate 20 volume developer but I that makes it more economical in the long run I feel. I get excellent color saturation and grey coverage. I've used other colors that were lovely but none but the color charm liquid gets me grey covered. If you are used to a thicker "bowl and brush" method of color, this will require a bottle for sure. It also requires a 1 part color to 2 part developer ratio which requires a little bit of thought on my part (never was very good in math) but I feel it's very worth it. My color doesn't seem to fade very badly but even when it does, I'm left with a fairly nice goldish but less red brown.

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CamiRosa on 3/26/2011 10:59:00 PM more reviews by CamiRosa

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

I used this to tone down bleached yellow hair.
T10 Ivory lady gave my hair a perfect natural color and got rid of the yellow. It did not however do anything for the part in my roots that is orange. Laso, if your hair is really really bleach damaged (old highlites etc) those parts can turn greenish, but it washes off a little!

Summary= Perfect for making bleached yellow hair more natural!

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kiki105 on 1/19/2011 4:37:00 AM more reviews by kiki105

Age: 25-29   Skin: Oily, Fair   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

I have over 10 years of hair coloring experience, yet I can never get the "professional" Sally Beauty brands to work for me. I previously had a bad experience with Ion... now with Wella as well!

I used the Copper Sun color. I mixed it in a developer bottle at a 1:2 ratio, as instructed. I let the color sit for about 40 minutes... there was literally NO heat. It was like having water on my head. It makes me wonder if the developer I bought at Sally's had exceeded its shelf life...

Before Copper Sun, I'd used Clairol Nice & Easy Reddish Blonde (a box color... BRILLIANT color, btw)... but that was about a month ago and the color had faded considerably. After using Wella Copper Sun, my hair was actually LESS red... at least on the ends it was! My ends were nearly blonde, and the top of my hair was flaming red. Not cool!!!!

Panicking, I used non-permanent Natural Instincts (in Spiced Tea) the same day. And it's much better now!

Unfortunately, I can't recommend Wella OR Ion. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong... but it's not like I don't follow directions, and it's not like I don't have experience.

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*TOP REVIEWER* purplebird on 12/9/2010 8:44:00 PM more reviews by purplebird

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Wella Color Charm offers a great selection of colors. Download their PDF chart using this address: http://www.wellausa.com/reference/ac_usa_cons_download_5006_0_sl.pdf

I used 6W (Warm) Praline and got a rich, warm, medium brown with strong gold and red highlights that was natural and attractive. I also used 7WR (Warm Red) Tan Blonde and liked it's redder tone better, but the shade was too light for me. I look much better as a brunette than a blonde.

Color Charm succeeds in covering my 100% gray hair with 20 volume peroxide. All dyes fade on me after 2 weeks and need to be redone in 3 weeks. If I wait 4 weeks, they look burned out. These dyes are no exception. The brown fades first, leaving the warm base, which is an "ochre" color, a.k.a. orange-yellow. Ultimately, I decided that I look better in cool, ash brown. If you're looking for a warm color, though, the two colors I tried are nice.

The worst part of Wella Color Charm is the strong ammonia and fragrance odor. The fumes are overwhelming.

EDIT: After a brief stint with Ash shades that left my hair too dark, I have settled on using both 7WR and 6W, (alternating when one gets too light or dark) and dousing the warmth occasionally with Clairol brass busters violet based 5AA. This method works well, and it keeps me in a light brown hair that is neither too bright nor too dark.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* lisa7788 on 2/13/2010 4:42:00 PM more reviews by lisa7788

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

I'm so glad I found Wella Color Charm here on MUA. Short story: I'd had a couple of color snafu's at the place I've been going for highlights & lowlights. The last one was pretty bad. I came home w/ pretty light highlites and very dark (darker than my natural shade) lowlights. The lowlights looked like chocolate streaks in my hair. On top of that, they were wide streaks, not woven for a more natural subtle look. I tried to fix them w/ Revlon Colorsilk in a lighter shade and it didn't come out too bad. It wasn't great, but it was a big improvement. Anyway, fast fwd to my roots growing out & my recolored lowlights looking pretty brassy. I really didn't want to try a new hair place just yet. (I hate looking for a new hair person). Luckily I found the reviews here for Wella and decided to give it a shot. (At first I was going to try Revlon Frost & glow, but chickened out because of the bleach. I usually get highlights w/ color, not bleach. It's less damaging). I bought two blonds, 1200/1200N Blonde Claire and 1290/12C Ultra Light Blonde and the clear 20 volume developer. I also bought some Ardell Red/Gold color corrector to prevent brassiness (just in case - I know nothing about at-home hair coloring, just that I've heard & seen :-) plenty of horror stories!)
I cut up some pieces of foil and mixed each color (about a tablespoon of color) separately with the developer & about 12 drops of color corrector each. I only needed a little since I wasn't doing my whole head. I foiled my new highlights to cover the brassy areas and let it sit for 45 minutes. I washed & conditioned and when my hair was completely dry the new colors looked great! The blonds are true; not brassy. I think I'll be doing my hair myself from now on! I really like how you can pick cool, neutral, or warm based colors so you have a better chance of getting the color you want. I've never had luck the few times I tried regular dept. store blond hair color. It was always brassy. Not this stuff. It's also important to remember to get a shade or two lighter than you want to be, since the dye samples are done on white hair.
My hair doesn't feel any more damaged than if I had had it done at the salon. In a few days I'm going to try the Robert Craig clear color gloss to try to lock in my results.
I'd definitely recommend trying coloring yourself with this. I'm going to put $75 in my savings account for what I saved not going to a salon!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

debbers on 1/25/2010 11:00:00 PM more reviews by debbers

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

My HG of haircolors! I've used 6R (Red Terra Cotta) for the past few years and even at the Aveda School where I get my hair cut, they tell me it's perfect! I have short hair so I touch-up roots about every 6 weeks and then for the last 10 minutes apply to the rest of my hair.

The smell is strong but not overpowering. It's easy to mix with developer and I love the fact that it's 2 parts developer (I use 20 volume) to 1 part color. I can usually make one bottle of color last for 2 -3 colorings so very economical.

Leaves my hair in good condition as long as I condition it immediately after coloring. My hair is fine and not damaged so I don't have any problems with frizz or exterme dryness.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* DragonRhia on 1/25/2010 10:10:00 PM more reviews by DragonRhia

Age: 30-35   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

I have been using this (either in the liquid cream version or the gel in a tube version) for years. I use the permanent color. It is the ONLY brand I've ever used. My color is cinnamon brown. I've occasionally tried other colors in this line, and even though I like them a lot, I always go back to cinnamon brown. Pros: very inexpensive if purchased at a Sally's store, easy to mix, easy to apply with a brush, rarely drips during application, doesn't run during application, great color(s), easy to read measurements on the tube (I can touch up roots or color whole head based on if I use half tube or whole tube), costs me less then $10 to color my hair and I have long hair and would cost me $100 easy in a salon, learned of the product and how to use it from a salon. Cons: I can't think of any right now. I buy this again and again.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* OmToast on 1/20/2010 11:17:00 PM more reviews by OmToast

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Coarse   Eyes: Hazel    

I've been using this for the past several months, mixing my own colors and trying to decide what color direction to head since removing years' worth of black dye. I have only used these with the Ion sensitive scalp 20vol developer. The first 3 applications were varying blends of red from the color charms regular collection and all 3 trashed my hair, but gave great, rich reds . . . that faded pretty quickly in general, and exposed my greys (about 20% total population) inside of 2 weeks. Needless to say, I was thoroughly meh, but Wella honestly has the best color selection, I think, of all the lines offered at Sally (which is itself considerably better than all available box lines at drug stores) so I kept going back. My most recent application has been the 4NW (straight) from the Cashmere Collection and it's come out very true to the sample -- a deep (but not overly dark) medium natural brown with enough of a warm tone to keep it firmly in the brown family, but not so much that it's brassy. It covered my greys completely, but very naturally -- i.e., they are now silver-brown highlights, as opposed to being totally blended away. So if that's not what you're looking for, this perhaps isn't the dye for you. I personally think it's lovely, and adds a very nice, natural look, however I'm concerned that, given the light coverage plus my past experience with Color Charms, the grey will shortly be reasserting itself as such.


As mentioned, my hair does feel particularly straw-like after using this however, due to previous color removal / bleaching process, it wasn't in great shape to begin with. While it's instigated a hunt for ultra gentle and moisturizing haircare, it has not been so bad as to cause any breakage. What annoys me most about this stuff, though, is that it *burns* like a mofo, and leaves me with a horrible stiff scalp feeling for a good 24 hours after coloring. It just strikes me as really harsh, and this is not a problem I've encountered over more than 15 years of salon and at-home coloring. I'm willing to concede that this could be the fault of the Ion developer, though I haven't read of many similar experiences with it. The colors, while they last, though, are really great -- very multidimensional and nuanced, not opaque or dull in the least -- if only they'd stay that way a bit longer! That aside, I'll probably continue to repurchase because I love the color selection and the true-to-sample results and formulaic numbering/tone system make blending my own colors practically idiot proof. Would love to try the conditioning creme color, but color selection seems considerably more limited.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

tulipjulip on 11/12/2009 12:50:00 PM more reviews by tulipjulip

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

FINALLY! I found the perfect blonde. I have a natural level 6 haircolor ( a very mousy brown) with about 30% gray that always pulls very brassy. I used the 9cg with a 30 volume developer. I put it in my roots, then put a cap on and left it for 45-50 minutes, then pulled through my ashy ends for about another7-8 minutes. My roots turned a bright orange and I almost washed it out but I persevered and....) WOW. My hair (even the roots which are always very brassy) is a beautiful color, true to the swatch and all my grey is gone. My hair feels healthy and is shiny. Check out the following link for all the wella info you need to color your hair.
http://www.wellausa.com/reference/ac_usa_cons_download_5006_0_sl.pdfs

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* siouxie on 9/18/2009 4:07:00 PM more reviews by siouxie

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Coarse   Eyes: Blue    

Overall, I think Color Charm Liquid Creme offers a beautiful selection of blonde shades. And you can't beat the price - $2.99 a bottle. I'm naturally medium/dark blonde, so I was aiming at a very light blonde. I got creative and combined Satin Blonde and Frosty Ash. Left on full 45 minutes as I have color resistant gray hair. Now, this is the sticky part - this stuff leaves your hair feeling stripped. Now, I don't think it did permanent damage, but I urge anyone using the Liquid Creme to use a Neutralizing or Normalizing shampoo or conditioner after coloring your hair. This immediately stops the process, and smooths the cuticle for easier comb out. Finish w/conditioner, that also corrects your hair's pH/acidity.

What I also like about using Color Charm is a lot less packaging to deal with. I must use double the amount because I have a lot of hair, slightly below the shoulders. If I bought box color, I'm paying for a lot of packaging I don't want or need. I mix everything in a bowl and apply with a hair coloring brush. It may sound silly, but it feels more like salon coloring this way. After I've mixed the color, I then add two vials of Salerm Silk Plus, which protects the hair specifically during coloring. I get each vial for $1.29 in my local beauty supply here in the Bronx.

That said, the color holds up really well, and my grays - my hair is very light (Frosty Ash #1210/12A) - don't start showing for a couple of months. Also, being say 30% gray at this point, my hair has become very resistant to coloring, and I've definitely achieved the best results using Color Charm Liquid Creme.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No