L'Oreal • Preference Shine Extending Hair Color • Hair Color

Where To Buy?

*TOP REVIEWER* missmanic on 3/23/2013 3:49:00 PM more reviews by missmanic

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Black, Curly, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I alternate between getting my hair dyed in a salon, and box dying it at home. For years, I was using Garnier 100% color in Blue Black. That was discontinued. After lots of research, I settled on Preference in Natural Black (01?). I love it. It's a rich, glossy, black. No blue, no red, no purple. I LOVE the conditioner it comes with, it makes my hair very, very silky. Ideally, I would dye my hair once a month, but I can get away with 2. This doesn't stay as glossy and rich come month 2, but it still looks presentable. My roots are light, and I do notice quicker fading on them. I will continue to use this.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

loveisreal on 1/14/2013 4:18:00 AM more reviews by loveisreal

Age: 19-24   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

The color didn't bleed but only lasted about a month. But that is not my complaint,what I actually hated was the odor. It was so strong that it hurt my eyes, halfway through I had trouble breathing and opening my eyes,I had to dye my hair squinting my eyes.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

Tycho3 on 1/7/2013 12:34:00 AM more reviews by Tycho3

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

I usually dye my hair a couple shades darker from medium/dark brown to very dark brown. I tried this brand in 4A Dark Ash brown and it was not good. This color was specifically supposed to minimize red/brassy tones but it made it more red than any other brand I've tried. It was ridiculous. I will not use this again.

Clairol Perfect 10 in Darkest Brown was great. I will be redoing it with that color.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

linerfreakxx7 on 9/2/2012 9:41:00 PM more reviews by linerfreakxx7

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Dry, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

So I'm trying to go back to my natural (from dark red), but I was suddenly inspired to go beyond that and dye my hair jet black. However, certain conditions prohibited be from going that dark. Anyway, I got the natural black from this line and it looked so beautiful! However, after two weeks, it started fading!! It started showing up brown and red highlights!! Not only that, but it was blotchy! It was blotchy when I first dyed it! Parts of red showed right near my bangs! I will not use this color again.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

catdeluxe on 7/3/2012 5:25:00 PM more reviews by catdeluxe

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Black, Wavy, Coarse   Eyes: Brown    

This is my HOLY GRAIL hair color. I color my hair jet black, so I pick #1.0 Naples. I love the shine it gives to the every single hair - literally, and this shine lasts til the date of next coloring (I have problem maintaining shine of my hair since it's naturally curly and very dry), so this product makes it perfect and soooo glossy! I also love the big tube of conditioner, so you can use it every week and extend the shine of your hair, just perfect! The only one negative caracteristic of this hair color is smell, which is pretty sharp, but everything else outweights this. I'm really in love with this product! :)

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

blondebeckyxo on 6/25/2012 7:08:00 AM more reviews by blondebeckyxo

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Oily, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Black, Straight, Coarse   Eyes: Blue    

This hair dye is by far the best hair dye I've ever used. It made a great difference to my hair! My hair was dark brown, I removed the colour from it to a gingery colour, then bleached it. As you can imagine it was a yellowy colour with orange streaks... I was crying on the bathroom floor! I had got the colour 01 Lightest Natural Blonde which I didn't have much faith in to fix it but figured I had nothing to lose! As soon as I put it in I could see difference! It was really neutralising the colour and turning it a light blonde colour! I only left it in half an hour because I didn't want to ruin my hair further, washed it out and it was a lovely pale blonde! Unfortunately it darkened a little the next day to a light yellowy blonde but I still love it. The only downside is I found it didn't actually make my hair shiney at all, but there are other products I can purchase to help with that!

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

dashcrabtree on 2/13/2012 4:39:00 AM more reviews by dashcrabtree

Age: 19-24   Skin: Very Dry, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

Lately I've been obsessed with obtaining an often ignored and sometimes even maligned hair color: light, slightly ashy, Good Girl brown... What many refer to as 'mousy' and try desperately to remove, I've been trying anything to acheive! I used Preference no 5, 'Lisbon', which has recently been given a fancy 'runway' redesign (at least in Europe), on my poorly bleached hair. It covered extremely well and gave a natural, soft look. Although it has p-Phenylediamine in it and therefore runs the risk of KILLING ME, I may buy it one more time to get it to really stick to my hair (bleach's fault, not Preference's). Lisbon is fantastic!

Edited to add: I used this again this week in 6.66 Babylon, which is a true red shade, and was much less enthused. It was too dark and too violet (more like a level 4 mahogany), two things that always make a red look really fake. It may be my hair history, but be wary of Babylon if you want red-red and not burgundy hair.

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

Cairene on 2/7/2012 3:22:00 PM more reviews by Cairene

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry, Olive, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Green    

Colour was no where near what was depicted on the box. It was not even what I've heard the reviews said it was. Dark brown with a touch of red. Mine came out soot black. Just my luck.... The consistency was much too drippy and caused extreme mess. Why subject myself to that again? I won't.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

erincandy on 12/13/2011 11:39:00 PM more reviews by erincandy

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Violet    

I have natural medium ashy blonde hair and i've been getting highlights professionally for years now but my hair was never quite the platinum shade that i wanted so i decided to give box dye a try since my hair dresser would never listen. i have never box dyed my hair before. I bought the LB01 Extra light ash blonde and well i can't say enough positive things! I did my roots first then the overall color and left it on for 30 mins and it's PERFECT! It looks just like the box, no yellow or brass or orange, i really couldn't be happier. i left the conditioner on for about 10 minutes and it doesn't feel damaged at all. if you are light and looking to go lighter, i 100% recommend this hair color!!!

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

YuriK on 7/24/2011 5:18:00 PM more reviews by YuriK

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

i have thick, black, hard-to-color asian's hair. recently i dyed my hair very light orange and bought this product(ash blonde) cuz i didnt want orange-ish color. actually it was my first self hair color, so i was kinda nervous. moreover, i have so so so so crazily much hair, i bought 2 packages but i was thinking it couldnt be enough. BUT it went so so so well. i was expecting it would be cream, but it was kinda like gel. i don't know if i would do a better job with cream or not, it was good for me anyway. and 2 packages were enough for my think, a lot, long hair. Finally, my hair lost orangeish color a lot.(still shown under the sun :( ) but i like my hair, i even feel like my hair got much softer. ive never felf my hair this soft. but i can't say it's this hair dye cuz i changed my hair treatment and essence. will try light blonde ash (l'oreal excellence) though, willing to buy this product again.

*pros
EASY to apply
smells not bad, not strong
cheap
great color
less damage
big amount

*no cons. i just like it

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

spinthedeck on 2/5/2011 5:28:00 PM more reviews by spinthedeck

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I was originally using Excellence 6-Light Brown (which I LOVE) but wanted to try Preference in 5 1/2 AM-Medium Copper Brown for the Fall/Winter b/c it looked like an amazing color on the box, so I bought two boxes when they were on sale. I used the first box a few days before Christmas & I was not happy at all w/the results - it turned my light brown hair very dark brown with no copper or reddish tones to be found! It wasn't like I had to go get it fixed professionally, it just didn't look anything remotely close to the shade pictured on the box so that was very disappointing.

Since I had the second box anyways (& hoping the previous results were just a fluke) I colored again this week & while my hair came out less dark this time around w/some reddish tones, I wish it was more coppery auburn like the shade on the box. I find that Excellence color has more tones & highlights while Preference is more one dimensional. I also felt like I lost A TON more hair while rinsing it out than I did with Excellence or when I use Revlon Colorsilk. Excellence also includes a pre-color serum for the ends of hair that Preference doesn't, another reason I plan to switch back to Excellence.

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

sillychicken on 12/14/2010 4:55:00 PM more reviews by sillychicken

Age: 30-35   Skin: Very Oily, Fair   Hair: Black, Wavy   Eyes: Brown    

I used this in Dark Ash Brown 2 days ago on my virgin hair. My hair is naturally dark brown and so you can't even tell I died my hair other than the few grays in the front and sides of my hairline are gone! This completely covered my grays and looks very natural and even and my hair looks healthy and shiny. It doesn't look like my hair is dyed which I love because I don't like to look fake or "did" LOL. So anyways I used 2 boxes for my long thick hair and there was even some left over so you probably won't use up both boxes unless your hair is thick and waist length (mine is almost there but not quite). The smell was not that bad according to my friend who used to be a cosmetologist and dyes everybody's hair for free that she knows. It says to keep on for 25 minutes but my friend told me to keep it on for an hour before rinsing it out to make sure it covered my grays and really saturated my strands so I did. It says on the box to wait at least 24 hours to shampoo your hair so the next morning I just washed with water and applied that conditioner it comes with and it didn't smell bad at all, although it was a little frizzy. Then the next morning (this morning) I washed with shampoo which ended up being 40 hours after I dyed it. I don't know how the color will hold up with time or how dying the roots will be but I'll make an update later.

UPDATE 1/9/11
It still looks fresh and even and grays are still covered other than the small amount of regrowth that isn't visible other than when I part my hair and try to find them because I know where they were. I got a haircut yesterday and the lady cutting it commented on how healthy and beautiful my virgin hair was and she couldn't believe it was dyed when I told her because it looks so natural and healthy.

UPDATE 4/4/11
I still haven't dyed my hair again. So I have about 4 inches of new growth and that means 4 inches of the few grays in my hair. The part that is dyed still blends in with my natural color and looks like it is my natural hair color so the color match was excellent.

UPDATE 8.11
I haven't dyed it yet. The new growth with grays is now down to almost my shoulders and it still blends perfectly with the color of the dyed part which goes from the shoulders down. The dyed part hasn't changed color or anything to make it look like it's not my natural color. I'm planning to dye it again in January.

UPDATE 7.3.12
I'm planning to dye my hair again with this soon. My grays are really long now but my old growth and new virgin growth look exactly natural and you still can't tell it was dyed. The part that was dyed the grays faded to a light brown/blonde which looks lovely and natural and not noticeable like my regular grays which are bright white. After I dye my hair again this time I'm going to try and not be so lazy about keeping it up so I don't have grays at my crowns new growth. It just looked so natural it was easy to not dye it again for so long.

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

cowbeIIyoursocksoff on 7/17/2010 8:39:00 PM more reviews by cowbeIIyoursocksoff

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

This is one of my favorite hair dyes. I also like Garnier Nutrisse, but I tend to prefer Preference for blonde shades. I color my hair a lot, and have probably used half of the shades from this brand. I have had the best luck with the reddish-brown shades and lighter blond shades. They have always turned out beautifully. I did notice with the darker shades that they would fade after a few weeks, but I think it is because I was doing dark browns over light blonde hair. Even when I went to a salon this would happen so I don't blame this on the dye alone. Currently, I use the Light Ash Blonde just for my roots. It is easy to apply and I do not find Preference to be damaging as long as you use the conditioner that comes with it (which is great). The smell can be a bit over-powering but I find this is the case with most dyes. The consistency is a little runny (this is one reason I like Garnier dyes in comparison) but it is never a huge problem for me. I wish the price were a bit lower (Garnier is a few dollars cheaper) but all in all I like this brand and it is a staple for me.

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

kitkat73 on 4/27/2010 10:00:00 AM more reviews by kitkat73

Age: 36-43   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Green    

Extremely drying, stinks to high heaven, this product in 10.1 Helsinki Light Ash Blonde was just HARSH, both on my hair and my scalp. I can't give the colour result a fair review, because I was trying to correct uneven tones from previous colourings while taking it a bit lighter, which was obviously expecting too much. Hair is now mainly yellow, orange roots, green/grey ends. My hair is naturally a lightish "dirty blonde" and had been dyed medium blonde previously.

This isn't all Préferénces fault, after all, colour results are really only guaranteed on virgin hair. But, this is probably the worst my hair has ever been - and I've tried quite a few colours and brands over the years. My hair is dull, seems thinner, and has that porous softness. The best I can do now is treat it well and leave it be for a few weeks, my hairdresser said she couldn't even tone it to even it all out in the condition it's in at the moment.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* FancyShmancyBlonde on 4/6/2010 6:54:00 PM more reviews by FancyShmancyBlonde

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I will ALWAYS use this hair color.... I had been having my color done at the salon when I first went gray because I had no clue.... but I got so sick and tired of laying out $105 dollars (plus tips) every four weeks and for what, I was never really crazy about the color and it was never consistent... one week it would be a little lighter then the next time it would be darker then one time it was too ash and the next too gold and on and on and on.... so one day I decided enough was enough and went out to the store and got a box of color.... my mother years and years ago always used Loreal Preference so that's why I chose it... my natural hair color was golden blonde growing up and that's just the color I use, 8G Golden Blonde.... my hair is a beautiful believable golden blonde color and it's not damaged at all.... I get compliments on the color a lot and asked where I get my color done. I do my roots every 2 weeks because my hair grows fast and I do not like to see those ugly roots so I use the touch-up method just like it tells you to do on the box of color and I have perfect results all of the time... my hair is in great condition, nice and soft and silky.... some girls make the mistake of covering their whole entire head in hair dye every single time they need to do their roots and it's such a mistake... there is no need to keep applying color to already colored hair.... all you do is just damage your hair and keep making it darker and darker and darker... once you do the initial all over coloring all you need to do is touch up your roots every 4 to 6 weeks or in my case every 2 weeks, but just the roots! Read the box of color and follow all directions.... I think you hear about all of the horror stories because those people did not follow the directions... like for instance, you should stay within 2 shades lighter or darker than your natural color.... and when you choose the box of color turn it over and look to see YOUR starting color and the result, if you do not see YOUR starting color then there is no way to know what your result will be... just follow all of the directions and you will have a pleasent home hair coloring experience!

15 out of 15 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

NARSaddiction on 2/24/2010 8:54:00 AM more reviews by NARSaddiction

Age: 19-24   Skin: Very Oily, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

I have used this dye for around three years now and I get at least three people a day asking where I get my colour done. They are totaly shocked when I tell them it's from a box. I use the new blondissimes range in 101 lightest natural blonde. I'm so glad they brought this range out as I used to bleach my hair first then put the Oslo colour on and it used to sting like crazy! The colour is gorgeous like a pale baby blonde but is realy multi tonal. However I am naturally very fair and it usualy lifts within 15mins so I realy don't recomend this dye if you are anything other than light to medium blonde naturally. My sister used it on light brown/ auburn hair and it went orange. My hair is super soft and shiny after using it and I always, always use the conditioner that comes with it, it's amazing. It is realy easy to use and only takes 30mins to develop. Much cheaper and easier than going to a salon but you also don't compromise on quality the colour realy doesn't fade and always looks fresh. I realy recommend it if you are fed up of having it highlighted all the time. They often have offers on it in boots like two for £10 so I tend to stock up.

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

Kim_in_CA on 1/7/2010 11:00:00 PM more reviews by Kim_in_CA

Age: 36-43   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

I gave L'Oreal Excellence haircolor a five-star rating last year and I still stand by that--but for my hair, I like Preference even better. I use Medium Golden Brown (5G) and it is a gorgeous color. It really warms up my straight, fine, naturally medium brown hair. The reasons why I like Preference more than Excellence are: 1) my hair is much shinier for much longer. You can see the shine even while you are dying it, and 2) the smell. I don't really care if haircolor smells or not--you can figure all haircolor is going to smell. But Preference smells much better than Excellence. It has a sweet, fruity smell while Excellence just smells like chemicals. The chemical smell really sticks around for a few days too with the Excellence. So for those reasons I like Preference a little bit better.

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

martas777 on 1/7/2010 6:01:00 AM more reviews by martas777

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

This is a really good product. It's my all-time favorite hair dye. It saves me a lot of money because right now I go to hair salon every 6 months to add some highlights only. It doesn't damage my hair and the conditioner included is great. I wish this conditioner was on the market as a separate product to buy. I use this in 9 (in Europe) and it gives my nice baby blonde shade.

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

*TOP REVIEWER* Hothead on 1/1/2010 10:53:00 AM more reviews by Hothead

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

My husband says that New Years and holidays make me insane. I do not dispute this.

Up until Dec. 29th, I was blonde.. light with golden highlites and even some very light platinumy ones.

I decided I did not want to end such a nasty year with blah hair -- so off I went to purchase a box and to punch up my hair. Since my last go around with red hair was not too successful, I decided to go red again (my poor husband). Anyway, I picked up the 9GR which is a reddish blonde -- and which was the tone I was after last spring. I also got a Feria 7.4 ... a fabulous copper red which is not recommended for greys. The savvy SA told me that she uses this color in her browns to get a bit of coppery red into it -- just two capfuls. I left this on for 45 minutes and washed it off without using shampoo.

The color came out perfectly-- no streaking, no uneveness and best of all a lovely reddish blonde with a bit of coppery/carmel which I think works best for my skin.

I love this shade and will continue to keep it up until I decide to let my grey's in.

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

cowbellyoursocksoff on 12/7/2009 12:29:00 AM more reviews by cowbellyoursocksoff

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

This is one of my favorite hair dyes. I also like Garnier Nutrisse, but I tend to prefer Preference for blonde shades. I color my hair a lot, and have probably used half of the shades from this brand. I have had the best luck with the reddish-brown shades and lighter blond shades. They have always turned out beautifully. I did notice with the darker shades that they would fade after a few weeks, but I think it is because I was doing dark browns over light blonde hair. Even when I went to a salon this would happen so I don't blame this on the dye alone. Currently, I use the Light Ash Blonde just for my roots. It is easy to apply and I do not find Preference to be damaging as long as you use the conditioner that comes with it (which is great). The smell can be a bit over-powering but I find this is the case with most dyes. The consistency is a little runny (this is one reason I like Garnier dyes in comparison) but it is never a huge problem for me. I wish the price were a bit lower (Garnier is a few dollars cheaper) but all in all I like this brand and it is a staple for me.

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