Clairol • Complements Gel Colorant Long-Lasting Semi-Permanent • Hair Color

Where To Buy?

sherryb0914 on 6/24/2010 9:20:00 PM more reviews by sherryb0914

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal, Olive, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Wavy   Eyes: Brown    

My review is for the DEMI-permanent version of Clairol Complements, NOT THE SEMI!

Ok, I can't say enough good stuff about this line! After growing my hair out for 10 months and not coloring it, I finally went back to the beloved hairgirl for some color. I wanted neutral and she totally ended up putting all the red back in my hair so once the "dark brown" faded off I was left with brassy hair again. Bummer, because it had only been about 2 weeks. I knew I was stuck back in the cycle of having to color my hair, which let's be honest, I was trying to get it healthy again but oh well. Thankfully in those 10 months I did get some good trims.

So I went to Sally's and purposely avoided the "L'Oreal Color Gems demi" because that was really harsh on my hair. I decided to try Complements because honestly there weren't many choices that had Level 4's with Ash bases, which I knew I needed to cancel out the brass.

I mixed 1 tube 4-Ash with 1 tube 4-Neutral + the color prompter and it was just enough for my semi-long but very thick hair. The smell was not offensive at all and I'm pregnant and very sensitive to smells at the moment. Also, as I was rinsing my hair out it felt smooth and not like sandpaper! When I got out of the shower I was able to comb through my hair easily, which is amazing considering I'd just colored it. I put a little leave-in conditioner just to make sure my hair wouldn't be dry or frizzy, as I didn't know if this line of color was particularly drying or not.

I must say when dry my hair felt fabulous. It was so shiny and smooth. I have never had that result with home hair color! The color was great too.

It's a joke that they say their level 4 is "light brown". I knew it would go on dark, as a level 4 in any other brand is often quite dark! So don't be fooled, if you want light brown or blonde do NOT buy the level 4, go up a few! Also, the mix of ash + neutral canceled out a lot of my brass without leaving my hair unnatural looking. It was the perfect shade of deep, rich chocolate brown!

The best thing is this stuff actually lasts, without being permanent. It took about a month to noticeably fade and it was very gradual and natural looking - and the color never looked bad at all, even a month later. I decided to redye it again tonight because I have a special event to go for and the color was just looking a little dull to me. This time I used two bottles of 4-Ash and wow, I love it! I have far less red undertones but it's not scary green ashy at all!

I am going to go stock up at Sally's because both of my local stores didn't have many choices left. I hope they are not discontinuing this line because I really love it.

I will try to update with pictures! Since using this stuff I have for the first time ever gotten complements on my hair color, even from my sister-in-law who is a hairdresser. If I weren't liking my dark hair I'd fade it off and try some of their other colors!

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xsnowwhite on 7/25/2009 9:24:00 PM more reviews by xsnowwhite

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Brown, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

I love this haircolor. After a bleaching disaster(terrible attempt at highlights...never again) my hair was striped with brassy orange tones that looked not only unnatural, but downright ugly. So I went to sallys to tone down the look. I bought this in 5n and then had the idea of doing the whole underneath of my hair 3RP, it turned out great! Most of my highlights are covered, but I'm going to go over a few spots one more time. Otherwise though, it looks amazing. Really shiny, pretty chocolate brown that blends with my natural color. I highly reccomend this. The bottom also turned out neat, but not as vibrant as I'd hoped, but that's because I rinsed too early since I did the top at the same time. I would leave it on for 20 mins instead of the listed 15, but that's just me. Also these run a bit dark, but fade over time so buy a few shades lighter...

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*TOP REVIEWER* Wendy1954 on 4/18/2009 4:18:00 PM more reviews by Wendy1954

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

I am done with permanent color even though I have gray. This is a long-lasting demi color that fades out gently and no damage to hair. As a demi (deposit-only, no ammonia) it comes out dark so pick 2 shades up from the level you want. I chose 6N and it was dark. After 3 weeks of washing hair daily, it's just starting to fade. The gray still looks like highlights when after 1st application, they blended in almost totally. So if I have to apply 1x/month mostly to roots--great. The colors are natural looking and the fadeout is also natural looking. I choose this over the Color Radiance I was recommended to use (semi) because there's almost no blending of gray with that product. The smell is also funky. Next time I'll be using a level 8. Update to come.
UPDATE: I tried level 8 and that defnitely didn't cover any grey as well. I think you can only go so high before grey coverage isn't possible..

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julie_madame on 12/28/2008 2:57:00 PM more reviews by julie_madame

Age: 30-35   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

Used this yesterday in 6 Red-Copper. My lengths were bleached a few months ago (to a level 11), but I hated it and have been using permanent color in Wella 8RG to cover. Reds don't last long so I picked this up to refresh my lengths which were getting lighter and lighter and make them closer to my roots which are naturally 7 brown. I love the results!! I got a very pretty level 6 auburn with no violet, thankfully. My hair feels a little "tacky" but after a wash, I'm sure it will be fine. At least it's not dry. We'll see how long this lasts, but I'm loving the results so far!

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hannah16 on 3/29/2008 5:56:00 PM more reviews by hannah16

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

EDIT: this stuff fades to an amazing color and my hair feels BETTER than it did before I dyed it. Not what I expected at all, but I'm buying it again soon. This stuff is great, cheap and I might experiment later on with maybe a brown red shade. This is really great. I'm glad I purchased based on these reviews. (Now it has 5 lippies.)

Well, I had a botched highlighting job last night and needed a semi-permanent color ASAP. Today I went to Sally's and got this and the special developer it comes with. I guess it's like a 9-10 developer, but I'm not sure. Anyways, it went on nicely and my hair doesn't feel like straw. Granted, I've put a ton of hair smoothing stuff on and straightened it (Yes, I'm the queen of hair damage.) It looks nice though, and I hope it doesn't wash out very soon. OH! Also, I used a protein filler beforehand (Neutral Protein filler, Sally's) and a deep condition afterwards. It pretty much turned out like the swatch, in my opinion, a light brown, but was called Dark Blonde. Its really nice, and my hair definitly isn't fried. I'll be buying this again because it's a lot like my natural color when the bad blonde highlights start peeking though again.

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*TOP REVIEWER* jusch_box on 2/29/2008 5:56:00 PM more reviews by jusch_box

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Black    

Wow, that was easy! I used the Medium Golden Brown and it came out a beautiful warm, dark chocolate color. Probably not really medium but it is exactly what I wanted.

I really love deep brunette colors, but every time I use a permanent color it dries my hair, the color only lasts a few weeks, and then-- and this is the worst part-- it washes out to a shade even lighter than my natural brown! So I'm trying to absolutely stay away from permanents that lift the pigmentation from my hair, and the lady at Sally Beauty Supply pointed me in this direction.

I didn't realize at first that you also have to buy a bottle of developer, but even to buy that with the dye, gloves AND an applicator bottle, it was about the same as a box of permanent dye, so I'm happy with that. Not to mention that for the next 3 dyes I will only have to purchase the color tube because the developer lasts a long time.

I'll update in a week or so as to the staying power... I hope it lasts!

**Update**
Welllll that didn't exactly go as planned-- turns out I'm a terrible stylist and I ended up with a horizontal stripe of less-dyed hair. I really don't know how it happened, I thought my hair was well saturated. I re-dyed today, and I'm glad this formula isn't too harsh. My hair looks a little dry now, but what can you expect after 2 weekends in a row of dye? After one week the color had faded just a little bit to something that may have been closer to what the name hinted at; more of a medium. I still really liked it and since the bad job was human error I won't take off any lippies.

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damnemperess on 5/31/2007 11:09:00 PM more reviews by damnemperess

Age: 19-24   Skin: Oily, Medium, Warm   Hair: Red, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

I used this line for the first time for an extensive dye job I did myself. It came out pretty awesome. I had blonde hair with about 3 in of dark roots. I used the permanent on my roots and the semi on my processed hair. I used yellow intensifer with red copper(8rc) to get the shade I was looking for and used the yellow intesifer alone as an underlay (see the clairol website it was very helpful) to do highlights and transition my ends. I also used the semi without the intensifer to do lowlights. The results is a pretty awesome hair color job, copper hair with blondish streaks on top and the ends and redder copper underneath. I found this line awesome to work with artistically because of the options...The only problem I had was getting the right combinations of intensifers. originally I bought a red intensifer to make a red copper then copper then blonde copper. But it seems that the red wouldn't really mix, no matter how little I used, and would just come out bright red (I"m so glad I did strand tests beforehand). This might have been because I was using it on processed hair. This ended up ok, I just used the semi, semi + Yellow, and Yellow alone instead. I used colorgems clear color over it all so hopefully it will last. I will post ....by the way I'm not a hair dresser and my hair looks pretty great, I just did all my homework beforehand, and did a lot of tester strands. I did not buy the color prompter I just used a 10 developer ( I called clairol and they said it was between a 10 and 12, but couldn't release the actual number)

p.s. to the person who said it didn't work on their dark hair, you either have to lighten your hair or use the permanent with a higher developer otherwise nada, you can use a temporary spray like jerome russell if you want something temporary, or I highly suggest l'oreal hicolor for crazy colored permanet streaks.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Msgdfx1 on 2/25/2007 4:43:00 PM more reviews by Msgdfx1

Age: 36-43   Skin: Oily, Dark   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

Picked this up to give my permanent hair color a little kick. I typically use Ion color and it has been 1 1/2 months since my last color job. I looked at the color chart at Sally's and found the equivalent in the Complments Demi Permanent product. So, I decided to use the Medium Red/Plum color. Well, I am happy to say that it didn't make my hair black like a lot of the demi/semi permanents in the medium brown range. It is a pretty wine brown. It was harsh, though. Even more harsh than the Ion permanent product. I had some breakage. So, you need tons of conditioner and patience. But, all in all, it worked fairly good.

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claudiajen on 2/24/2007 10:30:00 PM more reviews by claudiajen

Age: Unknown   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Hazel    

I tried using this on my asian friend, and after leaving it on, trying multiple coats, etc. no results. Still boring black hair; not the fuchsia we had hoped. This may work with blondes and brunettes, but it didn't work for her at all.

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laptopper on 8/11/2006 8:47:00 PM more reviews by laptopper

Age: 56 & Over   Skin: Combination   Hair: Red   Eyes: Green    

I love this haircolor. I like to change my haircolor every 6 months or so, and the low-volume developer you use with this is quite gentle.

I have naturally mousy blonde/brown hair, and first I go through with the complements bleach kit and paint on random highlights with a tint brush. Once I've done that, I rinse out the bleach, and then I mix up two colors of complements that are one or two shades apart (eg, light blonde and dark blonde or light red and dark red). It really helps to buy a measuring cup and tint bowls for this. I section off the hair on the top half of my scalp and put it in a ponytail, then I put the darker color on the hair that grows out of the bottom half of my scalp. I take down the ponytail and use the lighter colored dye on the top half. SO EASY!

My stylist (and everyone else) always oohs and aahs over my color, and I only spend about $15 every 2 months to keep it up. LOVE IT.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Tresha on 7/13/2006 2:32:00 PM more reviews by Tresha

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Tan, Neutral   Hair: Brown, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

I used the Demi-Permanent (didn't see a Semi-Permanent at Sally's, only Permanent and Demi-Permanent) and this stuff really drenches the color on and gives glossy rich hair color. I used the 10 volume developer and it did not burn my scalp at all. It turns into a gel like consistancy that will work in a bowl or bottle. Doesn't drip unless I put on too much at one time. My hair feels a little rough now. 2a mixed with 2n came out BLACK! The color is not a chocolate brown that I usually get with my favorite ION hair color brand. I will never use Complememts again. My hair feels like sandpaper. Ultimately it's very drying. UPDATE: The color was so black and dark that I had to go to Sally's and get a color remover. Even though I used the color remover and seemed like the black color was removed, the black dye is actually still in my hair, and I'm having a hell of a hard time getting it out. When I re-dyed my hair, it's comes out black again. Arghhh!!! Make sure you steer way clear of level 2 colors in Complements because it's pretty much a dark rich black color, even though it claimes to be brun/brown.

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*TOP REVIEWER* msgrape on 1/26/2006 9:55:00 PM more reviews by msgrape

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

I bought this at Sallys for under $5.00 a tube, think I use blonde 911. This color is beautiful. I have been doing my own color for 2 years now and save myself about $60 a month not going to a hair salon.

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*TOP REVIEWER* stellina on 1/6/2006 9:37:00 AM more reviews by stellina

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I've been using the Clairol Radiance color gloss for a while & have been very pleased, but when I read about Complements I figured I'd try it. Sp far I like the results (Medium Red Violet Brown on my naturally dark brown hair): the color is definitely richer but still leaves the hair smooth & shiny. It was fairly easy to blend as you just empty a tube & mix it with 2 ounces of the developer. I applied it with a tint brush because that's how I mixed it, but as the mixture is rather liquid in consistency, it should work in a bottle also. The only disadvantage compared to the Radiance is that it isn't as easy for us non-professionals to figure out the amounts to mix shades - since Radiance is a thin liquid, it's very easy to blend a couple of different ones by just pouring them into the tint bottle according to the measurements. However, if the color lasts longer I might overlook that.

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XOBabyGirlXO on 3/26/2005 3:14:00 PM more reviews by XOBabyGirlXO

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

Well i bought this at sallys for $4.49 , not the cheapest you could find there, actully one of the more expencive ones (gave a 3 because although it's expensive compared to other sally brands, it's still pretty cheap.
The packageing was blah- but it might have been my own fault because the first one i opened (i have to use 2 because i have long hair) i didnt squease from the top and was stuck with alot of product that i couldnt get out of the tube, the second one i opened and sqeased from the top was perfectly fine, but i think i like liqids better then creams because it mixes with the developer way better
I got this in medium blonde with a natural base because i actully wanted dark blonde and i know that hair colors come out darker then they should-this one like all cam eout darker and it actully left me with a light brown with red and gold in it-i really wasent expecting ANY gold or red but it looks very good anyway so i only took off one point. it reall DID leave my hair VERY soft and shiney whcih i liked alot. i really cant deside if i like this or colorgloss better, this has WAY more different shades to pick from, but colorgloss never turnes any shade of red or gold unless i want it too. but overall i'd buy this again.

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*TOP REVIEWER* honeybearkitty on 1/19/2004 9:38:00 PM more reviews by honeybearkitty

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

Since coloring my hair in the past produced not-so-desireable results, I decided to go with the Clairol Professional series. Instead of using a permanent color, I used this, which is supposed to wash out in approximately 30 shampoos. Complements also has permanent colors that are supposed to be the exact match to the semi-permanent ones. I bought this at Sally's, $4.99 for the color, and $2.99 for the developer. The developer can be used for 4 colorings. My dull, light brown virgin hair needed a pick-me-up, so I chose color 4RC-S, Red Copper, for Light Brown hair. I am more than pleased with the results!!! My hair is now a beautiful reddish-brown. Not too red! I will update once I have shampooed several times, about 2-3 weeks from now. You can see the results in my photos.

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