L'Oreal • Superior Preference Hair Colour • Hair Color

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FootCow on 4/10/2011 11:23:00 PM more reviews by FootCow

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

I used Superior Preference in Natural Light Ash Brown and ended up with Redish Brown Roots and dark brown ends. I kept it on for 30 minutes hoping it would stick better. Where the roots were seems to have faded and turned an orangey colour after a week but the ends remained dark (as almost all of the hair was at the beginning). I am not too happy and will be looking for another hair dye.

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goldenjoy on 3/29/2011 4:06:00 PM more reviews by goldenjoy

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Neutral   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I have naturally soft black hair. I alternate between this and Revlon's Colorsilk. I've been dyeing my hair since I was 17 (just to experiment with changing color) I actually hardly have any grey hairs. I had used a haircolor that had turned my hair dark matte black, and I ended up stripping the color out and re dyeing it dark brown. The Revlon faded on my hair so quickly. I tried the L'oreal Preference after and it really did make a huge difference as to how long the color stayed true. The formula is kind of runny so be careful when applying. I do like the gloves that come with the box. Also the conditioner is amazing. I wish they sold it on its own. I have no problems with the smell of the haircolor at all, and I have a pretty sensitve nose. I use shade Dark Mahogany Brown from the decadent chocolates collection. It gives me a nice warm dark brown with red undertones. Overall very happy. EDITED To add: they have changed the formula I think since now it irritates my scalp :( can't use this one anymore. I would be careful if you have sensitive skin.

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*TOP REVIEWER* roarwoman on 3/20/2011 1:14:00 PM more reviews by roarwoman

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

The hubby and I are trying to save some cash to pay down our credit card bill. Unfortunately this includes putting a hold on salon color every 4-5 weeks at $100 a pop. The stylist I go to uses Redken, she used the newer version on me that is supposed to cover grey and keep it covered for 4 weeks. The color was dark brown with red undertones. I'll admit that after the color was processed, hair was styled etc.. I thought the color was a bit flat and dull. Four weeks later, it did cover the grey for longer then usual but the color faded fast and looked duller and duller every time I washed. BTW, I'm about 30-40% grey, the sides of my hair are the worst.

Enter the new budget plan and my not being so thrilled with the color and MUA. After reading the reviews on this brand and having tried other brands on and off in the past I decided to give it a shot. I knew I wanted to stay very close to the current color, medium brown with red undertones, maybe take it a shade darker. I purchased Deep Soft Mahogany Brown, part of the Chocolate Decadence collection. The product was easy to mix up, I used a plastic bowl and brush to apply, I cannot abide with the cheap spout applicator they give you. The formula was pretty runny which made the job a little harder but not impossible. There is a good amount of product given and I, having short hair, barely used half of it. I settled in for 50 min then rinsed. The conditioner they provide is fantastic and smells nice. After drying and styling I was very impressed with the results, although I did think the color was a little flat. Very true to the color on the box and the bottom line is it looks great with my skin tone and eye color. It provided me with the shade darker that I wanted whilst still blending really well with the color that I was carrying from the salon job a month ago.

I would repurchase this brand again although it's only been a few days so I cannot state how well it keeps grey hair covered or for how long. The only down side, as people have mentioned, is the smell when first applying and I personally would have liked more shine. Would recommend and will try some of the other brown shades in the future.

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prillita on 3/6/2011 3:13:00 PM more reviews by prillita

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

After multiple attempts to fade out my dark roots into my medium blonde ends, I finally found a haircolor that works! I was using Herbal Essence extreme bleach blonde (I think that was the name--in a hot pink box with a man pictured on the front) but either I did not leave it on long enough or the lifting power wasn't strong enough because it definitely turned my hair brassy orange / yellow. I just tried this haircolor in whispersoft blonde (cool blonde) and am amazed at how much it lifted my dark (genuinely DARK) blonde roots to a soft (a bit yellowy, but still natural looking) medium-light blonde color. I did use my shimmer lights directly after coloring to immediately take out the brassiness, but even if I hadn't, I don't think it's nearly as brassy as some other bleaches and blonde haircolors I've tried. I am happy! I just wish I had left the color on the rest of my hair a bit longer becuase my roots are now a bit lighter than the rest of my hair, but it still looks alright. Two thumbs up for whispersoft blonde if you have medium-dark blonde / light brown hair!

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*TOP REVIEWER* luluhalabaloo on 2/20/2011 1:17:00 PM more reviews by luluhalabaloo

Age: 44-55   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

Usually use Dream Blonde. Used to use Feria till it stopped colouring the grey. Dream Blonde always worked, but it's expensive so I thought I would try Preference as it is the "gold standard". Well, it isn't in my opinion. I went a shade darker on the blonde, that was it, with a touch of red in it to warm things up for winter. It came out dull. After a week, it turned brassier, and any dye on the greys came out so I am left with the greys back. Absolutely no grey coverage. Dream Blonde will take the grey and make it like highlights - bright blonde. But this just doesn't even take. And the smell was particularly bad on this one. Nope, not the gold standard in my book.

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*TOP REVIEWER* TeHNyboR on 2/6/2011 10:58:00 PM more reviews by TeHNyboR

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Black, Wavy, Coarse   Eyes: Green    

So my hair is naturally black in color, but I decided to get some auburn highlights in my hair over the summer to kind of brighten me up. They looked great, but the price I paid was really expensive! Once fall hit, I felt like going back to my natural shade, but didn't want to pay a buttload of money like last time. Enter this stuff. I bought the shade Soft Black, which is basically a shade darker than my natural hair color. The formula was very easy to use, and the color looked great and faded into a more natural look within a few days! I prefer not to dye my hair, but if I ever feel the need to dye it, I will definitely pick up this stuff again!

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*TOP REVIEWER* RobsGirl4ever on 1/30/2011 6:20:00 PM more reviews by RobsGirl4ever

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Medium, Cool   Hair: Brown, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

Wow, I am surprised at the number of negative reviews. I recently hit my 30's and have been coloring my hair on and off for about the last 6 years (I usually stay pretty close to my natural color, medium brown), but have experimented with warmer browns that have added some red tones/highlights to my hair. I loooove Superior Preference and am very pleased with it considering the horror stories I've heard about Clairol brands (chemical burns, horrible damage) and have never had a problem with Superior Preference. The last time I colored my hair in early summer, I chose medium ash brown (I didn't want to enhance the natural red tones I already have) and loved the result. It was a glistening, shiny medium brown, never flat or dull, I loved it. I just colored my hair again today and chose medium brown (natural tone) and am very pleased. Yes, it smells pretty strong, but it's hair color, they all smell pretty strong. :) It's important to make sure you're in a roomy area with good ventilation. I had no problems. It's a gel formula, which I prefer over a cream (I don't have many greys yet thankfully) and I didn't have a problem with it dripping. It applies easily and after letting it process for 25 minutes, rinsing and using the magical lucious conditioner, TA DA! :) Awesome results without a lot of damage. Before coloring, I went and bought a new coloring system this week and will be using the Tresemme color restoring shampoo and condition (black & red bottles), *fingers crossed*! They smell fabulous (very salon like) and have pretty good reviews and I haven't found a coloring system I love yet, so hopefully I love this because I just colored today. Love this color system though, it leaves my hair feeling silky, shiny and the color doesn't fade, which I love! If going for a drastic change or doing highlights, I highly suggest visiting your salon or getting a friend to help. My sister uses this brand and loves it as well. 5 stars, do your research first, it pays!! :) If Eva Longoria loves it, it's good enough for me and I've been very happy with the results, shine and it not wrecking the condition of my hair! It can't get much better for coloring at home! Highly recommend this product unless you are going more than 2 shades darker or lighter or highlights. If I decide to do that, I'll be going to my salon! :) Enough said, this stuff rocks! There's a reason why they call this the gold standard and the after-color conditioner is the best & smells fantastic & leaves my hair feeling silky soft, love my new color and this brand is a keeper!!

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DinaC on 1/28/2011 4:12:00 PM more reviews by DinaC

Age: 44-55   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

I'm one of those brunettes who started turning grey while they were still in their teens. I've been coloring my hair since I was 20, and I've used several different brands and products. I've been using this L'Oreal Superior Preference in 5A -- Medium Ash Brown for a few years now, and it works very well. I do find that the grey-er I get, the more resistant the hairs are becoming to the dye. I leave the color on 30-40 minutes, and that works very well for me. My hair is longer than shoulder length, and this doesn't damage my hair in spite of coloring it once per month. I also appreciate that this particular brand comes with a very generous amount of haircolor, so I have enough to color all my long hair without having to buy two kits. Coupons are available in the Sunday paper on a regular basis, so using them cuts the cost a bit too. It's a very good value compared to having long hair colored every month in a salon.

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elektra805 on 1/18/2011 7:31:00 PM more reviews by elektra805

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Tan   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

I tried CB613 today on my natural black hair(dyed medium brown). But my black roots were showing ,so I decided to try this out.It lightened my hair without any orange undertones! Its a really great product!!:) Would buy again.

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DBusta on 1/10/2011 6:59:00 PM more reviews by DBusta

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Coarse   Eyes: Brown    

I really like this stuff! I was contemplating whether or not to dye my hair using a box color (I've heard it tends to dry your hair) but I decided to give this a shot. I loved how natural the shade was. I haven't noticed my hair drying out after using this. Works great, and the conditioner it comes with is good too ;)

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fuztop on 12/19/2010 12:28:00 AM more reviews by fuztop

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

After trying a schwatzkopf colour 2 days ago that had already started fading, I stood in the department store for ages trying to work out which colour and product to buy. I finally decided on the l'oreal preference because I liked the colour (6 capri - natural light brown) and it says it's fade resistant. I have around 30-40 % grey hair, and this seems to have covered it pretty well. It was easy to apply (unlike the previous brand), and smelled good. The colour was slightly darker than on the box, but I'm pretty sure they all are for the first couple of days, which is fine by me. The conditioner in the box was also pretty goo, and my hair is nice and shiny :) I'll see how long it lasts, but at the moment, I'm liking this product more than I like sitting in the hairdressers for an hour and a half every 4 weeks. I was able to wrap christmas prezzies while it developed - much more time effective!

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lectriceye on 11/2/2010 5:57:00 PM more reviews by lectriceye

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

Not sure how I feel about this yet. I wanted a slightly darker blonde than I got from another golden blonde color. So I decided to try out the Golden Blonde #37. Well let me say that the color does NOT match the color on the box at all! I had light golden blonde hair and this turned it almost auburn. I hated it at first but now it is growing on me. It's not at all what I expected though so not sure if I will repurchase. The good thing about it? It didn't leave my hair feeling fried, and it didn't burn my scalp while dying.

Update:
After a few weeks my dark color faded and looks more golden blonde. I am happy with the results and I think I will use this dye again.

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zuebee on 10/23/2010 10:54:00 AM more reviews by zuebee

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

I am a natural dark blonde (7) who had white hair as a child, only to watch it slowly change to yellow, then dish-water to finally a dark blonde that can highlight easily during the summer at the beach. I started using box highlights in my 30's and loved the bright look all year long! Then the gray hairs started showing up a few years ago; highlights weren't covering up the Bride of Frankenstein white temples at all. It was time to color my hair! I tried different brands of box color, looking for that perfect color and found it in Preference by L'Oreal. I use #9 Light Natural Blonde and it is perfect for me! It leaves my hair between a light to medium blonde with gold hints (no red at all). The process is easy to follow; I apply to my roots, starting with my gray temples and leave the product on for 25 minutes then apply the rest of the dye in streaks to the rest of my shoulder-length hair. That is on for about 5 minutes, just long enough for me to box up my trash and jump in the shower. I rinse it off in cool water, apply the conditioner and leave on for about 5 minutes. I air dry my hair after coloring to save it from any extra damage. My hair is soft and a lovely shade of blonde with multi-tones and gold tint. The chemical smell is still there in my hair and will remain until I wash it for the first time but that is a small price to pay for great color. I notice some fading on my gray but it mixes in with the blonde just fine. I color my hair about every 4 weeks just to get the roots done; the color doesn't fade too much but I only wash my hair 2-3 times a week.

My note on the chemical odor: The smell is strong when the dye is mixed but ammonia is what makes the cuticle open up to accept the hair color and when mixed with the peroxide developer, it will create a strong reaction. I know the developer is 20 volume, which is great for gray coverage, allowing it to deposit color on the gray while allowing a lift of about 2 levels on my natural hair color to get the blonde color I want. You can always go to Sally's to get a stronger developer if you need more lift to get the desired finished hair color (plus you will save money buying at Sally's too!). I know if I wanted to be a lighter blonde than 9, I would need a 30 or 40 developer to get the correct color lift.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Sjess on 10/22/2010 4:50:00 AM more reviews by Sjess

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Red, Wavy, Coarse   Eyes: Green    

I've dyed my hair since I was about 20, and I've become a haircoloring expert :). After a lot of my former colors got discontinued, I now use this in the color 6.5 Venise. It is a beautiful reddish brown color, and it lasts and gives a really shiney result! The thing that bothers me is the smell, it is really strong and chemical, so only use this in a well ventilated room! Also it is a bit harsh, but as I have relatively thick healthy hair it does not dry my hair out that much, but I wouldn't recommend this to people with dry and brittle hair...

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pttraveller on 10/15/2010 7:19:00 PM more reviews by pttraveller

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

My hair is a natural dirty blonde. I wanted to warm it up and make it a bit more golden so I chose L'oreal Preference Golden Blonde #37. I followed the instructions to a T and my hair is now a washed-out blondey-orange. Uggghhhhh. The only thing that can be said for this product is that it doesn't feel like it fried my hair - it just made it a horrible colour. Would not recommend!

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luckylisp on 10/7/2010 8:47:00 PM more reviews by luckylisp

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

This stuff remains the best at home dye available. The colors are reliable, available in a wide selection, and are pretty affordable. I'm currently using 5G Medium Golden Brown to match the five or so inches of new growth I have. My colorist covered up all my highlights with a similar shade several months back, but the color had faded and I was left with new growth on top and brassy blond ends. All I wanted was to cover the ends up, so I'd match. Done.

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wnzdazchld on 10/1/2010 7:04:00 PM more reviews by wnzdazchld

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

Oh my, was this product not right for me! I've used dye before, but this one made my scalp feel like it was on fire! The smell of this product is SO overpowering! It made my eyes water and nose burn while using it & 24 hours later, the smell permeating my hair is giving me a headache. Another con is that it has left my hair feeling like straw! All that, plus I'm definitely not a fan of the color (Blonde 9). Definitely won't be buying this again.

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bcbrosemer on 9/19/2010 5:00:00 PM more reviews by bcbrosemer

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

I have used Excellence and Feria previously on my hair, but this was my first time using Preference. I was trying to correct a botched highlight job that I did using Touch On highlights. I typically color my hair a level 7, 7.5 darker blonde, but knew I needed to go darker than that to cover up the highlights and blend everything together. My natural color is a medium, cool tone brown. Excellence and Feria didn't have any colors close to what I wanted, everything was either too light or too dark. I picked this up in 6BB, light beige brown. I usually like to go with ash tones but was afraid of the highlights turning green.
My root area was lighter than the rest of my hair, so I applied the mixture to my roots and left it on until they started to darken up, for about 8 minutes. Then the rest of my hair and left it on until it was on my hair for about 25 minutes total. The gloves worked just fine.
I am really pleased with how this turned out. The color is very even, natural looking, and not flat. It is slightly darker than on the box, but not by much. The crown area blends very nicely into the rest of my hair. The brassiness I had from the highlights is all gone. My hair is very soft and shiny. I love the conditioner, it smells fabulous. I did have some hair come out during the coloring process, but I just finished my sixth round of chemotherapy a month ago, and while I didn't lose my hair completely (even though the doctor said I would) it did weaken it a little bit. So the amount of hair loss I did have from this seems minimal considering.
The only cons to this were; the smell, it was bad. It burned my eyes and nose, and I have never been bothered by home haircolor fumes before. Plus I was using it in a bathroom that has a huge window that was wide open. That, and this stuff was so runny. It got everywhere; all over me, my clothes, the floor, and counter. I don't know why this is so runny compared to other coloring kits, but it is.
Overall, very happy with the results. Plus, it was on sale for $9, plus I had a $2 coupon, so the price was definitely worth it! Will definitely repurchase.

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plastic_goddess on 9/8/2010 1:11:00 AM more reviews by plastic_goddess

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

I bought this in Light Brown, and surprisingly, I was left with a color very close to the end result printed on the box. The color held up well for about four weeks. The really fantastic thing about this product is the conditioner, which seems to be mostly a tube of silicone. My hair has felt silky and soft for weeks now, though it has been washed several times. I highly recommend the conditioner if you can locate it on ebay. The hair dye is the best drugstore dye I've used, and despite the overwhelming smell and the high price, I would purchase it again.

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Cellardoor367 on 8/19/2010 10:28:00 PM more reviews by Cellardoor367

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Brown    

I am torn. Do I give it five stars? Technically I would say it works well and does everything it says.... but I wouldn't buy it again for root touch up.
It's just too harsh on my hair. (I use a blonde color) When I used this to touch up my roots I tried to avoid the rest of my hair, I even put jelly in my hair to keep it from getting the stuff on it, but after one winter-thru-summer of using this my hair was badly damaged. My hair dresser was in shock, the ends started to break off. That was a year ago and I am still growing it out.

But, it did give me the color I wanted and it is completely permanent. Just a little too harsh.

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