Nope, we haven’t travelled back in time, this isn’t Good Golly Miss Hollie circa 2012. But it certainly feels like it, because this blog post reeks of that period in my life. Yep, you guessed it, today we are talking about red hair and how to achieve it. Deja vu anyone?
It wasn’t a particularly conscious decision to add some new crimson tones into my hair, which in the last 12 months alone has been every shade from honey blonde to dark brunette! It was more that, in the new year of 2019 (wow) and as I find myself in my mid-20s, I now recognise that when the red hues appear in my hair, I’m feeling properly ‘myself’.
Whether it be with a simple tint of chestnut or a vivid ruby, a red hue in my hair encompasses what it feels like to be me. If blonde hair is ‘me lashing out just after a breakup’ and dark brown hair is ‘me when I feel hugely uninspired’ – garnet coloured hair is ‘me feeling…well, me’. And with all of that in mind, I’ve recently tried out a new colouring product which is available to buy in Boots.
A Review…
As part of the many hats that I wear for my work as a content writer, one of them is writing and editing a digital magazine which is centred around exciting new innovations and movements within the salon industry. During one of my mornings researching and speaking to hairdressing experts for a new column I was writing, I came across Josh Wood who appeared to be making waves in the business of hair colour. Intrigued by his product line the, ‘Josh Wood Colour System‘ on a recent trip to Boots, I decided to buy some of his products to see how they fared.
Amongst other products such as a root concealer and hair care, the Josh Wood Colour System serves up 12 permanent base shades from light blonde to dark brunette, you can then customise said base colours with the Josh Wood ‘Shade Shots’ – An interesting product that I’m going to be talking about today.
I didn’t need to colour my hair permanently this time around, so I opted to amplify my red toned hair by playing with semi-permanent colours and toners instead. For a little background information, before using the JW Shade Shot, my hair was a medium brown with chestnut/auburn/red tones from previous semi-perm dyes (Think: Casting Creme Gloss ‘Chilli Chocolate’) and other wash out colours such as the Superdrug Colour Effects Wash In Wash Out In ‘Rich Red’.
The JW Shade Shots come in a few different variants including the blue ‘Cool me down‘ shot and the red ‘Warm Me Up‘. I chose ‘Warm me up’ because I’m not shy of those fiery red accents and was looking to achieve this look. The ‘Warm Me Up’ Shade Shot aims to boost your brunette with red tones whilst acting as a semi-permanent gloss to refresh your hair colour.
To use the Shade Shots, you mix them with the ‘Everything Mask‘ and leave for 5-10 minutes, however, I keep the colour mask on longer, mostly for the 45 minutes that I’m in the bath. The formulation which blends to a thick, creamy and drip free consistency smells EXACTLY like the Twilight bath bomb from Lush, which is coincidently my favourite product from Lush.
My only qualm is that the instructions on the Shade Shot packaging don’t tell you the ratio of how much colour to mix with the mask, so I kind of go by eye and initiative. The Everything Mask is intended to lock in the colour and add that all-important shine. If you don’t want to mix the mask with a Shade Shot you can also use it as a deep conditioning treatment once a week, or on freshly coloured hair to lock in the pigment. The formulation also includes UV filters to help prevent colour fade – great for redheads.
As you can see, my hair is very multi-tonal, this is because I had bleach blonde balayage done earlier in 2018. I like the mix though, and of course, the ‘Warm Me Up’ shot has boosted my colour with different tones of red where the various shades of brown were. But what do I really think?
So is the colour mix enriching? Yes, it is. Does it pack a punch of colour? No, it doesn’t, but it’s not meant to, it’s a glossing tint! Would I recommend? Yes, definitely give it a go if you want to enhance the existing tones in your hair whilst treating your tresses to a deep conditioning mask.
