L’Oréal Paris Feria Offers Pastel Hair in a Box
Pastel hair in a box. (Photo: Drugstore.com)
If you watched the Golden Globes on Sunday night, you may have seen the commercial for L’Oréal Paris Feria Smokey Pastel kits in pink, lavender, and blue — yes, #UnicornHair and #MermaidHair have hit the mass market for only $10 a box, no appointment necessary. Unlike the Manic Panic dye that you may be accustomed to, the Feria kits are not pure pigment dyes. “Manic Panic is like vegan hair paint,” Manhattan-based colorist Lucille Javier of Sally Hershberger Downtown tells Yahoo Beauty. “It just deposits color onto the hair, which is why it washes off so easily.” The Feria kits come with three steps: a Shimmering Conditioning Developer Crème that contains peroxide that lightens your hair, a Shimmering Conditioning Permanent Color Crème to gloss your hair with the tone, and a Power Shimmer Conditioner for shine and hydration.
It seems simple enough — and extremely cost effective for $10. But Javier warns that you get what you pay for, especially if you don’t have naturally thin, platinum blonde hair. L’Oréal Paris celebrity colorist Kari Hill agrees with Javier, noting that if you have dark hair, the peroxide lifter in the box will not bleach your hair light enough for pastel glosses. “Before coloring your hair, you can always go into the salon and get a consultation with a stylist beforehand if you want to do something drastic,” Hill tells Yahoo Beauty. “The stylist will have professional education regarding color and can help share details about how to color your hair, as well as determine the specificities of your hair type and health.” When Javier did a color transformation on me, turning my thick, dark brown hair into blonde locks that could then be hand-painted an assortment of pastel colors, the entire process took about 12 hours — we were the last ones at the salon at the end of the day. Additionally, peroxide bleach is not gentle on your skin, and using it at home can cause excess irritation if you have a sensitive scalp.
“Hair color is not one size fits all,” Javier explains. “If you want to try this box dye, you should cut a piece of your hair off and try it on that first.” For those of you who are already light blonde and thin-haired, L’Oréal Paris Feria Smokey Pastel may be the most budget-friendly way for you to explore pastel tones this year. For the rest of us, it’s time to start saving up for a salon visit.
Related:
2015’s Best Celebrity Hair Color Moments
