Remember when you were 13 and your parents wouldn’t let you dye your hair? So, did you go online and research every natural way you could find to get the same effects? Only to resort to coating your hair in lemon juice and sitting in the sun being attacked by wasps in a feeble attempt to get some highlights…? I know I wasn’t the only one.

Whether you’ve tried every at-home technique there is, or you swear by your monthly hair salon appointments, dying your hair is a means of self-expression that most people try at least once in their life. The possibilities are literally endless – want a subtle balayage? Go for it. Looking to try that vibrant unicorn pink shade? Why not. The important thing to realize is that it’s more about the quality of the dyes themselves than the style. Changing the color of your hair is obviously an unnatural process. Therefore, the ingredients used are the main factor to be aware of. That’s where Revlon ColorSilk comes in. They’ve picked up on what it takes to make a ‘safe’ hair dye and they ran with it. Lasting, vibrant hair without the damage shouldn’t be a difficult feat to accomplish, and Revlon agrees.

Revlon ColorSilk Hair Colors Overview

Just some of the different ColorSilk shades to choose from.

Hair dyes in and of themselves are not the best of hair products. Most of them contain three core harmful substances: Quaternium-15, APE’s and Ammonia. The damage is varying but it ranges between releasing formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, to disrupting hormones to possible toxic ingredients. Basically, I’d be cautious of using hair dyes with any of these products.

In a 2013 review published in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, researchers surveyed the clinical evidence linking hair dyes to malignancy. The authors of the review state that some evidence is inconclusive, but that “enough evidence exists to help counsel questioning patients”. The risk, they add, is increased with darker colors and with the number of exposures. They further caution against pregnant women using hair coloring altogether.

With this in mind, the first thing to note is that Revlon’s ColorSilk range contains none of these ingredients. The ammonia-free formula immediately caught my attention. In the hair dying world, this is as close to ‘natural’ as it gets whilst still providing heavy pigmentation.

Speaking of pigmentation, Revlon’s ColorSilk hair dyes contain a variety of different colors to choose from.  You have an array of shades to pick from. Even if you want a permanent color or just color preserving shampoo and conditioner. If you’re looking for a permanent color the shades range between Bright Black to Light Sun Blonde. There is a multitude of shades in-between as well. (The ColorSilk Beautiful Color has the most shades, but the others aren’t exactly lacking in options either).

When it comes to the shampoo and conditioner there are actually only four shades. That’s because it’s not a dye per se but more of a color preserving treatment. It contains pigments to upkeep your specific hair color but not to the extent that it re-dyes your hair. It’s more of a nourishing treatment. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a less harmful way to maintain those vibrant tresses Revlon ColorSilk is a good place to start. Get yours here.

Revlon ColorSilk Buttercream Review

The ColorSilk Buttercream formula helps lock moisture into your hair.

The Revlon ColorSilk Buttercream hair dye comes in 24 diverse shades. True to its name it’s more of a cream than a liquid. Now that we’ve understood the latter part of the name let’s take a minute to understand the former. This ColorSilk dye contains a triple butter complex of mango, shea, and coconut butter. Mango butter not only soothes the skin, but it contains Vitamin A as well as fatty acids like oleic, stearic and palmitic acid to lock moisture into the hair. As if that wasn’t good enough the Shea butter restores your hairs natural moisture levels and coats the hair shaft to protect it from further damage.

A 2013 patent pertaining to hair care composition stated that “shea butter work as lubricant and moisturizer, as well as carrier oil for essential oils and aids in the delivery of their healing properties without irritation. They are beneficial to the dry and damaged hair and/or skin and promote hair growth… shea butter is highly moisturizing, semi-soft substance used as a carrier of essential oils especially where there is damaged, dry or aging skin.”

To top it all off, coconut butter replenishes lost oils due to chemical processes. In addition to strengthening the hair shaft. This means your hair isn’t only vibrant from color but also from all the vitamins and antioxidants it’s been nourished with.

Due it being an ammonia-free formula you don’t get that strong ‘dye’ smell that you get with other hair dyes. The scent is about the mildest you’ll get in a hair dye. The best part is that your hair isn’t left feeling dry and worse for wear. Locks are left looking shinier than before – honestly, how could they not with all those ultra-moisturizing kinds of butter packed in?

Learn More: Revlon ColorSilk Buttercream

Revlon ColorSilk Conditioner Review

If you’re looking for a way to retain your hair color and you’re not sure where to start, Revlon’s ColorSilk conditioner just might be the place. Unlike other color protecting conditioners that come in one color option, this ColorSilk conditioner comes in four shades and claims to protect color for up to six weeks. Each shade comes with different benefits to protect specific hair color. If you’ve gone brunette, then this conditioner is infused with almond oil to keep brown hair vibrant. Their Glowing Blonde conditioner is imbued with chamomile extracts to bring that golden glow back to your hair as well as overload it with antioxidants to keep it healthy.

For those of you who’ve tried a blacker than black shade, a little acai berry will go a long way. This conditioner can help to keep up that vibrant intensity. Finally, if you’ve gone carrot-top red than your Revlon ColorSilk conditioner is infused with berries to maintain an natural redness that will have heads turning for weeks to come. Basically, if you’re looking for the conditioner to maintain your color as well as enhance your hairs overall health and silky softness you can’t go wrong with the Revlon ColorSilk conditioner. My only hamartia is that it stains. Not my skin per se, but my shower curtain and my towel were a little worse for wear. Personally, that’s a small price to pay for hair color that lasts.

Order Now on Amazon: Revlon ColorSilk Conditioner

Revlon Colorsilk Shampoo Review

Great hair starts in the shower.

As important as it is to nourish your hair with a color protecting conditioner post-dye, it’s just as essential to making sure you use a replenishing shampoo too. Regular shampoos will do the job, but they won’t guard your damaged hair against inevitable breakage. Color-protecting shampoos often contain nourishing ingredients to retain your newly-dyed radiance.

So, if you thought you could get away with just a protective conditioner, the truth is you probably could. But shampoos are made to strip oil and dirt from your hair – and that includes those precious color molecules too. This means that the quicker the color is stripped from your hair, the earlier you’ll be re-dying and re-harming your precious tresses. With this in mind, Revlon’s ColorSilk shampoo is pretty up there when it comes to protecting and nourishing your hair color.

It lathers nicely and leaves your hair feeling clean and soft. You should always be wary of shampooing your hair the day after a salon session. It can wash the color from the hair. Unfortunately, this is also true of Revlon’s ColorSilk shampoo which I didn’t think would be the case. Having said that, with the right balance of infrequently washing your hair and shampooing with this product your hair will retain its color for longer than expected.

Check it Out: Revlon ColorSilk shampoo

Conclusion

Coloring your hair is an exhilarating and redefining experience. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing it to cover up a couple of grey hairs, to refresh those highlights or to totally reinvent your whole look. Dying your hair signifies a new beginning – and one that you don’t want to be cut short. Using the right dyes and color preserving hair products is crucial in maintaining your hairs health. That’s where Revlon’s ColorSilk line is reinventing the name of the game, with their 3D Color Gel technology. Nourishing silk proteins leave hair in “better condition than before they were colored” according to Revlon themselves a hefty promise if I’ve ever heard one.

It’s important to note that the link between hair dyes and diseases has not been proven conclusively, and that research is ongoing. A study published way back in the 1990’s, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute states: “we found no relationship between use of permanent hair dyes and fatal cancers of the mouth, breast, lung, bladder, or cervix, areas that were of interest as the result of earlier studies.” The authors don’t turn a blind eye to the risk factor, however, and close by saying: “Nonetheless, the removal of carcinogens from hair dyes and appropriate labeling of hair-coloring products would help reduce this potential risk”

If you’re looking for a permanent dye without the harmful chemicals try Revlon’s ColorSilk Buttercream formula for hair that’s coated in mango, shea and coconut butter. And to keep those locks vibrant follow up with their ColorSilk Shampoo and Conditioner. Whatever self-expressive color you decide to go for Revlon will make sure it stays that way for as long as possible without the harsh damage! At the end of the day hair dyes are packed with chemicals (harmful or not) to alter your hair color, but as far as nourishing dyes go Revlon’s ColorSilk range is a step in the right direction.

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