Garnier – Olia Hair Colour – A revolution in home hair colouring (apparently!)
Last Friday I attended an event for Garnier the launch of something new for home hair dying….for the first time ever, women are able to buy a salon style hair dye and use it at home.
The Event – Double click to enlarge
Up until now, all home dye kits have been water based, and those which contain ammonia are quite damaging to your hair. If you colour your hair regularly you might notice your hair become dry, tired and quite frankly worse for wear – well this new product from Garnier is called Olia and its meant to change all that – as its oil based using an “Oil Delivery System” or ODS.
This contains mineral oil – and also sunflower, camellia, passion flower and white meadowfoam oil.
Double click to enlarge
More and more, ladies are conscious about their spending and having your hair dyed in a salon is a very costly treatment, so a fab, hair friendly home dye would be a God send to millions!!
Garnier have worked really hard on this – it hasd 22 patents pending and has been in development for 3 years or so, so its very exciting both for Garnier but also for us women who can now try something that is meant to be FAB!
Summary:
Permanent Hair Dye to use at home – comes in 21 shades with more to be released!
Already in some Superdrug stores – launching this week
£6.99 – very reasonably priced
Pleasant scent and contains NO ammonia
OIL based – contains 4 different natural oils to protect and nourish the hair
Works in 30 mins and is easy to use
Results so far – great!
4/5 frome me, so far
Double click to enlarge
Review:
I have always used semi-permanent hair dyes at home, sticking as close as possible to my natural hair colour as I just want to cover my ever increasing grey hairs. I have always used dyes which do not contain ammonia, since I want to limit the damage to my hair and I know the ones with ammonia absolutely STINK! My mum uses them all the time!
This product caught my interest as I know that oil is something that can penetrate the hair shaft, hence all these different hair oils on the market and natural treatments you can do at home with argan or coconut oil – which are great for your hair.
The kit – Double click to enlarge
I used this the day after the event -and so far I can say I am happy with the results.
First off, you get everything you need – the gloves that come with the kit are quite comfortable on and the instructions are easy to follow.
The gloves – Double click to enlarge
They are absolutely right about the smell – there is no pungent smell at all, instead there is a delicate floral scent with some fruity notes in there too – its not over powering or offensive at all. Thumbs up to that so far!
It was easy to apply the hair colour once I had mixed it up in the little applicator bottle. The texture of this hair dye is a lot more creamy than traditional dyes that I have used.
One thing I really liked was that it was easy to wash out once the 30 minutes were up. Sometimes it feels like you are in the shower for AGES and the dye keeps coming and coming, but this one didn’t seem to be like that.
I don’t know if its coincidence or not but I got a little bit of headache when I had the dye on my hair and I didn’t have a headache when I got out of the shower. If I use this again and get a headache then I will know its from the product. For now, I cant be sure.
The ingredients of this show that mineral oil is the main ingredient in both the cream colour and the conditioner you use afterwards. If you are not keen on using mineral oil then this is clearly not the product for you.
The Ingredients – Double click to enlarge
Once I got all the dye out, I used the conditioner that comes with the kit. You get quite a decent amount, enough for more applications in the coming weeks.
Once I was out of the shower my hair felt quite soft and the colour is spot on. The shade (Brown 5.0) I applied is almost the same as my natural shade. Once my hair was dry I could see that it had covered my greys really well and my hair felt great.
Seen in my Superdrug already – Double click to enlarge
Now, I know its early days, I will have to update this post in a few weeks and months to report on its condition and also how long it lasts. Having only ever used semi-permanent dyes in the past I am unsure of what to expect really – but so far its good!
Overall, I love the concept of this – a nourishing oil based dye instead of an ammonia and water based one which damages and dries out the hair. Whether or not this lives up to its promises in terms of not damaging my hair, well in time we will see about that. In terms of affordability, if this is good then its going to a fab option for ladies who are on a budget.
What do you think? Do you think you will use Olia and see what its like? Do you ever dye your hair at home? What do you use?! Get in touch and let me know!
Thanks for reading!
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P.S – this post and related posts contains a PR sample, however my reviews are always honest and my thoughts are my own 
You can trust me on that, but you cant trust me not to steal your blusher if I like it!
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Grace
Leave a comment
Sounds like a fun event, and an interesting product, hope it works out okay
Sophierosehearts x
Sophie Blumenthal
October 5, 2012
Hi Sophie
Thanks so much for your comment, so far I think this is a great product! If you try it too then please let me know what you think of it!
Love Grace xx
admin
October 5, 2012
That sounds grand – I’ve dyed my hair since I was about 20 and am unsure of the natural colour now (grey I fear), but am conscious that I don’t want to use as many nasty chemicals so this sounds grand – I shall have to give it a go!
Tracey x
Tracey Gordon
October 5, 2012
Hi Tracey
Thanks for your comment, please do let me know what you think if this if you end up giving it a try!
All the best
Grace x
admin
October 5, 2012
it appears to contain peroxide, which I’m trying to avoid, so thanks for including a pic of the ingredients. that saved me a trip to the chemist xx
andrea
October 14, 2012
I am so glad you found the ingredients useful. I hate it when brands do not show the ingredients on their website, which is commonly the case.
Thanks for your comment Andrea!
Grace x
admin
October 14, 2012
i have just used this hair colour and i love it. for the first time ever my head didnt sting also it smells lovely and does not stain skin,scalp,bath/shower or towels like other hair colours. best of all its in the same price range as other home dye kits.
this is defo a must try ladies,there is no looking back for me its going to OLIA from now on.
well done Garnier
emma
October 25, 2012
Hi Emma
Thanks for your comment on the dye, it is good isn’t it?! I think this will be a winner and prove very popular! Glad you like it too
Grace x
admin
October 25, 2012
is it PPD free though?
Melanie
November 28, 2012
disapointed.
Even my grey roots are not red / vibrant.
Will stick to my usual, high quality, good all over coverage, brand.
Ive been home colouring for 18 years. So know how to do it!
angel
December 3, 2012
Hi Angel – shame this didnt work for you. I appreciate your comment about this, its always good to hear of other peoples experiences.
All the best
Grace x
admin
December 4, 2012
I have to agree with angel on this one.
Have been colouring my hair for years with good results, but with Olia I still have patches of white hair that should be blonde. Very disappointing as I will now have to colour again with my regular brand.
Penny
December 8, 2012
Hi Penny – gosh, this doesnt seem good for covering greys then. I seem to have had a good experience with the one time I used it. Um…what a shame for you guys!
Thanks for your comment
Grace x
admin
December 8, 2012
Also very disappointed with colour result for light golden blonde. Horrible mousey colour. Didn’t touch grey roots. I phoned their advice line & they said I shouldn’t colour it again for 4-6 weeks even with a wash-in-wash-out toner. Also, it contains hydrogen peroxide so will contribute to hair’s overall condition. Don’t fancy being stuck with this drab mousey colour over Xmas!
Jane Gregory
December 11, 2012
Hi Jane – thanks for your comment, although I am sorry you have had a bad experience too! Seems like this isnt a great hair colour for many after all!
Really appreciate your feedback on this x
admin
December 12, 2012
Loved Loved Loved this color! it was great, not red or brassy. I used Cool light brown, (cant remember the number). My hair feels great, soft and shiny. Not dry and brittle. Great product!
Angela
January 15, 2013
I just dyed my hair with the light brow (6.0) and it was great. Not as messy as the other dyes I have used and my hair feels nice. The color turned out really well also. It covered my greys, but I only have a few strands here and there.
Tasha
January 17, 2013
Does Garnier Olia contain PPD? I have never been allergic to hair dye before but 2 years ago when I used a black hair dye I had an allergic reaction and after googling the reaction I found that many people had allergic reaction to PPD that was found in dark hair dye. so I am Not sure if I am allergic to the PPD or if I’m allergic to the ammonia in the hair dye. I can use the semi permanent hair dye that comes in a bottle and you just put on the hair but I cannot use the permanent hair dye where you have to mix the 2 bottles because it gives me a bad reaction and makes my head swell up and pus comes through my scalp. can you please tell me if this contains PPD I need to know ASAP because I am getting married Saturday and I need my hair dyed before then
shantel
March 6, 2013
I just did my hair earlier in the evening. I usually purchase my color at the professional supply store but, I love this new product! It smells nice,does not burn and covered my grey beautifully! My hair is naturally wavy/curly and has a tendency to be somewhat coarse. My hair feel silky with a lot of shine and bounce!
Martha Ruiz-Orr
April 5, 2013
I have been dying my hair for years and following Grace’s brilliant review I was really keen to try this one – I made a special journey to go get it and looked forward to using it. Initally I was absolutely thrilled – no nasty smell, a beautiful colour and my hairdresser thought it was good too. Sadly a month on I am not so happy – the colour – mahogany red brown – seemed to fade really quickly and my roots seemed a lot more obvious than usual. Reds do fade quicker than the other colours so I didn’t expect it to last forever but it did seem to stick around less than Casting does and that is supposed to be a semi so doensn’t have all of the ‘nasties’ in which a lot of permanents contain. I wont be buying this one again but I wouldn’t say it’s a must avoid for everyone as it might work better on other people with a different hair type and in a different colour.
Tracey
April 25, 2013