Hair Junk: Garnier Oila Hair Dye

When I was younger, I used to dye my hair religiously.  There was a period in my twenties where I legitimately don't think I saw my natural hair color for years.  But after a hair straightening accident (who knew your hair didn't like being bleached and relaxed on the same day?) wherein all my hair fell out, I stopped for a long time.
Then I was lucky enough to get a free coupon for Garnier Oila from Bzz Agent.





I figured - why not dip my toe back into the dyeing ocean?  If I was going to dye again, Oila seemed a good fit.  After all, according to Garnier, "Olia visibly improves and restores hair as the oils help to reverse roughness and dullness for more brilliant, dimensional color and softer, shinier hair with more bounce."  I could use softer, shinier hair!  I like bounce!  So let's give this stuff a spin.
I grabbed number 4.60, Dark Intense Auburn.  My hair's naturally on the very dark brown side of things, but due to my mother's side of the family having a bazillion redheads, it's got a bit of red highlights.  So why not play that up?
Now, you may be wondering what the "oil powered" part of the product is. Garnier states: "unlike traditional haircolor, Garnier Olia uses an exclusive 60% oil blend with natural flower oils to achieve maximum color performance while visibly improving and restoring hair".
You'll notice it first during the application.  It doesn't smell bad.  I mean, I'm not going to clamor for Oila perfume, but at the same time it didn't make me feel like my nose hairs were being burned from the inside out.  It's a standard creme formula, maybe a little on the watery side, but nothing hair dye devotees haven't dealt with before.

You can deal with it.  I did.  
After washing it out, it didn't feel like it totally fried my hair.  My hair felt about as good as it had pre-dye.  Which, considering that most dyes turn my already straw-like hair to something resembling candy floss, is fantastic.

I'm in love with the color, and my hair feels fantastic. The other sneaky bonus for Oila - since it's oil based, it doesn't immediately stain everything in your bathroom.  I got a good dollop on my sink?  Gone!  The bit on my forehead?  Washed right up!  The stains on my hand?  WASHED RIGHT OFF.  If that's not reason enough to buy it, I don't know what is.

Disclaimer: This product was provided by a third party for reviewing purposes.  No compensation was received. All opinions are my own.