The Best Box Hair Dye - Garnier Olia Hair Colour in Deep Cherry 3.6

I’ve tried pretty much every permanent box dye you can get from Boots and Superdrug and by far Garnier Olia beats them all. I recommend it to everyone looking for a hair colour to do at home. My mother-in-law who is very sensitive to lots of box dyes loves Garnier Olia too. Olia is a bit different from standard hair dyes as it uses oils to both intensify the colouring process and also nourish the hair.

I always do my hair colour at home now. Going to the hairdresser’s is difficult enough just to get a cut and I don’t think I could face the couple of hours getting my colour done too. My chronic pain makes a salon visit difficult but not only that I still get anxious going to the hairdresser’s. You may not know but I used to suffer agoraphobia pretty badly. I was in a serious car crash when I was younger which left me with severe anxiety. This went untreated thanks to my doctor at the time telling me I just had something on my mind! The panic attacks became so severe that unfortunately I became agoraphobic. The agoraphobia lasted around 10 hellish years but thankfully I can go most places relatively easily now but there’s some places, like the salon, that I still find a bit difficult. The thought of having to run out the salon half way through still gets the old anxiety going so I settle for a box dye. Gosh, that got a bit personal for a hair dye review but there you go.

I’m not entirely sure how much grey hair I have but my roots are very grey. And this is a major problem for a lot of box dyes. You get that dreaded “root glow” (my lovely hairdresser taught me that term) where the colour is super bright at the roots because of the colour difference between the grey roots and the rest of the hair. This happens a lot with other hair dyes but thankfully I don’t get this with Garnier Olia’s Deep Cherry. It blends really nicely with the rest of my hair, which is naturally dark brown. In fact, I’ve had lots of compliments from colourists at how nice my hair colour is, so that gives you some indication at how good a job Garnier Olia is doing.

Application is straight forward. You mix up the developer cream with the colourant and give a good shake. You then apply the colour onto dry hair, starting with roots and do the rest last. The nozzle on the bottle makes precise application easy and the thick cream dye coats all the hairs thoroughly. This isn’t a messy dye, it doesn’t run down your face and wipes off the skin relatively easily. And thankfully the smell isn't overpowering like some hair dyes can be.

I've tried to catch the colour in different lights so you can see how it changes

I leave the dye on for 30 minutes then rinse off. I always wash it too then add the conditioner. Because I have the colour Deep Cherry which is a beautiful dark cherry red it does take a bit longer to rinse out. I’ve also used another red and occasionally a brown which I think is called Frosted Brown and for some reason the reds always take longer to rinse. Once rinsed my hair doesn’t feel dry or straw-like. It feels in pretty good condition and there’s a really nice, healthy looking shine from it. I’d say Garnier Olia lasts around 4 weeks in my hair. I wash it every two days, so of course this will depend on your own hair and how often you wash it. The tube of conditioner is enough to use around once a week to freshen the colour for a month. Garnier Olia is a brilliant box dye, it is easy to apply with little mess, it blends beautifully and lasts really well ( and is also a fraction of the price of a colour at a hair salon).

Have you tried Garnier Olia or do you have a favourite at home hair dye?

(this is an improved version of a previous review of Garnier Olia)