Review/Tutorial: Refreshing with La Riche Directions Coral Red – Keeping Your Colour Bright

I’ve had my auburn hair now a while and La Riche Directions Coral Red has been my life saver when it comes to topping up my hair colour and keeping it bright and fresh looking. Although I mentioned this product in my September Favourites (Post Here – if you skip to 7 mins 18 seconds you’ll see the product and how it looks in the tub), I thought I would do a tutorial on what I actually do in a little more detail for those who are wanting to top up their colour in between colouring.

La Riche Directions Coral Red

Here is some information about Directions Coral Red…

Directions Coral Red is a flame orange-red that looks great with other shades of red like fire and pillarbox red.

Even though it’s bright, it’s more subtle than the other reds and oranges in the range.

Directions dyes are long lasting, rich dyes that work well on most hair types.

To to get the best results from Directions coral Red we recommend that you only apply it to bleached or pre lightened hair. Directions dye can also be used to achieve a tint to untreated hair . Semi-permanent hair dyes usually last between 4 and 8 washes, this will depend on your hair type.

Always carry out a patch test on your skin first to make sure that Directions dye is suitable for you. We also suggest that you wear gloves and old clothes as directions dye can stain.

*source*

Now, this isn’t strictly a review, if it was I could end it right now by just saying this stuff is amazing! It really is. My love for the whole ‘semi-permanent’ dye range from Directions is huge. I think its a great way to colour temporarily and cheap too – especially the way I use it. This post is more of a tutorial, but I would like to add now either way I cannot recommend this product enough!

Firstly, don’t be scared by the colour of this product – it is bright! If you google images of the product you will find some beautiful picture of people who have used the product, mostly neat though. How I use the product is slightly different. Much like I used my La Riche Direction Violet toner when I was platinum.

Colour of La Riche Directions Coral Red in tub
Colour of La Riche Directions Coral Red in tub

What I was looking for when I chose Direction Coral Red was a colour that contained red but also orange. I looked through lots of different similar brands but Directions was the most reasonably priced and also one of the few that was more orange than red – I do hope that makes sense. See, my hair auburn is beautiful. Unfortunately my ends do not stay the same colour as my roots and 3″ down the hair shaft. So, I used this products on the hair that faded with each wash.

What do I need to use La Riche Directions Coral Red to tone my hair?

A bowl (It hasn’t stained any bowls I’ve used, but be safe and use one you aren’t too worried about.

A tint brush (Not essential but helps with mixing and application)

Gloves (This product stains! Gloves are a must and have a sponge or something on hand to clean it off if you hit your neck or face)

Conditioner, preferably white in colour (This is used to dilute the Coral Red down slightly)

A cap, plastic bag or something to stick over your head to keep the heat in and help with the dye taking

Now when it comes to amounts I don’t really do measuring with this. I would take about 1-2 teaspoon of Directions Coral Red to about 3 table spoons of conditioner – its not an exact science but the mixture would look only very slightly lighter than it did in the tub.

I would wash my hair before hand and towel dry without using conditioner. I then would pop the toner where my hair needed it (You can of course apply it all over!!), usually the mid-lengths and ends and work the product into my hair. I then would comb it through well to make sure its evenly colour, pop a shower cap on and go about my day. I found it was best leaving it on for a couple of hours, but there was a colour result after 20 minutes. Once its done, just rinse.

Now, this product can be used for brightening up your hair whether it is naturally auburn/red or coloured. It also works on blonde hair (Although the results are pretty INTENSE!) and brown hair to add tones (Although the result would be more subtle). Being semi-permanent it doesn’t last ages. In fact with my hair it probably only lasted a few washes. However, when you are getting over 20+ uses out of a tub, it wasn’t really an issue.

Another great thing about using the product this way is the condition of your hair. Due to the conditioner being left on so long (And if you mixed it with a hair mask it’s even better) your hair is so soft afterwards and glossy too! So, another bonus.

This was the only product I found that would take on my lighter ends that kept fading. Each time I did it my hair looked amazing and bright auburn again, so much so people stopped me saying what a beautiful colour it was – compliments are always nice. So, you can see the difference in colour I have attached a before and after for you…

Before using La Riche Directions Coral Red
Before using La Riche Directions Coral Red
After using La Riche Directions Coral Red
After using La Riche Directions Coral Red

Don’t get me wrong, I love the starting off colour too (If it was even!) but my ends kept looking more golden than auburn and I just wasn’t happy with it.

So, that is how I use La Riche Directions Coral Red to tone my hair and refresh my colour. They have other great colours in their range you could use in exactly the same way. I do recommend you doing a strand test as the results can be a bit bright if you aren’t careful although diluting the product down like I do really helps.

Another tip I heard on YouTube I believe (Sorry can’t remember the subs name now!!) was by getting a conditioner bottle with some conditioner taken out of it and actually adding the Directions colour to it that way, so you could use it with each wash. I’ve not done that, but it would certainly help in between colouring too!

Now I did buy this from the wholesalers and it only cost me about £3 with VAT. Still online you can pick it up quite cheaply too, CrazyHairColour.Com offers free delivery and it only costs £4.99 there, so I would check them out.

Good luck and happy colouring!

Lots of Love,

Mel xxxx