Garnier HerbaShine in 645 Copper Mahogany Brown Review

Last spring I was really bored with my hair so I decided to color it, which I hadn't done in years. My hair was very healthy, but it's naturally very dry so I just decided to be safe and use a hair color that wasn't permanent.

Around that time Garnier's HerbaShine, a haircolor that only lasted for 28 shampoos had just come out. It contained bamboo and seemed like it would be gentle on my hair, so I decided to try it.

Price of
Garnier HerbaShine in Copper Mahogany Brown

I bought one box for $8.49 at CVS.

Claims of
Garnier HerbaShine in Copper Mahogany Brown

Garnier says that HerbaShine is a new generation of hair color that is ammonia free, and that it improves the condition of hair by fortifying the cuticle. The hair is supposed to look and feel stronger and have radiant, shiny color. It's supposed to give natural gray coverage, no obvious root line, and it should last through 28 shampoos.

Garnier also claims that the application is simple and pleasant. It only takes ten minutes and the formula spreads easily without dripping, while the fragrance is supposed to be fresh and soothing.

Color of
Garnier HerbaShine in Copper Mahogany Brown

I thought the color of the model's hair on the box was gorgeous which is what drove me to buy Copper Mahogany Brown. It's a medium brown shade with a reddish cast to it; it basically looks like a deep auburn. The back of the box showed how it would appear on dark blonde, light brown, and medium brown tones.

My natural hair color has some light ash brown & medium tones, but it's mostly an ashy dark brown, I just bought it because I really liked the color and hoped it would show up.

Application of
Garnier HerbaShine in Copper Mahogany Brown

It was really easy to mix this stuff together. There was a tube of color that you just squeeze into a bottle of crème activator and once you shake it up you're done. Whatever chemicals were in it were masked by a light floral scent.

The application process wasn't so easy for me, but that was only because I was lazy and decided to color my kinky textured hair without first straightening it. So it took me about 30 minutes to color even though the instructions stress that it shouldn't be left on for more than 10-15. I wasn't too concerned though because my hair is not porous so it takes awhile for chemicals to penetrate it anyway.

Also, I don't know what I was thinking, but for some reason I only bought one box of color for my very dry, thick, medium length hair. So I tried to stretch the color as much as I could but I didn't fully saturate every section.

Once I was done, I rinsed out the color completely which took about 5 minutes. Next I applied the Shine Infused conditioner, which was very creamy and moisturizing & had a lovely floral scent.

Results After Using
Garnier HerbaShine in Copper Mahogany Brown

So of course my hair didn't come out completely even or as intense in every section as I would've liked. And that was mostly my fault, but it's also because of my hair's resistiance, but overall it came out well enough for me to see a difference.

On some of the lighter tones in my hair the color showed up as a dark reddish auburn, on the darker parts it still looked brown, but just warmer. My hair looked refreshed and healthier, and about 10x shinier. For the next couple of weeks I got compliments on how nice my hair looked, but no one suspected that I had changed the color because the change was so subtle. My hair just looked refreshed and glossy I loved it.

My hair also smelled like that conditioner for a whole week. But I should've used my usual conditioner right afterward because my hair was a bit drier than normal. But once I shampooed it a week later it was back to normal, my hair wasn't damaged at all by Garnier. And my hair is already strong so I didn't really notice a difference in strength.

A couple of days after I colored I started to realize that the Copper Mahogany Brown Shade just wasn't right for my skin tone. I have olive tones in my skin and this warm red shade brought them out even more. It sucked because I really loved this color on my hair, just not how it looked against my face, I needed a cooler red instead.

It also sucked that since I didn't like the color, that it lasted an insanely long time, I thought it would be gone in about 3 months but since I only shampoo my hair once a month it lasted about 7 or 8 months. It faded quite a bit since I don't use a shampoo for color treated hair but it was still there. My roots didn't look obvious until around the 4-5 month mark and only when it was pulled up.

In the End...

I loved Garnier's HerbaShine. I would definitely use it again if I want a gorgeous shiny hair color in a natural shade. It was very gentle and easy to use. I only wish it came in more cool shades for dark hair like brighter reds or plums, because the only options are a cool dark brown & black. If I decide to go black or stay dark brown I'd definitely use this color to do it.

But even though it didn't look good on me I still have to give Garnier's 45 Copper Mahogany Brown 4.5 out 5 stars, it was a great color and a great product.