Product Review: L'Oreal New Excellence Creme Pro-Keratine

L'Oreal Excellence Creme home hair color has been around for a long time, so I didn't even notice the word "new" on the box until long after I brought it home. For those of you who have been using L'Oreal Excellence Creme for years (or decades, even) the good news is that there's very little that's "new" about this. (She said with a sigh of relief.) And the better news is that the "new" part is, in fact, an improvement.

So what is the new part, you wonder? It's a protective pre-color serum. This is an extra step to the regular coloring process, but it's not a nuisance and it actually makes sense to do it.

If you're like me, and by that I mean someone who's been coloring their hair at home for more than 20 years, you've probably been in a situation where you've dyed on top of dye one too many times. You know if you've done that because your hair will becomes increasingly dry, and the damage is visible. Another indication is that your hair shade is about a million times lighter than what shows on the box.

I used to 'fix' this by waiting longer between dye jobs and then going one shade darker than usual (ie- an 8 instead of a 9). But now I don't think I'm going to have to do that anymore because my hair came out super soft after I dyed it. (Yay!)

All you need to do is apply the protective pre-color serum as the first step. (According to the box, the pre-color serum "helps protect fragile hair, particularly dry ends, and helps prevent damage".) Then continue with the hair coloring process as usual.

What I like best about L'Oreal New Excellence Creme is that is gives hair a tonal quality. It picks up on the natural shading of your hair, so when your finished the highlights and lowlights are still there. I think it looks great! I don't like it when dye jobs look obvious because the hair is one flat color- and you don't have to worry about that with L'Oreal New Excellence Creme.

The only complaint I have, and it's pretty minimal, is that L'Oreal New Excellence Creme doesn't live up to the claim of "superior gray coverage"- at least not in my eyes. I could still see grays coming through the next day, but I'm not convinced that any other brand would do a better job. I guess that's just part of getting older, so I'll continue to tell myself that the grays are the "very blonds".

Lastly, I wanted to mention the conditioner. I've always liked it, and it's still just as good as ever. It leaves hair soft, smooth, silky, shiny.

L'Oreal New Excellence Creme is inexpensive, easy to use, and the results are great! On a scale of 1-10, I rate L'Oreal New Excellence Creme a 10.