[REVIEW] Etude House: Bubble Hair Color in Lavender Brown

Ever since I was young, I've always wondered how I'd look if I had my hair colored. From anime to K-pop, these things are what pushed my interest in coloring my mane. Other than that, bloggers like Reese Lansangan and Tricia Gosingtian are also a few of the people who have influenced me through their numerous hair color changes for the past years.

Colored hair wasn't allowed in my Alma Mater, and even though almost everyone in my batch were itching to get their hair colored, we couldn't. So as soon as I graduated from High School, I immediately bought myself hair color. Hehe.

A few months before deciding which brand I should get, I've already seen reviews of Etude House's Bubble Hair Coloring. What made me want to purchase one myself was that it was so easy to use and the range of colors they offered were just right. I got myself a box of Mocha Pink and although the outcome had no hint of Pink in it, the shade of Brown was alright for a box of hair color worth around Php 300+ that time. I've dyed my hair Mocha Pink twice ever since and I tried having my hair colored at a salon afterwards.

So the order of hair colors I've had was Mocha Pink (Etude House) > Mocha Pink (EH) > Blonde-Brown (salon)

Recently I found out that Etude House released a new limited edition color, Lavender Brown, and being the impulsive shopper that I was, I bought myself a box. The price actually increased to Php 428, if I'm not mistaken. It was around Php 380-390 before.



The contents of the box were the same as the one I bought last time. The only thing different was the packaging of the Step 2 bottle - which I actually really liked. I'm thinking of sterilizing it so I can use it for other stuff in the future hihi



The manual provided was all in Korean but it did contain illustrations you can follow. There are also a lot of various reviews/guidelines online. My Korean bestfriend, Aeyeon, was even kind enough to translate everything for me hihi

Steps:

1. With the kit provided, put on the plastic cape and your gloves before applying the hair color.
2. Pour in the contents of packet (1) into the bottle (2) and DO NOT SHAKE IT VIGOROUSLY. Just swing the bottle sideways 6-7 times. Remove the pump stopped afterwards.
3. Section your hair just like how you usually part it. Tip #1: Use elastics to separate the sections. They're a lot easier to apply if you do it! 
4. Pump out the hair color and apply it on sections of your hair then gather your hair upward.
5. Wait for around 20~40 minutes before washing it off
6. After washing it off, apply the treatment (purple sachet) - I personally love this treatment because it makes my hair feel really nice afterwards. 

TIP #2: Add 5~10 more minutes to the waiting time if you have: thick hair, black hair, and if the room temperature is low.
TIP #3: Deduct 5~10 minutes to the waiting time if you have damaged hair and if you're in a place with high room temperature.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos taken during the process of dying my hair because I started using it at around 5PM and the lighting was too dark for me to take proper photos, so I'll only be posting a before-and-after photo:

Before & After (taken 2 days after)

As you can see in the photo, you can already compare how the hair color was able to redye my roots. (I honestly didn't know that my hair before coloring looked that messy.) I applied the hair color on my own so I kind of struggled throughout the process (and might have left a few parts of my hair uncolored or I focused too much on other parts huhu). Nevertheless, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about my visible roots anymore.

I also tweeted while I was in the process of coloring my hair and a lot of people anticipated the outcome. Unfortunately, I'll have to admit that I was kind of disappointed with it because there wasn't any hint of Lavender/Purple in my hair. During the process, though, I saw a hint of Dark Purple but I guess it was just from the formula of the hair color itself. But if you just want to try it out and you're okay with a shade of brown, then this color's alright! I guess the color's gonna have a hint of Purple if your hair was bleached beforehand?

Etude House also offers other colors such as Wine Red, Orange, Natural Brown, and a lot more other colors so you can try them out too! I think the most true-to-what-the-box-says color would be  Wine Red (which I never tried because I don't think Red fits me lol)

This photo was taken one day after

Pros

• Easy to use - application of the hair color felt like you're just shampooing your hair
• It's ammonia-free! The smell of the hair color wasn't unpleasant
• The whole process wasn't messy because of its non-drip formula
• The treatment was my favorite <3 
• Can be done alone - but I do recommend that someone helps you just so you're sure that you've applied the hair color on every part of your hair. 

Cons

• Hair color said on the box can be misleading: no hint of Lavender on my hair. At all.
• The outcome may vary and will probably be less vibrant compared to the one on the box - it really depends on the hair color you have before application
• Your roots will most likely be the most vibrant part after application
• Since I have thick hair, the hair color wasn't enough for me. </3 

Verdict: Etude House's Bubble Hair Coloring is a very easy-to-use product that you can try on your hair just to experiment! Lavender Brown didn't have any Lavender/Purple effect on my hair, but it's a nice shade of brown anyway.

Etude House's Bubble Hair Coloring is available at any Etude House branch for Php 428! I'm not sure how long they'll be selling Lavender Brown, but if you're interested in purchasing one, I suggest you get one now! Experiment with it like me! hihi

I hope this review will be helpful to those who would like to try the product. :) This kind of hair color is perfect for first-timers and if you do try it, please do let me know how it turned out! Happy weekend, everyone! ♥

UPDATE

My friend, Gia, left a really helpful comment on this blog post that will help whoever is interested in buying this product:

Hey Celina! Just wanted to say thanks for reviewing this particular color. It was the only review I could find on Etude House’s Lavender Brown color, I suppose because it’s limited edition? So it was really helpful when I decided to purchase it for myself. 

I have to note that the lavender color does, indeed, show up, but it has to be on bleached hair. My hair was bleached 3 tones, which is one bleach session short of platinum blonde. However, the purple shade did not show up on my roots, which was slightly bleached due to a previous dye that I used that contained a really strong developer. As a result, the roots remained brown. The violet color isn’t as vibrant as what one would get if they had used, say, Manic Panic, or other dyes which specialize in vibrant and unnatural colors, but it was a lovely shade of lavender brown nonetheless. Compared to the picture on the box’s packaging, I would have to say that it very much similar to the shade they advertise their dye to supposedly give you. However, you definitely do need to bleach your hair to get it!The purple does come off incredibly quickly though. In my experience, it took a mere one or two washes I think, before it turned into a greyish shade (since the remaining purple dye was now only strong enough to neutralize the yellow tone of the bleached hair underneath).
I hope this input has been useful for the other readers interested in buying this product!  

Verdict 2.0: The Etude House Bubble Hair Color in Lavender Brown is most effective on bleached hair. But if you really want purple hair, it's highly recommended that you bleach your hair and use other products like Manic Panic. If you do have bleached hair and would still like to try a cheaper alternative to Manic Panic/other expensive products, this product will do the job. Just do remember to take care of it properly by using the right hair products!
Thank you, Gia, for the tip! ♡