WELLA Strawberry Blonde vs. L’OREAL Strawberry Blonde

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• Thank You, and please keep these posts coming. Very helpful, indeed!

  • Thank you, glad it helped!!

• I'm a natural strawberry blond (who is now almost entirely gray) with dark brown eyes (I know - unusual) and your posts on color are just what I've been looking for! I've tried so many brands of hair color along with so many color combinations - I have to keep a log so I won't forget and try the same thing again! Unfortunately my attempts have resulted in color that is either too blonde, too red (and sometimes, too pink). I tried eSalon last month and although the color is closer to what I want, it's still not right so it will require adjusting month after month like everything else. The photos on the Loreal boxes for Reddish Blonde and Red Penny appear to be more red than my natural color, but your result is absolutely perfect! Next month I'll give the Loreal Reddish Blond a try and will keep adding the Red Penny as necessary.

  Also appreciate all of your suggestions on specific shades of foundation, blush and eye makeup for strawberry blondes. You're filling a huge information void - so please keep it coming! Thank you Molly!

  • Thank you, that is so nice of you to say! Please let me know how your color comes out! I am also working on a high end/dept store makeup post for strawberry blondes. I appreciate your comment, thank you!

• Thank you so much for posting this!!!! Seriously answered all my questions!!! I am looking for a "blonder" look with a hint of strawberry so I will using the loreal tonight!!! Thank you again!!!

  • Awesome! I'm glad it helped! The first couple of days after using the L'Oreal it's always a bit more red than I want it to be, but then it fades to a pretty strawberry blonde. Just so you know and aren't panicking! :) Def tag me on Instagram @girlgetglamorous so I can see it when it's done! Also, on my youtube there is a video of me doing this color so you can see how it comes out.

• Your hair is so beautiful!!! Thank you so much for sharing this video. My hair naturally is similar to the hair color you got using the loreal red penny and reddish blonde color. I've been a bleach blonde color for a few years and wanted to go back to my natural roots. Well I had my hair recently professionally dyed (and it's not what I asked for at all) it came out a dark red with this purple cast. The purple cast has since faded thank god but I'd say it's defiantly red not the pretty strawberry blonde you have. Any tips you have for me when it's time to touch up my roots? I'd also love to see a video of you using the wella hair color.

  Oh and happy 4th of July

  • I will definitely post the Wella video when it's done! When my hair came out too dark from the Age Beautiful color I did (the pic is in the Strawberry Blonde epic journey post) I washed my hair almost daily with the John Frieda blonde activating shampoo. It's pretty drying, so I def recommend using an amazing conditioner and hair mask once a week while using it. But it helped fade the red significantly in about 3 weeks and eliminated the brassy tones, then I did my normal strawberry blonde color the next time and had a hair dresser add some highlights around my face. (Highlights are the one thing I won't do on my own) In a few months it was all back to normal!

    • Thank you so much for your advice, just went to ulta and found both of the Loreal colors. It's been 3 weeks since I had my hair dyed, I'll wait maybe 2 more weeks and try these colors and if all goes well I'll post a pic

      • I hope it comes out great!!

        • Hey Molly so I was hoping to have a picture to share but I don't. It's been 4 weeks since my color disaster and my hair has faded tremendously. I decided today I'd test some hidden chunks of hair...in one chuck I did just red penny and in the other I combined reddish blonde and the red penny and unfortunately neither one showed up in my hair. I'm so bummed!! My hair dresser is on maternity leave right now till the end of August so I guess I will just let my hair grow out till then and just have her fix it.

          Thank you again for all your advice
          -Michelle

        • Hi Michelle, no problem! You might have better luck using the Wella formula, it's a bit stronger of a developer than the L'Oreal. Also, I'd test a patch of regrowth at the roots, you might be able to get a combo that blends nicely with the faded color. Because color won't lift previous color (which is why neither of the L'Oreal swatches showed up in your hair), I think trying to blend the roots with the faded color might be the best option until your hairdresser comes back at least. I hope this makes sense, let me know! :) Molly

• This - and all the corresponding posts - are fantastic. I love all the information here, and your hair's amazing! So pretty.
  Do you think that this combination would work for a natural dark brunette? I plan on using a 30 volume developer first, to get it blonde, and then I would be doing the Wella combination.

  I am really super afraid to do it, because I know that since my hair color is so dark that I have to bleach it and it will be quite a process... but I have really read up on different techniques and I am willing to try it. I'm hoping to achieve strawberry blonde like this but I wouldn't be too surprised if it comes out darker or brassier than I hope. Any tips or ideas? I know it's probably way different with my natural brunette vs. someone who's already blonde, so I figured I may as well see what you think!

  • Thank you, Chantelle! Glad the posts are helpful. I think the 30 volume is a good start and maybe going lighter in two stages would help eliminate the chance of it going orange or brassy. I might go a couple shades lighter than your natural color and mix it with the Titian Red Blonde or a medium red shade. Then next time you color, do the Titian and Light Golden Blonde. My hair is actually mostly grey at this point, so mine does probably come out a bit lighter. I hope this helps!!

    • Ohhh, smart. That will probably work better. Thanks! I'll probably do a different Wella color with the Titian and then go for the strawberry blonde after. How long would one typically wait to recolour? Once it fades or a certain span of time?
      Thank you so much for the tips, and for this blog!

      • I usually wait 4 to 6 weeks and just use the Rita Hazan root spray in between. My scalp can get so dry if I do it any sooner. With the wella, my color doesn't seem to fade too much. I was looking at the Sally website for you and I'm not sure how dark your hair is now, but I think maybe 5G Light Golden Brown mixed with 5RG Light Auburn might be a good start. Or 7G Hazel Blonde and the 8RG Titian Blonde if you really want to go for it the first time, then move to the 8G and 8RG the second time you color. As long as you stay with the "G" after the number for "gold" you'll be in the same tone each time you color. If you have a Sally's near you sometimes it helps to see the swatches in person. I hope this helps and please let me know how your hair comes out!!

• Thank you so much for this post. I've used both Loreal's Red Penny and Reddish Blonde but never together! This may be the perfect combo. You're right, Red Penny takes some searching to find. So far, I can only find it in Ulta. I will give this a try in a few weeks. Thank you for all the great tips from a fellow Ginger! I'm thrilled to find this blog.

  • Thank you!! I'm so glad this was helpful. Yes, it's so funny, I can look back through old photos and tell you which color was L'Oreal Reddish Blonde, Red Penny, or both combined. Hop you can find Red Penny, I know Ulta.com will ship it via ground mail too if you can't find it in store. :)

  • Sorry I'm late to the party, but if it helps I've been able to find Red Penny at Walgreens.

• Thank you for this blog!! I am a natural strawberry blonde, but it's a dull color!! Going to try your combo from Sally's this weekend!!!

  • Awesome, thank you! Please let me know how it goes!!

• Your blog is a gold mine for information about strawberry blonde! I do have a question, I recently moved to Sweden from Canada so i need to order my Wella hair color from amazon uk. I reaaaally want to try your combo, but there is just one thing that is bothering be : I can get Titan Blonde but not Light Golden Blonde. I was wondering if any other combo you think could produce a very similar result ? My hair is naturally medium blonde and my hair right now is a auburn , a bit too dark for my taste but i'm trying your ''color remover'' tips with the shampoo etc. Under, my hair is medium blonde with light blonde highlights so i'm guessing they will probably eventually show up again when the hair color will strip a bit. Do you think that I could mix Titan Blonde & Light Blonde ? Those 2 are available.

  Thank you so much for all your wonderful advice!

  • * Or Honey Blonde maybe ? To keep the warmth ?

• How can I buy it? Is there any place that would ship worldwide? :( I'm seriously in love with this color and can't find any mix of brands to get on it.

  Regards from Brazil!

  • I'm not sure who ships where, but maybe try to search "Wella Color Charm" and "Brazil" and see if any sites pop up with the two search terms? And thank you for reading, kisses to Brazil!!

• Hey, loving the advice. I have been dying my hair 'strawberry blonde' for over a year and you know what it lasts 2 weeks top and it literally goes back to blonde. Iv tried so many products and dyes but nothing lasts, not even the hairdressers helped. SO I am going to give this wella combo a go, I have naturally light blonde/brown hair and the ends of my hair are lighter from previous blonde highlights. The only thing I am worried about is measuring the colour and the developer, I have fine hair so when I use a home dye I only need one bottle to cover it. So what would you recommend? I want to use more of the titian red blonde than the blonde because my hair needs more red in it than blonde, any suggestions would be so helpful! mixing at home sounds scary but it must be done!!! Iv already ordered everything I need so this is happening!!