ETUDE HOUSE Bubble Hair Coloring in Natural Brown Review

I have been coloring my own hair for more than 5 years already. This is the first time I have ever encountered hair color like this! This folks, is ETUDE HOUSE's Bubble Hair Coloring in Natural Brown.

I first heard about this hair color from my sister, who purchased a box and tried it. She had never colored her hair on her own before, (always with my help, meaning I would apply it) and she successfully applied the color by her self. She was quite pleased with the result which convinced me to try it myself.

ETUDE HOUSE says:

Macro bubble booster helps your hair to absorb contents more efficiently so that quality of your hair and color will be better.

I got NATURAL BROWN, as the only shades available in the Etude House store I went to was that, Black and Dark Brown. I really wanted the Sweet Orange shade! Oh well, maybe next time. Here are the other shades:

Here are the contents of the box:

It consists of the following:
1) Hair dye

2) Color developer

3) Plastic wrap and some plastic gloves (very pleased that the box included these!)

4) Silky Perfumed Hair Treatment -- which I totally forgot to take a photo of, but its that purple sachet on the set photo.

The box is completely in Korean, but there are a few helpful illustrations to guide you on the box and inside a pamphlet:

Now here is a translation of how to use it:

Now these instructions are pretty vague, and of course you don't want to ruin your hair, right? Nor do you even want to botch the entire process--so I turn to my trusty friend (YOUTUBE) and found a video of how to apply bubble hair color:

So here are the simplified steps: (note some steps I added as my usual way of applying hair color)

1) Apply cold cream to your forehead and around the edges of your face to prevent color from seeping through.

The cold cream I'm using is Etude House's Happy Teatime milk tea cleansing cream. Review is posted HERE.

2) Remove #2's cap, and pour in #1.

3) Screw the lid back in.

4) Put on the plastic cape. Its an open sheet of plastic so I suggest pinning it with a hair clip to keep it in place. Put the gloves on as well. 

By the way, the gloves are kinda old looking, and is very difficult to put on. What I suggest you should do is blow into the hole to un-coil the glove.

5) Tilt the bottle sideways and back upright (please refer to the video HOW TO DO THIS!) a couple of times to mix the contents. It's very important that you don't simply shake the bottle. You will feel the pump bottle heat up as you do this.

6) Take off the stopper of the pump bottle so you can get the product out. Here's the bottle WITH the stopper:

Then just pull that extended tab to remove the lock:

7) Before applying the foam, comb your hair first so there are no tangles.

8) Unlike the usual hair dyes where you have to section your hair into quadrants, you start to apply the foam to the outside of your hair FIRST. So pump out the foam (the photo is below is ONE pump) with two pumps and apply to the outside of your hair.

Make sure the entire outside of your hair is entirely wet. Start from your roots to the tip, completely saturating each part. Don't scimp on the hair dye! Remember its only good for ONE USE so use it generously.

9) After your done with the outside of your hair, get more foam and run it through the inside of your hair. Do it until every strand is completely saturated with the dye.

10) If your hair is now covered entirely with the dye, pile the rest of your hair on top of your head and massage it in. Do this a couple of times and just let the dye go through. (its incredibly hard to take a photo of yourself while doing this!!!) Apply more foam to the hair near your crown.

11) After you're done, you can either pin up your hair or put on a shower cap for the waiting time. The box says you have to wait for 30 minutes before washing it off, but I waited for an hour (I don't really recommend this if your hair is sensitive and its the first time you're coloring you hair) because this is the usual waiting time I do whenever I color my hair.

Did the dye hurt? I have to admit I felt a slight tingly sensation

12) Remove the shower cap and go rinse it off! You will definitely feel that your hair is super crusty. And waaaay tangled. No worries though! That's what the hair treatment is for. Remember to use the ENTIRE SACHET to remove the dryness. Then ta-da! Good as new, plus it smells good too!

Here is a photo of how my hair looked like after the waiting time:

And now...the ULTIMATE TEST: did it color my hair?!

The BEFORE photo:

If you guys have read my previous hair color post, this hair has been dyed SUPER BLACK way back when I was in my depressed stage. That's why I have such a hard time coloring it.

The AFTER photo:

A MIRACLE! IT COLORED!!! Just a note though, this was an especially bright and sunny day. My hair definitely lightened up, on those parts that I had "virgin hair" (meaning it hadn't been subjected to the brutal torture of being dyed a squid ink black), and lightened those that had been previously dyed.

I was satisfied with the result. I do wish it colored my hair equally, but that part is mostly my fault because my hair isn't color-balanced to begin with.

I also have to admit that I had a harder time using this than ordinary hair dyes. Its probably because I'm used to brush-application where I can estimate if I'm applying it evenly. But as they say, practice makes perfect--and I'm looking forward to more experience with this hair dye by trying out other shades!

The hair dye is also quite affordable! Most drugstore brands cost more than P400 in the market but this is relatively cheaper. 

ETUDE HOUSE Bubble Hair Coloring is available in any Etude House branch (SM Megamall, SM The Block, Market Market!) for only P378.00!