Many coupon shoppers shop on price, not on brand loyalty. But there’s one product to which many women are fiercely brand-loyal – haircolor.
Like many women, I color my hair. I started going gray at the ripe old age of 21. At first, it was a silver streak in front that was kind of cool-looking. When more silver strands started peeking through elsewhere though, it was time to do something about it.
I was terrified of dyeing my hair though. Unlike many people, I’d never changed my haircolor at all. I was afraid of not being happy with the results,so I kept putting it off. But one day in 1996, I bought a bottle of Clairol Natural Instincts. I liked that it had natural ingredients and was not permanent. (I figured that if I somehow messed it up, eventually it would wash out.)
Well, I didn’t mess it up. On the contrary, I was thrilled with my soft, shiny, newly-all-brown hair. And so began a relationship that lasted 15 years.
After becoming an avid coupon shopper and learning that better prices can often be found by buying a competing brand, there was still one product I remained loyal to – Natural Instincts. (I always used coupons to buy it, of course!) And while I rotated between my favorite colors, I always bought Natural Instincts. They had never let me down, and so there was no reason to change.
***
Fast-forward fourteen years.
In November 2010, Garnier offered a coupon via their website for a free box of Garnier Herbashine Haircolor. As a couponer, I immediately clicked and requested my coupon, which arrived in the mail a short while later.
I didn’t redeem it right away. I waited until the coupon was close to expiring, bought a box which looked close to my current color, and stuck the box on my pantry shelf behind my stash of Natural Instincts boxes. That Herbashine was my “just in case I run out” backup haircolor.
Because, honestly… I was afraid to try anything new. I was a Natural Instincts girl.
Then, this Spring, Clairol overhauled their entire line of Natural Instincts. They got rid of all of the colors I’d previously been using. Worse, some Natural Instincts shades were now permanent, while others were non-permanent. I picked a non-permanent color that looked similar to my previous one and bought three boxes. But as soon as I tried it, I was disappointed. The new haircolor was supposed to take less time to apply than the previous formula, but the color turned out flat, dull, and a lot less golden-brown than my old color. Each box now came with an extra color packet to be rinsed in two weeks after the first dye. It was such a horrifying shade of orange when I opened it that I immediately threw it out. Natural Instincts had also changed their in-box conditioner to a new formula, which was terrible too – the old conditioner was fantastic and left my hair smooth and shiny. (That conditioner was half the reason I fell in love with Natural Instincts in the first place!) But the new conditioner felt cheap and thin. It did not condition my hair well at all.
Some people are very resistant to change, and I’m one of them. This new Natural Instincts was definitely not for me.
The next day, I returned the remaining two boxes, then ran around town buying up all of the “old” Natural Instincts that I could find in my favorite colors. Many stores had already gotten rid of their older stock, so this was a challenge. The boxes I found lasted me about six months.
And then… I had a dilemma.
I didn’t want to go with a permanent haircolor, but the “new” Natural Instincts was such a disappointment. (And I’m not the only one who feels this way – check out the myriad of negative reviews on their site under the pink “Read All Reviews” link… reading many stories about the extra color packet staining people’s skin and scalps bright orange made me glad I threw it away before trying it. There are pages of negative reviews of the “new” Natural Instincts at this link, and this link, and this link too. What a mess.)
And yet, there was that box of Garnier Herbashine that had been patiently waiting for eleven months in my pantry.
I opened it. Hesitantly, I used it. And do you know what? My hair came out soft, shiny, and golden brown. The Herbashine came with a gloriously thick conditioner that was almost like a hair mask. And like my old Natural Instincts, it’s also a temporary color that washes out after a while, which is what I’m comfortable using.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Guess which haircolor I’m going to be buying from now on?
All because Garnier was kind enough to offer a coupon for a free box on their website.
***
Sometimes I receive email from readers asking what benefit there is to a company to issue a free product. In my case, that coupon was the first step in me becoming loyal to a new product that I would not have tried without it. And certainly, had Natural Instincts not overhauled their product for the worse, I wouldn’t have been compelled to find something else.
But the fact remains – a single free coupon has the potential to represent years of future loyalty.
Note: With FCC guidelines for bloggers being what they are, I would like to disclose that I was not asked or required to write about either Natural Instincts or Herbashine, and I have received no compensation for this post. It’s simply a real-life observation from my own experiences.
shelby says
on Target.com
rebeccacooks4u says
I got a couple boxes of this a few months ago when they had a really good sale (coupled with my coupons of course). I haven’t colored my hair in a long time (tried it on a whim while in college) & have been a bit scared to give it a try. Those boxes are still sitting on my bathroom counter, just waiting to cover up my gray. Now that I hear how pleased you are with it I think I will get over my fear & give it a try. And like you said, if I picked out the wrong color & hate it I won’t be stuck with it forever. :)
Violet says
I love Clairol Nice N’ Easy #124 and the idea of it being discontinued gives me shivers. I have actually tried other similar shades and nothing is as good. This makes me want to write Clairol to let them know I hope they never get rid of it!
frugalsheila says
I, too, am a Natural Instincts girl as well and have been for at least three years now. Lucky #13- Suede. And you are making me very nervous because my stash of the original formula is dwindling fast….. the last box I used may have been my last of the old formula. But I didn’t worry too much because I have all of those new boxes…..
Uh. oh.
kouponer says
I, too, inherited the go-gray-early gene so I’ve been dying my hair regularly since I was about 28. I tried doing it myself a couple of times with Clairol’s Natural Instincts (back when it first came out) and had disastrous results. I didn’t cover my grays completely and always looked uneven. That’s when I sucked it up and started paying my hairdresser to do it. I paid her about $140 every six weeks to color, cut, and style it. Occassionally, I really splurged and got a few highlights, too which bumped the cost to around $200. Where we live, this is the norm for that kind of salon service.
Flash back to 8 months ago…my husband and I were having one of our quarterly financial “summits” and realized that if we kicked about $150/month more toward our debts, we’d have everything paid off in about 20 months. I will give my husband the credit that he never asked me to give up my salon hair dying. It was obvious to me that it was a luxury that I could let go of for a couple of years.
I broke the news to my hairdresser and asked her advice on what store brands were the best (in her opinion). She said to NEVER buy Feria or Garnier as they damaged the hair the most. Then she recommended either L’Oreal Preference or the Clairol Touch-Up. Some of her clients had tried Clairol Nice ‘n Easy and found that it faded too quickly or didn’t cover all the grays.
My hair is about 75% silver (under the hair dye!), and I’ve been using the L’Oreal Preference in Chocolate every other month and the Clairol Touch-up on the opposite months. This seems to work for me. Also, my salon had a Groupon a couple of months ago for highlights, conditioning treatement, and cut and style. I snatched up a couple of those and I used the first one last week. Boy did I need it! I think I can make it another 12 months!
soapboxtray says
I haven’t dyed my hair yet, but at 41 I am starting to get some gray strands, I know I am lucky to have gone this long, and there so few strands but I notice and they are too many to keep plucking out or I would be bald in the front of my head :-) I actually think I did buy some of this when it was free or close in prep for the big day. I will have to look in my cabinet and see what I have. I think I will take the plunge. I do like my natural hair color and will miss it!
My friend says that once I start, I wont be able to stop so delay as long as possible. Is that true with the temporary as well? Seems like in theory it should fade in time and not have the line? Thanks.
Charlie Q says
Jill, many pay big bucks to a stylist to get that “streak” and Mother Nature has given you a “coupon” to have it for FREE and you choose not to take advantage of it. LOL
mcmomy says
How have you stayed as thin as you were at 22?!
wireman1979 says
I, too, started going grey at a very young age…about 19. Like Jill it was just a few strands; at first. Then when my youngest sister got married I really started going grey in earnest. (Our Mom was dead and I was helping sister with the wedding…very stressful.) At first my girlfriend (who is a hair dresser and has a shop in her basement) handled it for me with Redken’s Shades EQ. Absolutely loved it. But she had three young boys and was often hard to reach and schedule with. So I started doing it myself with Natural Instincts. It about destroyed my hair. Totally fried it and dried it out. So I went back to my friend for a while and then life intervened again. This time I started using L’Oreal ColorSpa Moisture Actif. It was AWESOME! I was always happy with the color results and the enclosed conditioner was great. Now it is no longer sold…very sad face!! So I went back to Natural Instincts. If I could find ANY FREE COUPON for any NON-PERMANENT hair color I would probably jump at the chance to try it! I’m not looking to go back to the natural white blonde of my girlhood; just stave off the grey for the time being! I am less than 30-40% grey but it is along the part and hairline around my face.
LeaMJ says
I am very disturbed after reading the reviews of Clairol’s new formulation of their Natural Instincts line. I definitely will not be using the color refresher as I have no intention of turning my hair orange as some other women have suffered from according to the reviews Jill linked to. Also, I have a marble shower and cannot contemplate the harm it would do to either the stone (or my marriage as my husband freaks out about the regular hair color that can be washed away) to try to clean up the orange goop and staining others have reported. I have one box left of the old formulation in my stockpile but about 5 of the new that I bought on coupon deals. I don’t think I have the receipts except for 2 boxes I bought at Walgreens during the last deal. My question is: Have others been successful in returning the hair color directly to the manufacturer as I’m tempted to do this to make my point about their losing customers by trying to sell an inferior product? I’m thinking of trying it out one time but if I get the dryness or weak color that fades fast and does not keep my gray covered that is it for me and Natural Instincst, which will be a shame as I too having been using the product for probably at least 12 years or more.
jewelover says
I went posted on there about how much I do not like the new Natural Instincts either. And there were pages beyond pages with really detailed posts about how the new Natural Instincts dries out your hair, how bad that orange dye pack is, dating back to like May of this year. My post that I wrote went up last week too on their reviews site.
I went back to see what people were saying and ALL OF THOSE posts are gone!! Everything left says how nice Natural Instincts is. HMM. Not likely if you have tried the new kind. I smell a rat and it makes me dislike Natural Instincts even more if they think they can just delete all the bad reviews that way out numbered the good ones by a long shot.
I was done buying Natural INstincts anyway after they messed it up but I won’t buy any P&G hair color now either. How dare they not listen to their own customers. You want to delete me after I take the time to write to you my honest opinions?? I’m gone.
kay9pets says
Has anyone used their light blonde shade? I have not seen anything but brown & black shades in a number of stores altho I see on their website they do have blonde. My natural color is light blonde and I know while the temporary color won’t lighten hair it can darken it. I have little grey and it is just strands here and there, no ‘stripes’ or large areas, so the grey kind of looks like highlights right now, but I thought if I were to come across a deal on the herbashine I might get some. The blonde shades are very few and even the lightest one looks too dark, so just looking for anyone who has used their lightest shade.