Goldwell Elumen RR@all vs. Garnier Nutrisse Light intense auburn for dark hair

I've been using garnier for about 4 months now and I love it. It gives me a very intense red color without bleaching which is a huge plus for me. It covers my grays and can wait up to 6 weeks to dye my hair before it becomes intolerable. By the 6th week it is a bit faded... But still is bright. It just sort of has a matted look rather than a shine, which is ok by me, cuz I know it's time to dye my hair when it gets like that.

Even though I'm enjoying the red dye that I've been using, I have been doing some research because I have always wanted to go a bit more vivid red, like the intense Rihanna red. (The red color that shows up on my hair now only in certain lights). However I wanted bleaching my hair to be the very last resort. I've blonde twice in my life and both totally damaged my hair to the point of no repair... Forcing me to chop it off and start from scratch. With that said, I came across Goldwell Elumen RR@all. A client from work (I'm a makeup artist at a photography studio) told me about Goldwell products after I was admiring her intense fuchsia hair streaks. She told me that the colors are so intense, have no ammonia and barely fade!! All you red dyers know that that is a huge quality to have in a hair dye considering red fades the fastest, and it's neatly impossible to find a good quality red dye.

(Side note: I've tried the loreal professional line of semi perm. Dyes from Sally's and was not impressed. Faded within two weeks)

I digress...

I watched a few youtube videos on the Goldwell product and read some reviews and finally decided to order some off eBay. $14 as compared to $20 or more regularly.

I followed the instructions as far as Vaseline around my hair line and gloves. Cuz this stuff stains like a mother!!

All in all... The end result was not impressive. It looks no different than the garnier... And not only did it not cover my grays but it stained my scalp like a hot red color (was expected). So it just was way more trouble than its worth. You can probably get two treatments out if one bottle depending on how long and thick your hair is... But why bother when you can get two boxes of garnier for like $12 bucks at target.

Obviously results vary by your hair color and if you bleach or not. But if your trying to go the non bleach route and still have vibrant red hair... Garnier so far as I know... Is your best bet.

I'm not completely trashing the Goldwell Elumen. I hear they are very intense colors and you can mix and match to get the color you want. As far as the fading (or shall I say non fading) aspect of it, I'll have to update you when I notice a change.