What conditioner should you use when you color your hair at home?

Hello, my lovelies! I have to apologize for being MIA the past few days, but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, even for an obsessive blogger like myself. :) But not to fear because I'm back and I'm ready to talk about something that I think a lot of you will be able to relate: conditioning your hair after at-home hair coloring.

I've been coloring my own hair for well, as far back as I can remember. My natural color is light brown (I think!), but over the years I've been blonde, fire-engine red and every shade in between. So I'd like to think I know a thing or two about at-home hair color and, more specifically, what to use after you color your own hair.

If you color your own hair and you use a drugstore hair color kit, then chances are you probably use the little bottle of conditioner that comes with your kit. To tell you the truth, those little bottles of conditioner are pretty darn good and, for me at least, they do their job with flying colors. They lock in color, they help protect your hair and they really increase the softness and shine. In fact, the little tubes of conditioner that you get when you buy L'Oreal Feria hair color are so in-demand that you can buy multiple tubes on ebay from sellers who collect them and sell them in lots.

But what do you do if you buy your hair color and developer separately (not in a kit) at Sally or your local beauty supply store? If you're mixing up your own hair color (which is a great way to customize your shade AND save a lot of money), then you're on your own when it comes to which conditioner you use after you rinse.

Let's go back to L'Oreal Feria for a minute. For a few years, I alternated between Feria "Sunset Blaze" and "Copper Shimmer" hair color. While I loved these shades, they proved to be a bit too drying to my hair over the long haul. But it was at this time that I fell in love with that little tube of Feria conditioner that comes in every Feria hair color kit. WOW, this stuff was amazing. I even got a few women at the office hooked on this stuff. I remember one woman in particular who begged me to save my extra bottles for her and even offered to pay me for them. And guess what? That woman didn't even color her hair! She just loved the softening, detangling and shine properties of this little magical conditioner.

So how can you get the best part of the Feria Hair Color kit without actually having to buy Feria Hair Color? Let me introduce you to L'Oreal Feria Professional Color Moisturizing Treatment (retail: $8.29 at Sally Beauty, 6 oz.):

While not an exact match to the little tubes of conditioner that you get with L'Oreal Feria Hair Color, it is pretty darn close. The fragrance is the same, the texture is the same, and I'd say the only difference is that Feria Professional Color Moisturizing Treatment is a teeeeeny bit less moisturizing than the instant my-hair-feels-like-butta effect of the stuff that comes with the Feria hair color kit. But if you leave Feria Professional Color Moisturizing Treatment in your hair for a good 3-5 minutes after you rinse your hair color, I think you will be absolutely delighted with the results. This little gem leaves my hair so soft, so manageable and so shiny after color treatments that I honestly don't know what I'd do without it. I even like to use it on the days when I haven't just colored my hair, because I swear it keeps my color from fading as quickly.

If you don't believe my glowing review, check out the reviews on the Sally Beauty page and also check the reviews on Makeup Alley. This is truly one of those hidden gems that every at-home hair color girl must know about.

Let me know if you already use Feria Professional Color Moisturizing Treatment. I'd love to know your thoughts!