Is Courteney Cox' $9 Drugstore Beauty Buy Really A Good Thing?!

Courteney Cox.

We think she's a gorgeous, dark-haired celebrity. So, who wouldn't want to follow any beauty advice she gives out?

We recently picked up on a little tidbit from the Cougar Town actress, regarding at-home hair color. BUT------we're not sure we would be following her suggestion.

So, let's look closer......

Courteney Cox claims she is a loyal fan of Clairol's Natural Instincts Brass Free Brunettes in 5C Medium Brown:

"The $9 drugstore beauty item I buy every 28 days."

Are we to believe that a celebrity like Courteney Cox relies soley on at-home boxes of hair color? That she doesn't use a professional stylist to dye her hair?

Who knows. She could use both, and maybe when her gray roots peek through, she uses a little drugstore Clairol before she gets to her stylist?

If you gather information about Natural Instincts, you would find that this is a demi-permanent hair color. In other words, it lasts through about 28 shampoos, all without ammonia. That means, it is healthier for your locks. And it covers your grays.

The brass free formula that Courteney Cox is raving about, neutralizes unwanted red or orange tones in the hair. That's a good thing.

But the problem with using a demi-permanent hair dye on darker hair is the unwanted build-up or deposit of color that remains on the hair. In other words, you start off with a medium brown, and a few months later, that same box shade you use, begins to look black, even jet black.

And trust us......we've been there. We have watched our dark brown locks turn goth in a matter of months. And then, we had to out-grow it all. Not easy, and patience is a virtue.

As we've always repeated here: Remember---it's easy to go dark, when coloring hair. But if you want to un-do the darkness, you've got quite the challenge on your hands.

Permanent hair color sounds even harsher to hair. Yes, maybe in terms of resulting drier texture and so on, but at least a permanent hair dye eventually fades to a lighter shade. So you don't have to worry about heavy color deposit, at least in our experience.

By the way, if you have great luck using a demi-permanent hair color like Natural Instincts, good for you. And good for Courteney Cox. We have not been so lucky.