Aveda Black Malva Colour Conditioner

I didn't find the Aveda colour-enhancing shampoos do much, but the colour conditioner definitely packs more of a punch. I use and like the Black Malva variant to prevent the ends of my hair from fading and to keep my hair a cool-toned, dark chestnut.

I'd definitely recommend wearing gloves when applying. If you don't, expect to have greyish tinged hands, nails and cuticles for a couple of days (I don't always follow my own advice, so I do speak from experience here).

I dampen my hair, apply the colour conditioner and then leave overnight before shampooing and conditioning (with a non-colour conditioner) the next morning. I loosely pile up my hair with an old hair tie, and put an old towel over my pillow to protect it. You could just apply after shampooing and leave on for the 5 minutes recommended before rinsing out, but I find I get a better colour deposit (and have to do it less often) using it as a pre-wash overnight treatment.

Black Malva works best for countering red tones. If your hair fades to a golden tone I would strongly recommend using the Clove colour conditioner instead, or mixing the Clove with the Black Malva to deepen it. If you use Black Malva alone on hair with strong yellow tones (and no red tones) you could well end up with greenish toned hair. This doesn't cover greys but it does tone them down a little bit, and makes them a shiny steely silver colour. It has the typical Aveda hippyish scent to it but it's pleasant and not overpowering.

A splodge of the conditioner on some kitchen towel. It's a very dark purple black/brown, and knocks out reddish tones very well.