How Well Does L'Oreal New Root Rescue (Soft Black) Work?

I got sick and tired of coloring my entire head with hair dye every time I noticed the roots coming in. I knew it wasn't good for my hair, and since my roots grow out so quickly I knew I had to start buying products that focused only on touching up the color of my roots, instead of adding color to my whole head.

I have in the past though, used root touch up kits and always hated the results. When I came across a box of something a little new from L'Oreal though, I was pretty excited to give it a try. It is called L'Oreal Root Rescue, and I picked it up in Soft Black.

Contents:
 
Inside of the box you have a thick pen shape tube which is filled with formula. You are to unscrew the applicator tip and add the color to this formula, and then shake well.

I really liked the small application pen because it was easy to hold, and the application tip which contained soft little plastic bristles helped aide in brushing the color into my roots.

The formula was non-runny so applying the dye was really easy, and I liked that I was able to see what I was doing, and how much formula was left in the wand.

Applying the color was a cinch, now if the color matched perfectly, then I would say that yes, this is the perfect root touch up applicator.

I let the dye sit in my hair as directed, and then went on to wash it out.

Unfortunately, the kit did not come with any sort of conditioner, which is why I buy the larger kits. I love, love, love the conditioning formula that comes with hair color, and this one, sadly had none, even though this touch up kit cost just as much as a full head application kit. Hmph!

At any rate, they claim the conditioner is already in the formula. Yeah, not sure how I feel about that. I still like my small tube of conditioner on the side, thank you.

The Results:
 
Here is where my final complaint rolls in. Once I rinsed the formula out, I did notice that yes, my hair was darker where I was looking to dye it, but it had red highlights to it. Never have I gotten red lights from black dye, no matter what the level. Soft black, blue black, deep black. Never have I gotten odd red lighting.

Granted the hair looked black, in lighting I could clearly see red shimmering through.
All in all, I don't like it. It was way to expensive for what I got as far as results go. My hair was not left feeling dry or brittle, or smelly though, so that is the one plus I found in this system. Other than that, no, I would not buy it again.