Many things in life carry hidden costs that aren’t reflected in their initial price tags (caveat emptor indeed). For example, if you buy a large house, you’ll most likely need to spend more money to get it cleaned (or more time cleaning it yourself). If you start using waterproof mascara, you’ll also need to purchase eye makeup remover. If you color your hair, you’ll have to start buying sulfate-free shampoo to help preserve that color—and hair treatments like the one I’ll talk about today: BB Color Gloss from Bumble and bumble.

Bumble and bumble started out as a high-end hair salon in NYC, but it has since grown into a brand that is actually owned by Estee Lauder. The brand doesn’t test on animals, and makes really premium products meant to deliver a high-end salon experience to your hair, even at home. One such “treat yo’self” product is the BB Color Gloss hair treatment.

BB Color Gloss comes in a few different hues: cool blonde, warm blonde, brunette, and red hair. It also comes in clear, which is the version we’ll focus on today.

BB Color Gloss Clear ingredients

My Dad the Chemist’s review of BB Color Gloss Clear

BB Color Gloss Clear review

My dad thinks that the ingredient list for BB Color Gloss Clear looks good, and that it will help provide conditioning for color-treated hair, as well as some shine. I agree with this—the fact that it includes argan oil (listed as argania spinosa kernel oil in this product) is a plus for me, as my hair has responded positively to argan oil in the past. It also includes silicones, which are commonly used in conditioners to reduce frizz. Dimethicone is one of the most popular types of silicones used in hair care products, according to this article.

This BB Color Gloss hair treatment claims to help enhance color-treated hair, make color more vibrant, and add shine. According to my dad, shampooing and UV exposure are the two ways that your hair color fades, so this hair treatment could help if you use it before shampooing your hair. Bumble and bumble’s website also instructs you to use it like this, by first applying it to your hair for 20 minutes, rinsing it out, and then using shampoo and conditioner on your hair as usual. If you follow these instructions my dad thinks that it may help preserve color, since it helps form a protective coat on your hair before you shampoo, especially if you don’t rinse it out completely. However, if you don’t rinse it out thoroughly, the oils and silicones (which help add shine) may also weigh down your hair. It seems that hair care products are always tasked with striking a balance between nourishing and weighing down your hair.

I find it quite intriguing that you can use a rinse-off treatment like this to help prolong your hair color and add shine to color-treated hair. It certainly sounds appealing—who wouldn’t want their hair color to last, after all? However, I’m not entirely convinced that BB Color Gloss Clear is any better than other hair products that contain oils and silicones to help add shine to hair. At such a premium price point, BB Color Gloss Clear might contain higher-quality ingredients that are less likely to weigh your hair down, but I can’t say for sure until I try it out myself.

Related reading

• Aveeno Nourish + Shine Shampoo Review
• Kirkland Signature Moisture Shampoo Review
• Kirkland Signature Moisture Conditioner Review
• UV protection for color-treated hair—does it really work?