Beauty

[Campion]

If you have a friend who gets this or can get in contact with someone, they can share a coupon for you and her. 15 dollars of or something. Worth it to try it.

I'm really happy with the color. Took a photo and was surprised that what looks dark to me, comes out the same color as on the website (a medium ash brown.) Not sure why that is so. Anyway, I'm happy. And yes, if the greys lose color first, it IS a great highlight and a lot easier than pulling through strands or doing foils. 

[Campion]

I think I see that color (mahogany brown) on a lot of actresses and runway models. It's a red violet. Very pretty. I can't do any red in my hair but I liked the look of it on the website.

[UMDTerpFan]

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@Campion wrote:

I succumbed to the ad for Madison Reed because I started coloring my own hair rather than do the salon thing. I had been using John Frieda Precision Foam--easy as pie to apply and I got a nice color based on their website (Almond Brown.) I need an ash tone (no red, no yellow, more violet or blue based) and any color person will tell you, drugstore box color usually doesn't have a blue or violet base because you can screw it up more easily. 

I was getting more and more brassy tones from the John Frieda, so I tried the Madison Reed site. It's more than twice what I was paying (JF costs me about $9 a box and this is $24 unless you have a coupon, in which case it's about $16. ) 

I ordered a bowl and flat brush on a whim, no time to stop in Sally's but it turned out, this was a very good move. 

I went through the color match system for my hair consistency: I have straight-wavy hair with 50-90pct grey, the grey are somewhat resistant (they color, but they fade faster.) I knew I wanted ash tone and my normal color is a dark brunette but I try to go a shade lighter sometimes. I ended up with Siena Brown which is a level 6 (NAV neutral Ash Violet). That seemed correct. The pictures are of a medium brunette.

The kit comes with 2 pairs of gloves, a shower type cap, developer in a plastic flask, color in a sealed metal tube, blocking cream, cleansing wipe and a shampoo and conditioner for after processing. Very detailed instructions, are you covering grey, did you already color your hair? Refreshing color? Or changing? 

When I put the color into the developer flask, it did NOT mix well. The color is very thick, heavier than conditioner. Like toothpaste. It did not want to mix well in that flask, so I squeezed it out into the coloring bowl and mixed with the flat brush. That was a good move. It make application way easier. I divided up the hair after blocking my hairline and pushed color into the roots, then over the hair closest scalp. After loading it up, I moved the color to the ends by blending it down by hand (a trick I learned: don't apply color directly to your ends. They HAVE color already. And they are more worn, so they color faster. If you drag it down by hand like shampooing, it will be a lot more natural.) 

Put on the cap and decided to cut the coloring time shorter than they recommend for various reasons. I did 20 min when they said 35. Good move. After washing out and shampooing and conditioning, I had very dark color, darker than the illustration (but I'm a dark brunette naturally) and it was a gorgeous, ashy tone with a vague violet-red highlight that looked very like my original color (ashy dark dark brunette.) My hair was super shiny and didn't have that plasticy feel that you can get with some color. 

All grey covered--except two small patches at temple where I got too close with the blocking cream. Next time, be more careful with that stuff. 

Now the wait: how long will this last? So far, I'm very pleased. The color looks completely professional and I was able to do an ash brunette, which you can't even buy in the drugstore.

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@Campion, Thank you for your very detailed review. I emailed the company about two weeks ago as I was interested in trying their brand since it was recommended in an article I read about gentle hair color that had no ammonia and/or peroxide. Could you report back in about three weeks from now as to how the color held up for fading and whether it maintained the coverage of your gray hair the entire time? Have you also tried eSalon? If so your impressions? I did try that last year and did not like it. The product left my fine naturally curly hair dry and flat. The odor was extremely strong, the strongest hair dye I've smelled and I did not think the color held up well. Plus the shampoo and conditioner that came with my order were awful on my hair. So I canceled my subscription after the first order.  Thanks in advance for a follow up review.

[Campion]

I surely will report back.

Right now, as to smell--it was strong (but I'm like a blood hound) but not ammoniac. It was bearable, and I put the cap on and that helped a great deal.

I do notice that my hair is more susceptible to slumping from conditioner (dye makes your hair thicker and heavier. I have fine hair but a lot of it, comparatively, according to my stylist.)

I'm due for a cut tomorrow; when my hair touches my shoulder, it gets weighed down too much so I have to keep it chin length. This could be adding to the conditioner problem.