Saturday, February 8, 2014

Madison Reed Hair Color Review



As a blogger who writes about beauty products (and of course parenting), Liz was asked to review Madison Reed hair color. She received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Madison Reed.

Why Color at Home?
As someone who is experienced in home hair color, I was really excited to try this product. I've been dying my hair since I was 16, so at 37 I've experienced a lot of home hair coloring. I can count the number of times I've been to a salon for color on my hands. I typically color at home for two reasons: it's faster and since I have to color often, it's more economical. My hair has been "going gray" since I was 16 (insert sad face here) and it grows very quickly, so roots tend to show quickly as well. For those reasons, home hair color is the way to go for me.

Madison Reed: The Order
Madison Reed provides at home hair color delivered to your door. It's such a fantastic idea - you go to their website, choose your color, and you can have it delivered once or you can schedule deliveries. If you opt to have it sent every X number of weeks, it will be sent automatically without you having to go back to the website (but you can always change your color or opt to stop receiving coloring kits). Customer service is fantastic and readily available - you can send their Color Crew a photo of your hair and they'll help you pick the right color for you if you have questions. The selection is amazing - you'll definitely be able to find your color (or the color you want) from their selection. 

Madison Reed: The Package
When you order, what comes in your package? Everything you'll need to color at home well - gloves, shampoo and conditioner, a cap to put over your colored hair, a cloth to remove color from the skin, and even a package of lotion to help prevent skin/color contact in the first place. The instructions are easy to understand, and the process is easy. The only things you'll need from your beauty drawer are hair clips to section off your hair into four sections.



Madison Reed: The Process
As someone who colors at home often, I have things I look for. How easy is the mixing process? How useful is the applicator bottle? How is the smell? How easily does the mixture apply? How long does it take? The mixing process here is easy. Take the tube of color, open it by flipping over the cap and puncturing the seal, and squeeze the color into the bottle. Once all the color is in the bottle, close the bottle and shake it to mix. Easy! What about the applicator bottle? I liked the size and shape of their bottle as it felt comfortable in my hand. It's also clear so you can see how much product you have left. How is the smell? There is little to no smell - Madison Reed products do not contain ammonia,  so even when I closed the bathroom door I wasn't feeling smell overwhelmed as I do often with hair color. How easily does the mixture apply? It applies fairly easily. I found that the bottle held a lot of air and thus the mixture stayed at the bottom of the bottle. Even when held upside down I had to shake it a little to get the product to come out. Once I realized that, it wasn't a problem. How long does it take? It took me the normal amount of time to color my hair and the wait time was 35 minutes. If you're just dying your roots then it's 15 minutes.

Let's do this!
Conclusions
When I ordered my package to try out Madison Reed a friend who is a stylist commented "No, not box color!" When I received my package I asked her to review the ingredients to see if her complaint was warranted. She compared the ingredients to the ingredients in the products she was trained with at a high-end salon, and found that they were very similar. She also said that many at home color products contain metals that are harsh and hard to remove from the hair, but the ingredients from the Madison Reed products did not contain these.


When I color at home I've had so many experiences - hair feels dry and straw-like after coloring, the scent is overpowering (and stays with you). I've found that my hair after using Madison Reed is soft, bouncy, "happy" hair. I have to say I especially love the shampoo and conditioner they provide. The color is true to my selection, is easy to apply, and washes out to healthy, "happy" hair. I would suggest their products to women who color at home or are interested in trying home hair color.

The outcome!
Have you tried Madison Reed products? What is your favorite aspect of Madison Reed hair color from this review? Let us know in the comments.