Better For You hair color with Madison Reed

The number of grey hairs sprouting on my head seems to be multiplying exponentially by the month! I'm not getting any younger, and I'm not too proud to admit that I'm vain enough to want to get rid of the grey.  I used to pluck the grey hairs from my head, but unless I want to go bald, that's not going to work any more! The thought of spending hundreds at a beauty salon for a good coloring job isn't my style, but I don't want to be the crazy lady who everyone can see colors her hair because she does such an awful job at it.  When Madison Reed invited me to try their salon quality hair color, I was a bit reluctant, but decided to give it a shot.  They're a San Francisco startup with deep roots (pun intended!) in the styling industry, and they're make waves (again, pun intended!) in the Bay Area, so why not?  My trust was well founded -- I've discovered that Madison Reed is definitely not your everyday, run-of-the-mill, DIY drugstore hair color.

Madison Reed makes it so easy to select a color that works for you. Through their Color Advisor, Color Translator or mobile app, you get asked a series of questions about your current hair type and color, then you get suggestions on colors to order.

You can place a recurring order (which saves you the most money) or order a single hair color kit.  Your hair color kit is delivered straight to your home.

Everything you need to get beautiful, even color is right in the box -- not just the coloring and the applicator bottle, but also two sets of disposable gloves, some cream to prevent your skin from staining, cleansing towelettes, and small bottles of shampoo and conditioner to keep your new haircolor looking its best.

Here's my before photo.  I've parted my hair into four sections, as instructed, so I can get at the roots more easily.

Here I am, beginning to apply the coloring.  The instructions and illustrations on the box make everything easy as pie. I love the fact that Madison Reed hair color doesn't smell like chemicals or dyes!  It hardly smells at all -- if anything, it smells like a mild, lavender-scented lotion. That's because Madison Reed hair color is PPD, resorcinol, ammonia, and paraben free.

That cream you see on my forehead above?  It looks funny, but it's really useful.  You apply it all around your hairline to keep the coloring from staining your skin.  You can see in the photo below that some of the cream got smudged away, and there's a big, brown color stain on the corner of my forehead.  Fortunately, Madison Reed also provided a cleansing towelette to help me wipe away some of that stain.

Here I am with my shower cap on, waiting for the color to set.  Since Madison Reed doesn't use harsh chemicals in their products, your skin and scalp don't sting!

Note: when the instructions say "Rinse until water runs clear", MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THEM!  Even when you think you've rinsed all of the coloring out, rinse it for five more minutes.The bathrobe I wore while rinsing out the coloring did get stained pretty badly at the neckline, and my pillowcases have some stains as well.  Washing them has not gotten the stains out, so I think I may have to bleach them out.  Let's hope that works!

Here's my "after" shot.  It's hard to see the difference in the photo, but Madison Reed got rid of the grey!  Venezia Brown turned out to be the perfect shade -- it was so close to my real hair color that not even my husband noticed that I had colored my hair!  It's actually a bit lighter and a lot brighter, and I'm really happy with it. The coverage is nice and even, and my hair is so nice and shiny (and did I mention no grey?).  Madison Reed is a great find, and I'm definitely using it again when my roots start to show!

Disclosure: This is a compensated post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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