So, as I promised I will be reviewing the eSalon home hair color kit. Alas, I am breaking the other half of my pledge to review the new L'Oreal Light touch Ombre hilight at home color kit. Stick with me now and all will be revealed...
The eSalon process was easier than I thought it would be to order online, but pain in the butt caliber once received at home. You make an account, answer some questions about your hair and upload a picture (if you want, pic is optional). They suggest a color match, you say "sure" and viola'..salon quality hair care right to your door. After opening the box, I regretted it right away. Nothing was wrong with the product, it was just way more time consuming than I had imagined it would be. Time is of the essence when you are a mother to 2 very energetic kiddos, and anything more than 10 minutes is cutting into " Are you serious?!!" territory. Nonetheless after staring at the box for a months, I gave it a go. Oh, wait almost forgot- pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the ordering process should you do this. That sneaky little esalon hustled me for auto delivery, knowing my mind is on 27 things at once and assuredly would not read any fine print or disclosures. I received a touch up root kit in the mail before I ever used the original kit, and after checking my bank account and logging into my esalon account I realized my oversight. Uncheck, auto delivery box...then Ha! In your face esalon! Back to the lecture at hand. After setting aside 2 hours..no shit- 2 hours, I got ready to dye. Without boring you to death- a quick synopsis. You mix part one, you divide, clip, color top of hair. Yep, just the top, wait 15-25 minutes. Then you mix part two, separate, clip hair and do the bottom, from mid shaft to ends. The second step also contains your shine additive. This step is very important, said the package..well duh. Who would only do the first step and dye half their hair? After waiting 25 minutes you fill the part 2 bottle with water, so that the ratio is approximately half remaining dye solution, half water. Shake vigorously, and get in the shower for this part. Use said mixture like a shampoo, dumb on head, mix to a creamy lather, rinse. Shampoo head with real shampoo-its included, rinse and condition-also included. See, how long did it take you to read this? Imagine doing the process at home! If I knew the time frame, didn't have kids and wasn't extremely lazy it wouldn't have been such a PITA but I was ill-prepared. Now, let's talk results. The color was very nice. A little dark brown, a little mahogany, and very shiny. Quite lovely. That said, it was nothing I could not have accomplished with a Feria, John Freida, or Color Preference, for half the price and 3/4 of the time. The experience was more annoying than anything else, only because if I am going to spend time doing my own hair just to save some cash, I wouldn't spend all evening on my hair, ya dig. I would have much rather pampered myself, threw in the extra 50 bucks and relaxed at a brick and mortar salon while someone else did the work. Check out the pictures of before and after. Just like the tv infomercials I made the before shot all ratchety, and the after shot all smooth and sassy. Overall I would give this service 3.5 stars, for ingenuity, and ease of order. I would give the results 4 out of 5 stars for sheer prettiness, but I would give the required actions to acheive all results a 2.5 stars, for just being a time suck. Give it a try if you have lots of time on your hands, or if you are the friend in your bunch that is the "group-appointed" stylist, sit down with the girls, order some products and have a salon spendy. ( a spendy is a sleep over to those of you unaware). My fingers are beat after this blog! Crap, the second part of last blogs committment. The reason I didn't do the self ombre kit is because it was a caramel colored ombre for dark brown hair and my hair is more red than it should be for that color. At least I think so. I might just try it tomorrow, post a pic and get some feedback. What's the worst that could happen...I would have to reorder my exact color, set aside a weekend and redo my original color..On second thought...
To the few ladies who follow my blog...I love you, and you completely make this worthwhile. If just 2 people read me, that's 2 people that read me and that makes me happy!
Tune in next time, when I might have caramel ombre highlights, and You may hear me say.."Upside down mascara? What's the deal with that Sephora?" And, you could read the answer to "Does charcoal really make an effective mask/cleanser, and does this lipstick make my ass look big?"
Remember, its about trial and error, its about the ride, its about new things and as always...Its AboutFace!
