Madison Reed Hair Color Review 2020
My real-life experience with the Madison Reed Hair Color kit.
I’ve had canas since I was 15. Really. There’s a headshot of me and my very first gray hair hanging somewhere in my mother’s house. When it was just one, I didn’t worry about coloring it. It was cute, even. But the older I got, the more canas showed up, and as much as I am all about #teamnatural, I’m just not ready to embrace full-on salt-n-pepper hair at 31. (Besides, my grays are more like whites, and since they now exist in patches at the VERY FRONT of my head, they end up looking more like bald spots…ain’t nobody got time for that).
So when I was around 23 (coincidentally, the same age I was after I’d had my first baby), I started consistently coloring my grays. At first I could get away with just doing a root touch-up, but eventually I had to start coloring my whole head. When I was still killing my curls with a flat iron, coloring my hair was my FAVORITE thing ever because it would make my strands so soft and shiny. Once I started going natural and learning more about what’s actually in the hair dye, I started looking for cleaner alternatives, like color-depositing conditioners and gray-concealing sprays. The problem with those was that they were just too messy and the color would be all over my pillow cases and clothes…not a cute look.
Enter Madison Reed.
I’d heard about this brand online but had never met an actual human that used it. Then a friend of mine tried it, loved it, and talked me into buying it, so here we are.
What is Madison Reed?
Madison Reed is a hair care company founded by Amy Errett, and named after her daughter. She has the cutest story about what Madison said to her that finally made her take the leap and start the company).
What makes this hair color company different is that their product is produced without harsh ingredients like ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, phthalates and gluten, and has added hair-loving ingredients like keratin, argan oil, and ginseng root extract.
How does it work?
I started out by taking the hair color quiz on their website. It asked a bunch of questions about the color of my hair at the ends and roots, my hair texture, and what my goal was for this coloring. Although I wanted to make a more drastic change and go for an auburn-y red (hello, Fall!) I decided to play it safe this first time around and just get back to looking young again. (Now, you can make a more drastic change, but you’d have to call their customer service - which is actually called the Color Crew - and get a professional colorist to help you pick the best color).
The shade I was matched with was actually spot on. It’s a dark brown called Barletta Brown, which looked a lot like the color I already had, but with more dimension.
Next, I chose to purchase a subscription so that my color could be auto-shipped every 7 weeks. You can do a one-time purchase, but the subscription saves you 15%, and takes the thinking out of things. I don’t know about y’all, but I have about a million things to remember to do, and the less stuff I have to add to that list, the better.
What Comes in The Coloring Kit?
First of all, the kit is adorable. It comes in a small cardboard box that says “We believe CONFIDENT is the new BEAUTIFUL” on the inside cover, and it has everything you need to get started:
Instructions (because let’s be real, no matter how many times you’ve done this at home, you still need illustrated steps as a reminder).
Barrier Cream - to wipe onto your hairline, neck, and ears, so there’s no evidence that this color ain’t your God-given one.
Cleansing wipe - because even though you have towels and gloves, you’re still going to get color on your cheek somehow…at least I did.
Radiant Cream Color & Conditioning Color Activator - so you can feel like a coloring pro, mixing these two together like Dexter in his Laboratory (if you’re any younger than 30, that reference was probably lost on you). The Cream Color comes in a tube with an applicator attachment so you can just squeeze the color onto your hair.
Protective cap - to put over your hair while you wait for the color to do it’s thang.
Gloves - the good, dark, thick kind, not the clear ones you get in the box colors from H-E-B.
Color Protecting Shampoo & Conditioner - two separate sleeves for one wash.
My hair is coarse and about shoulder-length, so when I saw the size of the color tube, I did not think it was going to be enough to cover everything. I was pleasantly surprised, though, and even had a little color left over.
Is It Any Good?
So let’s break this down into parts:
I love the color itself. It doesn’t smell as strong as other colors I’ve used, and it was easy to mix. When I rinsed the color out, my hair felt super soft and slippery, like I was rinsing out a conditioner and not a hair dye. As a major plus, it rinsed out pretty easily and without leaving too much color in my shower. Y’all know what I’m talking about. Especially if you’ve ever dyed your hair red…it can leave your shower looking like that scene from Carrie. Not seeing a lot of color in the shower meant, to me, that most of the color was in my hair, where it should be. For my first application, I gotta say I was impressed.
Now, the shampoo and conditioner was another story. I have coarse, 3b curls and they need buckets of moisture. The amount of conditioner that came in the little sleeve wasn’t nearly enough, especially since the shampoo left my hair feeling a little dry. I did look at the ingredients list for the shampoo and one of the first ones is Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, which made me briefly panic, until I Googled it and found out it’s water-soluble. Still, it just wasn’t a good fit for my hair texture.
The barrier cream really did what it was meant to do and kept the color off of my skin. Like I mentioned, though, I somehow managed to get color on my cheek (I think I may have plopped a section onto the top of my head and it got onto my face? Seriously, I’m a hot mess when I’m coloring so I couldn’t tell you exactly what happened). The cleansing wipe came through, though, and I was able to get the color off in one swipe…then proceeded to use it to wipe up the little color droplets that landed in my sink.
Best of all, no curls were harmed in the coloring process. Y’all know my curls are basically my babies, so the fact that my curl pattern was unaffected is a major bonus. My hair is soft, but without the flat, stringyness that comes after coloring.
Would I Buy it Again?
Absolutely. As with all products, I highly suggest you try it for yourself to see if it works for you, but I definitely recommend it.
OH, I Forgot to Tell You About the Price!
For a one-time purchase, the hair color kit is $26.50. If you subscribe for auto-shipments, it’s $22.00 and your first shipment also comes with a special towel that Madison Reed claims will cut your drying time in half. I didn’t actually use the towel this first time around (honestly, I forgot HAHA) but I’ll update this post once I do.
I’ll leave you with my Before/After and you can see how beautifully the color matched for yourself:
