eSalon Custom Formulated Hair Colour: Review

Being a girl on a limited budget, I've been on the lookout for a good quality home hair dye.
I would love to get my hair coloured at a salon all the time, but I just can't afford it, and besides, the red hue I prefer my hair to have doesn't last very long, so I would have to get a treatment every month, which would probably require me remortgaging the house.

So I was delighted to hear about US company eSalon, who claim their product is as good as a salon treatment...

About: 

• eSalon was inspired by the idea that beautiful, quality hair color can be accessible without the uncertainties of retail products and the excessive expense of salons.
• We take into account natural hair color, amount of gray hair, previous color applications, hair texture and condition, desired color, and other variables, so you get custom formulated hair color that you could never get off the shelf. There are literally thousands of color possibilities available, and eSalon can provide the best match with a hair color formula and Personalized Instructions customized for each individual client.
• The patent-pending technology enables individual customization on a large scale. Our hair colors are not pre-stocked. Every order is custom blended, bottled and packaged, then sent to the client as soon as it's completed.

So I thought I would give it a try.

First you visit the website and answer questions about your hair type, skin tone and preferences etc;

A screenshot of my online consultation

The photo I sent to eSalon

You then upload a current photo of yourself with your hair in plain view for the stylists to see. 

You then pay $19.95 (about £13) and sit back and wait...

A few days later a mysterious package arrived for me from Los Angeles...

 When I opened it, I was touched at how personalised eSalon had made it, with my name on the instructions. I

also like how they provided you with plenty of shampoo and conditioner, as well as a wipe for your skin and a protecting gel to avoid stains round your hairline.

First I started by mixing the two bottles on the far left together. I sectioned my hair into four different sections and clipped them up with clips. I then clipped one section down at a time and used my fingers and the included brush to apply the first mixture to just my root area. I left this on for 10 minutes.

I then mixed the second bottle of color and waited 15 minutes before applying it to the rest of my hair which was still clipped up into four sections.

This is quite messy, so I would suggest old clothes and a towel which are already stained or ruined. If you're not used to dying your own hair or just unsure about what you are doing, I'd also check out the YouTube tutorials for direction, this is a good one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IESX3nkmshc

After waiting for another 10 minutes I knelt over my bath in an awkward fashion while my husband rinsed the colour out with the shower and used the shampoo and conditioner on me.

And this is the result: 

I love how rich the colour is and how shiny my hair is. It's not an obvious red but it's what I asked for and I'm very happy with the results. It doesn't show up very well on camera, but certain lights really catch the red and it's quite striking and multi-tonal.

As I write this, I'll tell you now that this hair colouring experience actually took place a MONTH ago! My roots aren't very noticeable and the colour is a strong as ever, which is unusual for me when it comes to red home box dyes. I would definitely use eSalon again, perhaps going a bit lighter/redder next time round!

9/10

To order your own eSalon Custom Formulated Hair Colour or for more information, visit them at www.esalon.com