Madison Reed

Madison Reed is too weak to effectively cover grays and way overpriced. Sally has Color Brilliance by Ion for $5.99 per application. It's PPD free and just like this product for a fraction of the price. You simply mix a tube of the color Brilliance it 1:1 with a 20-volume developer and apply for 30-45 minutes. Beautiful and inexpensive!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I use Madison Reed in between my colorings at the salon to cover grey roots. What I love about Madison Reed is that it is ammonia-free and comes with everything you need. You can buy the shampoo and conditioner separately which are sulfate-free and good products. The packaging is awesome. I have been using ammonia-free color for at least ten years and although the price point is good, I have to go back to using drugstore ammonia-free color. I have left the Madison Reed color on for as long and longer than the instructions say and at first, the color is great. A week later, the color has faded from the root grow-out area. Ten days later, it is fully showing. The color just doesn't stick. I contacted their customer support about this and they said I wasn't leaving it on long enough. But no matter how much longer I leave it on (an hour and 15 minutes!), it doesn't cover grey. I am super disappointed because I love everything else about it. But I am canceling my subscription.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I had used Madison Reed color for many years and really loved it. I ordered 2 applications for each shipment. Recently, however, instead of sending 2 separate applications, they began sending 2 tubes of color and only one of the developer, which I was supposed to split for each application. One of the reasons I loved their color was the ease of preparing and applying with consistent color every time. I could never get the measurement of developer correct and my color with either be too dark or too light. After trying to use the new kits several times, I called and asked for the two bottles again and was told that they no longer did that. So I have unsubscribed and will go to a competitor. Too bad.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I'm very disappointed. I had high hopes for this process but it started out poorly and ended up not what I wanted. I have dark blonde hair, with 6-month-old balayage highlights that were medium to light blonde and had grown out halfway down my long hair. All of this was noted when ordering my product and in the follow up email from Madison Reed. I wanted a medium strawberry blonde, just a bit lighter and redder than my natural dishwater dark blonde color. Instead, Madison Reed advised me they were not going to send what I requested, and were sending a dark strawberry blonde they thought was a better fit for me. Well, all I have to look at is hair color on the internet so I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt that the color would be lighter in my hair than my natural color and look good. Instead, what I got was the same dark blonde as my natural color, with some copper tones. It's not any lighter than natural and not what I was looking for. It's not shinier or improved in any way. In addition it did not fully cover the gray at my temples even though I colored those first and fully, which was the real impetus for moving from highlights to a full color. I wasted my money and can't see trying again after they botched this order.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I was very excited to try Madison Reed as I was tired of spending money at the salon and the drugstore brands seemed to fade after a few weeks.

Everyone there was very nice AND they totally ruined my hair color.

I went to the salon for the "Roots" service.

What they don't tell you: You need to have your hair dyed single process with their product for the "Roots" service to match the rest of your hair. They are very limited in the shades of color that they offer. If you have medium to dark brown hair you should be just fine.

I expected a salon that specializes in color would tell me that they would not be able to match my color. I came in with light golden brown. When they were finished, I had medium brown-red on the crown and the rest of my hair was light golden brown. A disaster!

I was told that they DO not pull the color to the ends of the strand and that is called "single-process color".

My expectation would be that the stylist would inform me that they would not be able to match my roots to the ends.

They agreed to "fix" the problem for free. Now, my hair color is some weird red/med brown and my hairline is copper.

BTW, my scalp is very itchy so I'm not sure about their natural products.

In conclusion, I'm going to have to go to a real salon and have the color corrected back to my original light golden brown.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Disappointed in my gray coverage. Going to have to color it again. I think the product needs to stay on longer but I followed ALL the directions for gray coverage. It seems that the required 45-50 minutes should be adequate. There’s not much else to say but this post requires 180 words so I’m just typing to fill the requirements.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I LOVED everything about Madison Reed the first time I used it - perfect color and coverage over my grays, no smell, no burn, and shiny soft hair. So what happened? Four weeks later, I used this product again to cover my gray roots and pulled the color through and everything 4 inches past my roots were almost black! I called the colorist who advised that I should not pull the color through each time as your ends will become porous. What?! I’ve colored my hair every 4 weeks for 15 years. And nothing could get rid of how dark my hair was - prime for perfection, clarifying shampoo, my stylist, even highlighting. I thought this product was my answer but I’m afraid to ever use it again.

Length of Use: Less than 3 months

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Their hair consultant was very sweet and helpful in recommending products. Within hours of applying it, the swelling, burning, and itching began. Then my eyes began to swell shut. I was in severe pain and could not sleep. I had to constantly apply ice. The doctor gave me prescriptions that did little to help. The product is loaded with known toxins. Their "all natural" marketing scam is a lie.

By the way, my hair consultant never called back after hearing of my reaction. Some customer service.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I have natural medium blond hair with some greying. The color chosen for me was dark, so I opted for the next color up, which was lighter. Thank goodness I did a test strip. I did a pretty good size test strip, and to my horror, it turned dark brown. Thank goodness I can cover it over. "9ngv" was the blond color I selected.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Madison Reed hair color is not worth the price. Either purchase L'Oréal over the counter or pay the price at a professional salon. Madison Reed does not have strong coverage. In other words, it does not lift your hair color to the color promised.

But more importantly, it leaves your hair dull and lifeless. No shine or depth at all. This is the second time I've tried Madison Reed, in hopes the second time I'd get their promised results, and I was terribly disappointed both times.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

It was hard to ignore Madison Reed because of their excessive promotion, and I was game. I color my hair at the salon and wanted to see if I could get "salon results" at home. I was VERY DISAPPOINTED.

The color that they selected for me, based on a very simple online survey, was a complete mismatch. Beware of the company's boasts that the color is multi-tonal; that is just not true. What I was left with resembled a miscolored, dead-looking animal on the top of my head. My husband, who is very allowing at these sorts of things, finally admitted I looked like I had a cheap hair dye.

Ultimately, I would have just chalked this up to a bad decision and moved on, but Madison Reed's INCESSANT emails reminded me daily that I had a bad experience. I finally sent an email to the company asking them to remove me from their email list. I got an email back saying they were sorry I had a bad experience and they would refund me. It's been a month, and that hasn't happened yet. Oh, and by the way, just a couple of days ago, I received a direct mail card in my mailbox.

Madison Reed, stop focusing on how great you are and deliver on what you say you're going to do.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend