This is a very long review, and considering that I am still doing business with eSalon it will only continue to grow. So in case not everyone wants to read the whole thing, I want to point out right now that eSalon is a fantastic company and it is a pleasure to continue to work with them. I highly recommend using them.
eSalon Review
Hi everyone! Today I will be doing a review on eSalon.com. Esalon is a company that custom formulates hair color for much less than the price of going to a traditional salon. Though the price is a little higher then just going to Walgreens and buying boxed color. One application currently runs $19.99. However, eSalon pushes that one box isn't for everyone. Those of you that have gone to a salon vs doing your own hair from a box will agree. The color from a box almost never turns out the color that you want. Esalon also has a guarantee that you will love your color or they will refund your money or reformulate your color for free.
I first came across eSalon from an article entitled "eSalon, putting colorists out of business." Being the type of girl to color my hair every few months I was intrigued so I read some reviews myself. After looking over others comments and thoughts, eSalon seemed to get a generally positive reviews, so I decided to try it out.
Ordering Process
When you first log on to the website it will ask you a series of questions about your hair - from the texture and length to the last time you colored. Be prepared to have to match your natural hair color to a list of swatches and your current color. At the end it allows you to pick the color that you want to color your hair. However, it will not allow you to pick anything lighter then 2 shades from your current color. I picked out what they called "darkest brown." At the end, the site allows you to submit photos of your current hair so that that colorists can better match a color for you. I submitted two photos: one of what my hair currently looks like, and another from my wedding of the color I wanted my hair to be.
Here, the one on the left is my current color and the one on the right is the color I wanted.
When you are ordering, it gives you options to add a color enhancing shampoo to keep your color looking beautiful in months after you color for $9.95 and to add a coloring kit which includes a color bowl, a timer, a brush and four clips for another $9.95. I opted to add both of these to my order and I placed my order on Monday, April 22. I also wanted to point out that they charge $4.95 for shipping. You can also pay $1.99 to have your color formulated faster so that they can ship it faster.
On Thursday, April 25 I received the following email from eSalon:
esalonDanielle (eSalon Support)
Dear Myra,
Thank you for placing your eSalon order!
We’ve reviewed your photo and wanted to email you about your hair
color selection. According to your order, your desired hair color is at
least two shades darker than your current overall hair color we see in
your photo.
Do you have a photo of what your hair currently looks like?
Feel free to contact us by replying to this email or by calling
1 866 550 2424, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Pacific Time.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
The eSalon Team
I got this email about 30 seconds after they had closed for the day and I was confused since I had submitted a photo of my current hair. I called them the next morning as soon as they opened. The first woman I spoke to was very nice and put me through to my colorist Danielle. She wasn't unpleasant, but it seemed like she was in a hurry. I told her that I did submit a photo and after looking again she claimed that she just "didn't see it" which was fine, and she promised to send my color out that day. Now, when they send your color out it will ship USPS and when it is shipped they will email you the tracking number. I didn't get an email that whole day so the next morning I called back and they said that it will ship out that day which it did. So in total it took then 5 days to ship my color after I ordered.
Receiving my Color
My package arrived on Thursday, May 2.
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| The box before I opened it |
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| Opening it with my name right on the front made me feel so special! |
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| All the color bottles also had my name on them |
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| The timer included a battery! |
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| The shampoo that I also ordered. |
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| I know its hard to read, sorry! It also included: two pairs of gloves, stain remover, stain guard, after color shampoo and conditioner. |
So I followed the instructions and this is the result.
Does that look anything like the color I wanted? No. No it doesn't. I see 5 different colors in this picture! As of now I have called eSalon and I am waiting to hear back. I am so disappointed in my color. I really hope they will send me a new color or give me the promised refund, as I might have to go to an actual salon to fix this. I will update everyone once I hear back.
Update
My colorist called me back really fast after I left her a message! She was very sorry that my color didn't work out and she is sending me out a new color tomorrow. It should have a neutralizer to cancel the red. So hopefully it will work out this time! I will update again after I apply the new color.
Update May7, 2013.
Yesterday, May 6 I received my new color from esalon. I was worried because the site wouldn't show me exactly what color had been sent out. Turns out, they sent me the soft black color. I did NOT want my hair black, so naturally I was a bit nervous when applying the color. I followed the directions to the "t" and I'm still not happy with the results.
My hair is still a bunch of different colors, its not pretty. Luckily,the color they sent me was a demi color, so it will wash out eventually and I can recolor. This last round of color seemed to really damage my hair. It also seemed the I lost more hair during the color process then usual.
Another Update
So! eSalon refunded my full purchase. I did not ask them to but they did. So I received two full color kits and in the end got a full refund. Pretty happy with that. I would have been happier mind you if my color turned out right but this is an okay solution in my book.
Update May 26, 2014
Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile since I used eSalon, but they recently sent me a package with some of their new products to test out! I am so happy try out some of their new items. They did send me these products free of charge but I promise my review is still my own opinions and have not been influenced by eSalon in any way.
This the box as I opened it. I did remove one thing because I wanted to save it for the end so I could surprise everyone! Anyways, the box and packaging is really cute, and the products are packaged really well.
The bags removed from the box.
The first bag.
This is eSalon's new Shampoo and Conditioner. Each bottle is 8.5 oz. I love that they are different colors because it will be harder to mix them up when in the shower. Just looking at them the packaging is really cute, and I love the pump nozzle. I also like that the top of the pump is large, and flat, it will make it easy to use when your hands are wet.
I currently was using Redkin Diamond Oil shampoo and conditioner, so I will be comparing eSalon to them.
Retail on these is $12.45 each.
After using this shampoo I have to say I really do like it, my hair felt very clean after using it. It lathered very well. A huge plus for me is that it smells really good too! I liked the consistency, it seemed like I didn't have to use as much as my regular shampoo.
Verdict: I would purchase this in the future.
The conditioner smells really good, and it seemed to work really well. It has the right mixture between being a moisturizer, without making my hair completely flat. However, it took a lot of this to coat my hair, and this bottle isn't that big, so I wish that they would sell it in a larger size.
Verdict: I love this conditioner, and if they sold it in a larger size I would buy it, or maybe I would just buy two bottles.
Bag number two!
All the goodies from the bag!
I have to admit, when I saw these I was super excited! I LOVE these hair clips. I had two packages (8 clips) from when I colored my hair with eSalon and I use them all the time! These a really great clips, after a year of use at least 2-3 times a week, only one broke. I am so happy they sent me more.
I will be the first to admit that I have yet to find a leave in conditioner that I like, so I am super excited to try this! I have only used it once, and so far I love it. It didn't take a lot to get through my hair and it doesn't leave a film on my hair or on my hands. My hair is about down to the middle of my back, and it only took a nickle size to cover it all. I want to use this a couple more times before determining if this is the elusive perfect leave in conditioner, but I will keep you all updated. Again, this smells really nice.
Update:
I love this product! It really seems to be helping my hair and keeping it looking perfect!
Retail on this is $12.45
This is a product that I want to use a lot more before I can really say if I like it. So far I used it once, and I don't think I used quite enough for my hair length. It has a similar consistency to Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, but it's nicer because it doesn't make your hands feel oily. It smells really pretty, but I want to use it more, before saying that it does work! I will update though, so make sure to check back!
Update:
After using this for about a month I think I really like it! It helps tame flyaways and it also seems to be helping prevent split ends and breaking.
Retail for this item is $16.25
For about the next month I will replace my usual hair routine with all of these products, so that I can really see how they affect my hair after several washes.
Now! For the best thing in the box, that I left out.
I'm going to Los Angeles!!!! eSalon has invited me out to have my hair colored at their headquarters and to see how the company works! I'm so excited. That being said, I will update this again after I get back so that all my followers will know how it went. I am going sometime at the end of June or beginning of July! If you girls and guys have any questions you want to know about eSalon post in the comments below and I will try to ask them when I go!
All the items they sent me can be purchased here:
Update July 1, 2014
I got back a couple days ago from Los Angeles! I really loved visiting eSalon and meeting some of their staff. When I first arrived at their headquarters I was so surprised that it was so small. The entire company is contained within one building. Its really awesome though, that way if, for instance, a colorist wants to collaborate with another colorist she can do so easily. Or if she want to check if a clients order is about to ship she can walk right on over to where they put together your color to see when it will be shipped! Even their IT support is right in the same building. I got to see exactly what happens to an order, start to finish, and let me say the whole process really is amazing. I don't want to give to much away, but they are able to process orders very efficiently and with out ANY possibility that a client will end up with someone else's color.
After my tour with Courtney, we met up with Estelle Baumhauer, and went to lunch. Which was amazing since I was starving after my 5 hour plane ride. Over lunch I got to ask them some really fun, interesting questions. For instance, their most common color request is medium brown. More interesting facts: eSalon was founded by men. The client that uses their services the most, is also a man! Who would have guessed!
After we returned from lunch it was time to do my color again. The photo below is the most recent photo before my color application.
About 3 months before visiting eSalon I had colored my hair a blue/black. It did not turn out great and left my hair in very bad condition. I told Estelle that I wanted to still try for the color that I had originally tried for with my original eSalon order.
This is a dark brown with slight gold undertones. I actually brought her one of the clip extensions that I am wearing in this photo so that the color would be as close as possible to the one I wanted. She colored my hair and the following photos are the result.
It's not 100% the color I wanted, but it is about 98% so I'm really happy! Estelle said that we can work on getting it to 100% in my following color applications! Also, the way she styled my hair after is just stunning! I will have to work on doing it like this myself.
All in all the eSalon trip was a great success and I really look forward to working with the company in the future.
