Real Life Review: Radiant Cream Color and Light Works Balayage

Meet Kira, Senior Designer here at Madison Reed, wife to Max, mom to Maximo, and self-professed longtime colorer of her own hair. We talked to Kira about her history of hair color, and her newfound love of highlights...
 

True, I work for Madison Reed now, but I actually starting using the hair color before I worked here, before I even knew that the company was based nearby! 

My son, Maximo, is three and a half years old now, but the first time I used Madison Reed Radiant Cream Color was when he was just a few months old. It seems weird to connect my hair color to my son, but they are definitely connected! Here’s the thing...people prepare you for all the changes that happen when you have a baby, but no one tells you that EVERYTHING changes! Even the little things, like what I looked for in products. Suddenly I was more concerned with the ingredients not only in my food, but in all the products I used around the house, cleaning products, beauty products, even my hair color. After I had Maximo, I started looking for hair color that wasn’t formulated with ammonia and parabens. A co-worker at the time told me about Madison Reed. I immediately loved it because of the ingredients—both what is in it and what is NOT in it—plus, it was so easy to do myself. When you have a newborn, convenience and affordability become that much more important!

I had been coloring my hair since I was a teenager—everything from henna to all-over highlights. And not every product I tried was a success story. There were lots of freak out moments with emergency runs to the store to try to fix my hair. So even though my co-worker had glowing things to say about Madison Reed, I was still nervous.

I started off using Radiant Cream Color in Catania Brown 5NGM. The first thing I noticed when using it for the first time was that unlike all of my other DIY at-home dye jobs, I didn’t need to open the window due to the smell. The color didn’t smell at all! The whole experience felt more like pampering—it seems like a small detail, but I loved that it came with two pairs of gloves—what a game changer!

After I started working at Madison Reed, we launched the Madison Reed Color Bars. And while I love being able to color my hair myself, with a very active 3 year old, it can be hard to find the time to do it at home without Maximo bursting into the bathroom needing me to help him with something. So I was excited to get my hair colored at the Color Bar. Some uninterrupted me-time! 

I seriously loved my experience at the San Francisco Color Bar. My colorist’s name was Josh, and he is amazing. Even though I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my hair color since I’d been doing it myself for so long, he listened to what I was hoping to achieve and suggested we try Light Works® Balayage Highlighting Kit. I didn’t even think about doing that on my own, but I am so glad we did—the outcome was way better than I imagined! My hair had the same rich color it usually has, but the Light Works in Ardenza added warm dimension. I swear my hair looks thicker! When I got home, both my husband and my son told me how much they loved it. “Mommy—hair nice!” and “Wow, you look beautiful!” Those compliments made me smile for days.

That’s the thing with hair color. It’s not just about the color. When I’m having a good hair day, it changes how I feel. A little more shine on the outside means I’m shiny on the inside, too. I’m me, but me with a boost of inner confidence.

So yes, it’s true that I work for Madison Reed. I even got my mom using the color. She has color-resistant gray hair, but found that Madison Reed covered her hair perfectly. Now she tells all her friends about Madison Reed. From my 3 year old son who says my hair is nice to my mom telling all her friends...gotta love the multi-generational recommendations!