DISCLOSURE:  I received a free box of Vidal Sassoon Salonist from BzzAgent to try and review. All opinions are my own.

For the past few years, I've been getting my hair colored regularly at the salon. The grays were getting to be too much and I'm really bad at dyeing my own hair. I had found a stylist that I trusted to cut and style my hair. She had rescued my hair after a bad dye job by a different stylist. I had been going to her ever since. But, over six months ago, she had changed salons! This was the fourth time now that she had changed salons. I was tired of chasing after her.

So, several months later, my grays were out of control again.  Look how long the strands of gray are! And believe me, there are a lot more grays than what you see in the picture.


Recently, I had the chance to try a new at-home hair color: Vidal Sassoon Salonist. It features a 2-step technique, similar to how stylists color your hair in the salon. It first treats the roots and then the rest of your hair. It results in color that's full of depth and tones, seamlessly blended from roots to tip.


Salonist is available in 24 shades, with 1 being the darkest and 10 being the lightest. I wasn't sure which shade to go with at first. My natural hair color is black, but there are natural highlights as well as the bottom half is redder from my last dye job. I decided to go with a dark brown to try and even out the color and to cover the gray.

When I opened the box, I was a little intimidated by all the pieces!


I have thick hair and it's always been difficult for me to get even coverage with at-home hair color. I've always found it worth the cost to go to the salon, just because of how hard it is for me to get all the hair in the back of my head!

Here's a before picture.  The lighting in my bathroom is horrible! I started with unwashed hair, since I believe that takes color better than freshly washed hair.



You start by mixing the Colour Cream and Colour Activating Lotion in the tray provided.


Next, you're supposed to use 3/4 of the mixture and brush it into your roots. This proved to be the hardest part for me. I have a LOT of hair and it was so hard to get to the roots in the back of my head. I probably should have used two boxes because of all the hair that I have.

The whole time I was trying to apply the mixture, I kept saying to myself that I couldn't do it. The smell of the mixture is pretty strong, too. It didn't help that I have a small bathroom. I did open a window to try and air it out.

If you've colored your hair recently, then you're supposed to reserve the remaining 1/4 of the mixture to mix with the Serum in Step 2. But, because it's been more than six months for me, I used the remaining mixture to run through the length of my hair.

It took forever to get to this part. I then was supposed to wait 20 minutes.


Note the spots of hair dye on my face. I'm so bad at dyeing my own hair! I wore a brown shirt, just in case I got hair dye on it. Then, you wouldn't see it!

Because the baby was crying by now, I probably waited less than 20 minutes before going on to Step 2.  I emptied the Serum into the tray and then applying it all over, massaging it from roots to tip. Then, you're supposed to wait 10 minutes.


Once 10 minutes was up, I jumped into the shower to wash it out. I used Biolage Matrix ColorLast Shampoo and then used the provided Salonist Color Preserving Conditioner. I LOVED this conditioner! It smells awesome and it made my hair so soft and silky. It hasn't felt this great in a long time!


Would you recommend it?  Yes.  I think if I had someone helping me apply it and if I maybe used two boxes instead of 1, I'd get even better results. It does take longer to apply than other at-home kits, so I'd plan accordingly.

How much does it cost?  It retails for about $13.99.

Where can I buy it?  You can find it at all major drug stores, mass merchandisers, grocery stores and online retailers.