Kristin Ess Signature Hair Gloss - Smoky Topaz: Medium Neutral Blonde

Wouldn’t buy again didn’t really do anything way to much money for this product

I’ve been experimenting with my own hair since Covid, and enjoy it so much I have continued and avoided paying too much at salons. I have been doing “ombré” hair, or at least that’s how it started. I don’t mess with my natural, medium brown on top, just the ends that slowly fade to a very bleach blonde. Over the years I’ve purposely bleached my front pieces that frame my face, and accidentally got bleach above my ear - which i’ve turned into a “money piece” (random chunk of hair that’s bleach blonde from root to end. I love doing my own hair (it’s therapeutic in a way, and so satisfying when it comes out better than I expected, even more satisfying when someone compliments my hair (it doesn’t always turn out great, I’ve definitely made some opes. However, the one thing that always trips me up, is the toning. If I want to tone my dark orange/copper mid-section, I have to use a 5A or light ash brown/dark ash blonde. While this works fantastic on the brassy part, it’s proven very difficult to avoid getting that darker toner mixed in with my bleached ends. Admittedly, this was easier before I started adding the front pieces and accidental money piece in the mix. Then whenever I tone the blonde to be less yellow and more of a natural hue, it comes out either gray or purple, or it only tones the very blonde and leaves a light orange mess behind. I’ve tried everything from demi/semi and permanent hair dyes and toners, to purple masks, purple shampoos - everything from the popular and affordable drug store brands, to the more expensive salon-quality brands. I was looking to try something new, basically just a toner or purple shampoo/mask but a different brand, and I came across this. I’ve used Kristen Ess products before (I looooove her hair detangler spray and swear by it) so I knew it was a good brand with affordable yet “expensive-looking” and high quality products. I searched through reviews on this Amazon page, as well as the Kristen Ess website & google images, for before-and-after photos, but mostly people just posted photos of the box 😭 and left vague reviews. I watched so many videos and tried to get an idea of how this would help with my brass, without darkening the blonde (too much) or turning it purple. Not much luck but… I decided to just go for it. I got the color “Smoky Topaz.” I love that it was a good price, no harsh or stinky chemicals (ammonia), and wasn’t permanent. So if I really messed up I could easily fix it with a quick bleach bath or color remover. I know it says “in shower” but I found it so much easier to rinse my hair with warm water in the sink and throw it up in a towel until it was damp, but not still dripping wet. A lot of videos I watched, girls put this directly on dry hair- while it is true that dry hair may absorb product much more quickly, in my experience, working with wet or (preferably) towel-dried hair helps so much with making sure the product is evenly dispersed. With dry hair, you can end up with patchy and uneven results. I mixed the product and started at my midsection which needed the most color-change. I noticed reviews here mentioning that it smells bad- have they never used hair bleach or dye with ammonia?! That’s open-a-window bad. This, on the other hand, smelled mostly medicinal in a way, but wasn’t overpowering and didn’t bother me one bit. After applying to my entire midsection, front pieces, and money piece, I mixed the rest into my ends and combed through to make sure every strand was evenly coated. I wrapped it up in a microfiber towel (since they are not very absorbent. But a shower cap, plastic wrap, or even a plastic bag work better! I just didn’t have any on me). I saw a few videos where girls rinsed after 10 minutes and didn’t see any results, so I decided to leave mine on for roughly 25-30 minutes, since my brass was BRASSIN. Next, I hopped in the shower and used shampoo as normal. I have very oily roots and dry, knotty hair, so I was surprised when I was able to run my fingers through my hair after just adding the shampoo! It felt like I was rinsing out a deep conditioner, rather than my shampoo. I then conditioned as normal. I let my hair towel/air dry for accurate before & after photos. Results: it definitely toned down the less severe brass, and darkened the blonde more than I thought it would. However, it got rid of ALL yellow and light orangey pieces. The darker brass is still there, perhaps toned down just a bit. This stuff did make my hair super soft and shiny! I shared 2 before photos and 2 after, each with the flash on and with just natural lighting. Hair looks much brassier in the flash photos, but is more subtle in person. I labeled the photos in case they upload out of order. All said and done, I would definitely use this product again, although maybe in a different shade. I think I’d try a darker neutralizer on the midsection, then blend with a lighter toner gloss on the ends. I do love that this isn’t damaging to my hair like other toners (I do enough of that on my own with the bleach) and that it will wash out in 8 weeks or so. I would recommend this particular shade for those with medium brown hair who want to get rid of yellowing or brassy highlights, or for those who just freshly bleached and want a more natural color (keep in mind, this *did* darken my level 8 or 9 ends to a 6 or 7, so not recommended for bleach blondes looking to just get rid of yellowing- try a much lighter shade!)

Really worked to tone out some of my blonde. Not very drastic but nice!

I have been using this gloss for years. It works very well! I am pleased with the results. I will continue buying this gloss as long as it is available.

1000% recommend! My blonde had grown out badly—I recently had a baby (now six months old), and I hadn’t had highlights done in quite a while. This toner completely exceeded my expectations. The results are truly salon-quality at an amazing price point, and I couldn’t be happier. I love it so much that I set up Subscribe & Save so it arrives automatically every 5–6 weeks. Such a game-changer—highly, highly recommend!