Kristin Ess Hair Gloss in Smokey Topaz Medium Neutral Blonde - 4 Wk Semi Permanent Hair Dye Glaze - Color Depositing Conditioner & Toner for Vibrant Shine & Gloss - Vegan, Silicone & Ammonia Free

I really like the Kristin Ess Hair Gloss in Smokey Topaz. It gave my hair a nice, subtle refresh and helped tone down unwanted brassiness while adding a pretty, glossy finish. The Smokey Topaz shade worked well with my medium neutral blonde and gave it a more polished, dimensional look without making it look overly dark or unnatural. It was easy to use at home, and I really liked that I could refresh my color without having to commit to permanent dye. My hair also felt soft and looked noticeably shinier afterward. If you’re looking for an easy way to tone and refresh blonde hair between salon visits, I’d definitely recommend giving this a try.

I was really nervous to try this after reading some of the reviews, especially because I have highlighted hair and saw people saying they had issues with the color grabbing strangely on their highlights. But I’m SO happy with how mine turned out. I did make a couple changes to the directions based on reviews and what I wanted from the color. Instead of applying it to wet hair, I applied it to completely dry hair. My hair also hadn’t been washed in a few days and had a small amount of styling product/curl cream in it. I was very thorough with the application and made sure every section was well saturated, especially my highlighted pieces. Once I finished applying it to my entire head, I left it on for a full 30 minutes. The result is exactly what I was hoping for. It took away the brassiness and toned down the overly blonde look without getting rid of my highlights. I can absolutely still see them, but now they’re much softer and more subtle and blend beautifully with the rest of my hair. I may have missed one or two tiny spots, but the color is subtle enough that it really isn’t noticeable. I’m including before (green shirt) and after (dark purple shirt) photos because I think they show the difference better than I can describe it. If you have highlights and are nervous about trying this, obviously everyone’s hair is different, but applying it to dry hair and really taking my time to saturate everything worked beautifully for me.

This prduct did what it was supposed to. I have brown hair with a grown out balayage that has uneven blonde tones. After putting this on my hair , it made my hair soft and silky and evened out the color of the balayage

After using the product my hair was horribly brittle and wasn’t before and I have a handful of greys it didn’t cover. It was ok to somewhat cover and gloss but not worth what I paid for it. I will not buy it again.

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!)

I used this in combination with another gloss color and it worked so well on my hair it lasted about 12 weeks, I will say I was a little bit nervous because at first it pulled red, and I was looking for a more neutral color, but after about three days and washing it one time it seemed to settle into a more neutral color. It was very easy to apply, which I appreciate and it did not smell! I’ll definitely use this again in between getting my hair bleached

personally this product had no effect for me. I have light-medium brown hair that turns brassy in the summertime and I used this product as instructed to neutralize the orange tones. there was no change at all in my hair color after using.

Works perfectly! Love it.

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