Come on ladies, let’s be honest with each other… if you’re over 35 chances are you color your hair. And chances are, unless you’re a celebrity, you’ve been trying to save money buying a low quality product at your local drugstore.
Well, thanks to esalon.com co-founders Francisco Gimenez and Tamin Mourad you can stop making those trips. Now there’s a brand new luxury hair color on the market that’s affordable and high quality, and the best part, you never have to leave your home to get it. It will be delivered to your door.
The idea for the home coloring system evolved over dinner with salon owner friends and colorists and who were lamenting the necessity for acquiring better online content for hair color. “Esalon.com was an opportunity to bridge the product quality of retail (which is typically low-cost and non-custom) with salon (which is a high-end quality custom product) at a premium price point and deliver the high quality product at a consumer level price,†explains Mourad.
If you’re worried about how to figure out what type of color you need or which is best for you, esalon.com has it wired to a science. A few minutes in front of the computer screen—and trust me, it doesn’t take long—answering some questions about your natural hair color, your dyed hair color and your desired hair color sets you up with an account and the perfect match.
“A big part of what we do is to make sure people’s expectations are set correctly,†says Gimenez. “It’s the same as if you were to go to a colorist and the colorist told you what will work with your skin tone and eye color.†Esalon.com is a single process hair coloring system for women who are looking for a natural, flattering custom hair color.
“To determine your best color you can pick a model and change the model’s skin tone and eye color,†says Gimenez. “This allows you to see the most accurate representation of the color and how it will look on your skin tone.†Customers have the option of choosing a semi-permanent color or permanent color, the former of which contains no ammonia.
Once an order is placed at esalon.com your custom color information is processed and submitted to the onsite colorist, Estelle Baumhauer. Baumhauer, who hails from France, is an expert colorist who has worked at renowned salons including Dessange in Paris and Warren-Tricomi, and was selected by Marc Jacobs and Chloe to be their colorist for New York fashsion shows. She reviews all the information to ensure that the client is receiving the best possible color match. If everything looks okay, Baumhauer processes the order. Baumhauer admits not being able to have a tactile experience with the client is, “my new challenge, but fortunately I’m able to utilize all my expertise to insure that our clients are satisfied.â€
The formulation is never manually blended. Through its computerized system esalon.com is able to ensure that the bottles are filled precisely every time an order is placed. Translation: a correct color match every time. “There is nothing that is pre-bottled here,†explains Mourad. “Once we’ve received the order, the data is fed into the computer and the process begins.â€
As a consumer you want to know that you can reach a live person if you have a question. The nice thing about esalon.com is that the onsite colorist is accessible either by telephone, live chat or email.
“Leveraging the internet technology to deliver customized products is a new trend,†explains Mourad, “It is this notion of mass customization meeting the internet which we wanted to capitalize on with our product.†To increase brand awareness, the company plans on marketing their product via the web through banner ads and on Google.com
A few days later, I try the product and well; it’s everything they said it would be and more. My hair is soft and silky and the color is perfect. For more info check out www.esalon.com