Name: The Shade
Address: 23 Milton Parade Malvern VIC 3144, ,, Malvern
Rating: 4.52

“Colour does not last .Found ingredients not so toxic free and natural .There are ingredients which are harmfull for your skin and nervous system Ethanolamine ,Sodium Laureth Sulfate .”

Helpful Report

Hi Danielle, I'm surprised by your comments as you have purchased 6 Colour Kits from us. The colour fade that you mentioned isn't usual but can be seen when the colour hasn't been fully absorbed, which can lead it to fade faster. This can happen if the hair is porous and doesn't fully absorb colour or it cannot retain colour so well and it leaks colour. Some hair is naturally more porous than others. Textures such as very fine or thin hair or curly hair can resist retaining colour due to higher natural porosity. Hair which is damaged or over-processed will also not retain colour well. Here is some more information about colour fade and porosity: https://theshade.com.au/blogs/ten-tips-to-reduce-porosity-in-your-colour/ You can also boost and improve colour absorption and retention by changing developer. Some grey hair or porous hair doesn't absorb or hold colour as well, and changing to a 27 vol developer from the 20 vol you have been using will boost colour absorption and results. Hair colour does contain chemicals, but we have removed the most harmful chemical and irritants including ammonia, PPD, phthalates, parabens, titanium dioxide, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and gluten from our formulation. Our colourists are available 7 days a week, and I would recommend you contact them for assistance with your porosity issue. They can be contacted here: https://theshade.com.au/colourist/ I hope this helps! Craig Ford CEO - The Shade

“I have emailed you three times asking you to cancel the re order function,butcyou have never replied. I will have to contact Dept Fair Trade to resolve this problem.”

Helpful Report

Hi Frances, We received an email from you on December 4th and 7th and replied to both emails within a few hours. Please check you inbox and other email folders. This is the email we sent to you on both occasions: Thanks for your email and your order. As you selected the "one time purchase" option rather than the "membership" option, there are no recurring orders. You will need to re-order the next time you want to order. I hope this help!

“I don't know how I ended up going on auto order but it happened. I tried to undo it, but then got another colour! The wrong colour! Now I have 2 wrong colours still in the box unopened but cannot return them! Not happy with how easy it is to go on auto delivery and how hard it is to get out of it.”

Helpful Report

Hi Janette, Thanks for getting in touch. When you place an order, you are given the option of either a one-time purchase, or a membership with auto-ship. You selected the membership option. You can cancel, pause or modify your membership from your online account at anytime. I can see that you've cancelled your membership, so you won't receive anything further. I hope this helps!

“At the time of consultation I was very clear with hair consultant Camilla that I do not want brassy tones in my hair. She recommended Trento 5.0. This made my hair orange and brassy. The product also failed to cover my greys (both times). Also dried out my hair. I guess you get what you pay for.”

Helpful Report

Hi Karli, We understand that you didn't want brassy tones in your hair, so therefore our colourist recommended Trento 5.1 Ash Brown. Trento has zero warm tones. The Ash tones in Trento neutralises warmth, but unfortunately some hair naturally throws a lot of warmth. The brassy result you experienced was not caused by the colour (there are zero warm tones in Trento) but due to the fact that your hair throws a lot of warmth. Our colourist bent over backwards to assist you (over 28 emails sent to you). She even sent you a free Colour Kit to assist you, but you continually accused our colourist of giving you the wrong advice. Our advice was 100% correct. Wishing you the best! Marco

“I did 2 bleach baths then used light ash blonde on advice from The Shade colourist and my hair turned out orange/gold. Sent 2 emails with photos asking what’s the best thing to do now going forward and never got a reply. I had to actually go into Hairhouse to actually get expert advice”

Helpful Report

Dear Mandy, The most recent email we received from you was literally just pics, without one written word. Our colourists are very busy, and if we receive an email like yours with no text whatsoever, just some photos, they are unable to reply. If you would like a written response from our colourists, then you would need to facilitate communication by including written communication, not just pics. Regards, Marco The Shade

“Really wanted to love The Shade but unfortunately that’s not the case. I used the medium blonde on my already bright blonde hair and it became an almost green muddy colour. It was all ashy and when it was meant to be a neutral tone with both warm and cool tones. I’ve since dyed over it as it was just horrible.”

Helpful Report

Hi Alix, Sorry to hear you weren't happy with your colour. I think you would be happier with your colour result if you had either used our online colour consultation quiz, or if you had consulted with our colourist before ordering a colour, and unfortunately you didn't utilize either of those free services. We provide colourist support 7 days a week, and we highly recommend that you do consult with a colourist, or complete the online colour consultation prior to ordering a colour. Wishing you the best. Marco

“It did not cover my grey permanently. After a week, my greys were visible. I send the color consultant the message to see what I could do better or some feedback as I did everything as per the instruction. No response what do ever. Very disappointed at the product and the customer service.”

Helpful Report

Dear Rabin, So sorry that you weren't happy with your grey coverage. You can easily boost colour absorption by adding heat for a couple of minutes to your roots with your hairdryer while the colour is processing. Adding heat will soften the cuticle, allowing the colour to be absorbed better. Grey hair can have a very tightly layered out cuticle layer, and the added heat will soften the cuticles, which in turn allows the colour to enter to be permanently deposited within the hair. Adding heat is a very effective approach to improving colour absorption and I am sure that would be successful for you too. We are happy to offer you a free colour kit so you can try this technique. We are terribly sorry that we missed your earlier email. We had some technical difficulties at the time that your email was sent and unfortunately it was not received by our support team. We now received it, and will reply to you ASAP. Best Regards, Marco

“Unfortunately the light ash blonde toner did not work out that well. I used it over my original blonde highlights, then newly added highlights done the same day. It made my hair all the one boring brown colour, completely hiding any highlights and making me go from blonde to brunette with greyish highlights. I don’t like the final look at all. I originally had a colour consultant recommend this colour, after I sent through a photo.”

Helpful Report

HI Carly, Sorry you weren't happy with your colour result. I can see that you used a colour to cover your highlights, which is contrary to what our colourist recommended. Our colourist recommended a root smudge which doesn't cover your highlights. You indicated that you wanted to touch up your highlights, not cover them. Please don't hesitate to contact our colourist team at colourist@theshade.com.au if you need some additional assistance. I hope this helps! Marco The Shade

“I bought the light ash blonde to tone and nourish my hair as was becoming orange ish. It was on for 7 minutes and turned my hair dark ash brown. I'm glad I washed it off before the instructions time as could have been much darker”

Helpful Report

Hi Sharon. Going by the photo you provided, your colour was significantly lighter than the 8.1 toner, so therefore naturally a darker toner will add darker tones. Also, we would not have recommended that colour or toner for you based on the colour level and also because your lighter blonde colour would have had cool tones in it and adding cool tones to cool tones can result in visible green tones as green tones are seen when there is excessive cool tones in the hair. So this product was the wrong colour level for you and the wrong tone, and unfortunately you have seen the result of using a product with the wrong colour and tone, but fortunately it is only a temporary colour product. Please consult directly with our colourists (who are available 7 days a week) in future if you are wanting any products for your hair. I hope this helps! Camilla Colourist - The Shade

“Far darker than expected. Will not be ordering again.”

Helpful Report

Dear Sarah, Sorry you weren't happy with your colour result. We notice that you used our online quiz, but didn't consult with one of our colourists. The online quiz will give you a colour suggestion only. It is not a mandate. The colour description and pics of clients who have used the colour then give a very good representation of the colour. If you have any questions or concerns or if you are uncertain about a colour it is best to ask our colourists as people can get darker colour results based on the existing pigments in their hair, the condition of their hair and the tones in the colour they suggested. For example, you selected a colour which does look a bit darker than its technical colour level because the warmer tones absorb light. Our colourists are available 7 days a week to assist with any colour questions. Wishing you well! Marco The Shade

“The kit was great and delivery was quick. The process damaged my hair and the colour was uneven. I think the extra step of applying developer for the greys damaged some of my hair and that took too much colour, turning orange and failed to cover other greys at all. I wanted to return a tube of colour, a developer sachet, gloves and shampoo and conditioner sachets, all unopened but was denied the right. I won't be buying colour from here again.”

Helpful Report

Hi Bronwen, I'm surprised about your comments as in the email you sent us, you said that you used our Trieste colour and found it to be a lovely colour. You didn't mention that you experienced any issues. In regard you returning some products, we explained to you via email that we can't offer a refund as we can't reuse returned consumable products. We wouldn't be able to guarantee the integrity of the products. I'm sure you wouldn't want to receive hair colour products that have been possibly sitting in someone's car for a couple of weeks. We guarantee the integrity of all products sent directly from our warehouse. We are more than happy to ship free replacement colour kits if the colour you have selected is not quite right for you. Best Regards, Marco The Shade

“The product did not work for me at all. The colour did not take. My greys were totally visible and barely looked covered.”

Helpful Report

Hi Sharmila, Sorry you didn't get the coverage you were looking for. You coloured with Montecristo 6.1, but in the colour quiz you indicated that your colour was dark brown and that you had existing colour in your hair. We advise everyone with a clear warning provided in the quiz process or directly from a colourist, that we recommend a bleach wash to lift out older, darker pigments, which will then let you achieve a lighter base colour level, as colour cannot lighten pre-existing colour, only a lightening process can do that. So, unfortunately, you can't colour with a lighter colour and achieve a lighter result if you already have a darker colour in your hair. Only a separate lightening process will let you achieve a lighter base colour, as you first need to remove the darker pigments before recolouring with a lighter colour. This advice is provided in the colour selection quiz, and our colourists advise the same (with more detail and specific recommendations). In terms of the grey coverage, using a standard 20vol developer our colour can lift by 2 levels. Your dark brown may have been out of range of the light brown colour. You are likely to need a stronger developer to achieve the level 6 result over your natural colour, and perhaps also to cover stubborn greys. We are adding a new 27 vol developer in the next week or two which is specifically formulated to cover stubborn greys, which would be an excellent option for you. It can also lift closer to 3 colour levels, so it can lift a dark/darkest brown level to light brown. So we can certainly help you achieve complete coverage of your stubborn greys. In terms of your colour selection, please contact our colourists here https://theshade.com.au/colourist/ and they can advise a colour and application which will help you achieve your colour goals. I hope this helps!

“This hair colour did not work for me at all. It only covered maybe half of my grey hairs which has never happened before with another hair dye. After 2 weeks the colour is almost completely gone. I only wash my hair once or twice a week too.”

Helpful Report

HI Natalie, We're sorry you weren't happy with your colour. That is very unusual. Did you have any products in your hair before applying the colour, as that can block colour absorption? Some greys can be colour resistant, as along with the loss of pigments, grey hair has changes in texture which make the outer cuticle layer tougher, thicker and more tightly layered which can resist colouring. We can help with your grey coverage. Please contact our colourists directly at: https://theshade.com.au/colourist/ We will follow-up quickly and let you know how you can achieve complete grey coverage. Thank you very much!

“I had been ordering the hair colour from this company from a couple of years because it was advertised as free of chemicals. It always itches my skin but I still used as I felt safer. When they launched their silk hair towel, I purchased it instantly. Big mistake and a complete waste of money. This silk towel does nothing for my hair and failed at its basic usage- drying out the hair. I have used it only a couple of times as it’s useless and I am sure it can’t dry the hair of a child…it’s so bad at drying hair !!”

Helpful Report

Hi Gemma, I'm sorry you are not satisfied with our Silk Noil Towel. Microfibre towels could be the best option if you are looking for the fastest drying process. Microfibre towels will wick away water and natural oils. This does lead to poorer condition results, but they are the fastest drying approach, together with a hair dryer. So if speed is your top concern, then microfibre towels could be best. Silk towels will wick away water only, and retain natural oils. This supports the condition of your hair, and your hair will be noticeably softer after use, and with repeated use your hair will be softer and stronger, with less breakage. So it is important to establish the key purpose that you want from the towel - for fast-drying, a conventional microfibre towel is sufficient. To preserve and boost the health and condition of the hair, a silk towel is best. Children's hair is generally is very good condition as it is unaffected by colouring, lightening or heated tools, so we don't anticipate that they would need a silk towel. I hope this helps! The Shade team

“I got a bleach wash, and to be honest the instructions included were not real clear. “Take out 2 teaspoons of the developer” yeah ok, this is when you have mixed it with a powder substance so it’s hard to seperate the two. Not to mention it stated I should have a “complimentary cape” which I didn’t. And the colour, let’s say it was hideous. It left my hair O.R.A.N.G.E!! I wouldn’t buy again. - sorry.”

Helpful Report

Hi Louise! A bleach wash will remove both older colour pigments from colour products, and natural colour pigments, leaving you with a lighter base colour level. Immediately after a bleach wash you can expect to see a lighter base colour level and brassy tones. Natural warmth/brassiness is always exposed during a lightening process, and it is essential to use a cool-based colour or toner after a bleach wash to return pigments and tone to the hair. The bleach wash is only 50% of the lightening process, and the process is unfinished if you don’t colour or tone your hair. We note that you didn’t purchase a colour product to use after your bleach wash, and you did not consult with our colourists (available 7 days a week for free) before using your bleach wash, as they would have explained this to you. We are happy to recommend a colour which will give you a lighter, tonally balanced colour result – Please get in touch with our colourists who can recommend a colour which will give you a softer colour and a tone that you are much happier with. I hope this helps!

“Unfortunately I was allergic to the product. I bought it to test as it says it's ppd free but you use another sister product of ppd”

Helpful Report

Hi Samantha, We're sorry you had a reaction. Our hair colour is 100% free of PPD. We use Toluene-2,5-diamine Sulfate as a substitute to PPD, and unfortunately a very small percentage who are allergic to PPD are also allergic to Toluene-2,5-diamine Sulfate. Our ingredients can be found here: https://theshade.com.au/ingredients/ I hope this helps! The Shade team

“I purchased the shade dye and did yhe patch test as recommended only to find that I had an allergic reaction. When I contacted the customer service about returning the unopened/unused products I was told they can't offer me a refund. I'm sure this product is fine for those that can use it but the customer service is terrible.”

Helpful Report

Hi Laura, We are sorry again that you had a reaction. When you initially contacted us, and you told us that you are allergic to conventional hair colour, we gave you our full list of our ingredients and encouraged you to review our ingredients with your doctor. Unfortunately you are one of the 1% who have an allergy to hair colour. You tried our colour, but you had a reaction. We are glad you performed a patch test first. Wishing you all the best! The Shade team

“Only did 1 star as I had to put something Unable to review still waiting for delivery”

Helpful Report

Hi Helen, I'm so sorry for the delay with your parcel. We despatched your order within 24 hours of receipt. I have checked the tracking of your parcel, and it seems as though it's been lost in transit. I have just arranged for a replacement order to be despatched via Express Post. Very sorry for your inconvenience! I hope this helps! The Shade team

“This is an awful hair colour. Doesn’t cover greys. Gives off orange tones. Not even near the colour advertised. Smells really bad. Made me sick as I react to chemicals”

Helpful Report

Sorry that you weren't happy with your colour. We use a 20vol developer which can lift by two colour levels. Brassiness (orange tones) can be seen when you select a colour outside of the two level range as the colour can not lift enough to achieve a true colour result. The brassy colour pigments which are naturally ocurring in the hair have the largest colour molecules and they are the last pigments to be lifted out of the hair. If the colour you choose is out of range, then we would expect to see a brassy colour result, which is why our colourists are available 7 days a week to assist with colour selection. They consider your natural colour, current colour, treatments and colour goals and can recommend a colour or process to achieve your colour goal, or advise why that might be difficult to achieve and make other achievable suggestions. I note that you didn't ask our colourists for a colour recommendation, and you didn't use our online colour consultation which only recommends colours in range, nor did you contact our colourists, so it seems that this all went wrong in the colour selection stage.

“The colour Copper Blonde was nothing like it describes. Should’ve been called “Ronald McDonald Red” as this was closer to what my hair looked like. Cost me over $250 to have professional Hairdressor fix my hair!!! All I say is Use The Shade product with caution!!!”

Helpful Report

Hi Vicki, So sorry you weren't happy with your colour! We would have been happy to send you a free colour kit with a colour blend which would have balanced the warmth and given you a different, softer, colour result but unfortunately this is the first time we have heard from you. It is generally quite straight-forward to counter-balance and reduce unwanted warmth with a cool based colour. The Shade team


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 89%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	99%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.4 out of 5

The Shade Reviews