Can you spray away your roots?
That’s what more and more products claim. We put them to the test — with very mixed results
EVERYOnE who dyes their hair knows there’s no faux pas worse than going out with your roots showing. That telltale regrowth along your parting can make the most polished woman look shabby.
And yet even perfectly coloured hair will start growing out within a few weeks. Short of having your hairdresser on speed dial (at huge expense), there’s not much you can do to get rid of unsightly roots. What you can do, however, is cover them up using a new breed of clever concealers.
These products claim to instantly cover roots using coloured powder that you spray or brush on to your hair. But which really do the job, and does it matter what shade of hair you are trying to conceal?
We asked two testers — a blonde with dark roots and a brunette with grey roots — to put them to the test.
THE BLONDE
Stephanie, 31, is a stay-at-home mother of four from Oldham. Her partner Shane, 33, is a company director. She says: ‘I was born with fair hair, but over the years my hair has become darker. I yearn to be ash blonde again.’
THE BRUNETTE
Sarah Clawson, 33, is a civil servant and lives in Lincoln. She has two children. She says: ‘I’ve been going grey since I was 14 — the same thing happened to my mum. I would love to find something that helped me stay on top of my roots.’ Anti-age your greys AGE-beautiful Touch Up, £6.99, salonservices.com What is it?
A temporary touch-up spray containing pigmented powder, to use on dry hair. Available in eight shades, it claims to be water, sweat and stain-resistant and to cover thinning patches. Ingredients include vitamin E, silk protein and ‘patented conditioning technology to help replenish hair with the essential components that are lost with ageing’. Stephanie says: ‘With four children under 11, it’s hard to find time to mess around with DIY home colour kits to keep me going. So I’m hopeful I’ll find something which will deliver on its quick-fix promise. I used light golden blonde, spraying from 6in away as the packaging says. This didn’t cover my roots completely, but it did blend quite well with the existing colour.
‘My hair felt a bit sticky, but it gave the best coverage of all the products. It would be good for a night out, and stayed in for around two days. I was impressed.’ 5/5
Sarah says: ‘I have my roots done professionally every six weeks, but by four weeks the grey is everywhere. I tried the darkest brown shade, spraying it on to my roots. It was awful. Although the spray covered my greys, it didn’t seem to dry.
‘Whenever I touched my hair, the product went all over my hands. In fairness, it was easy to rinse off, but it meant I had to keep telling myself not to touch my head. The spray gave even coverage which lasted for a couple of hours. I just had to keep my hands by my sides.’ 2/5
Bold and bigger
Josh Wood Instant Root Concealer Spray, £12.50, Marks & Spencer What is it? Claims to lift hair and add volume. An M&S exclusive, the advertising says Josh Wood is ‘the most influential and respected colourist in the world’. Stephanie says: ‘The spray was wet when applied, and took several minutes to dry. When it did, it created this strange, golden colour. But the coverage was good. The only problem was that when the colour settled it became quite orange, so it was obvious that I had touched up my roots. But it did stay in all day.
‘However, by the next day it had started to fade.’ 3/5 Sarah says: ‘I panic if I have somewhere special to go, and have to plan ahead if I’m going on holiday. I do dye my hair at home sometimes, but since my children are only three and four, I have to wait until they are in bed to do it.
‘This product was absolutely amazing to use and did give my hair some extra volume. It went on easily, covering all my roots. It smelled nice and the colour didn’t stain my hands if I touched my head. It also stayed in for a couple of days — yet washed out easily. I looked like I’d just walked out of a salon. The can was quite funky, too. Loved it.’ 5/5 Problems with powder Color Wow Root Cover Up, £22.40, beautyflash.co.uk What is it? Sold in a beauty compact like an eye shadow, this is a water-resistant powder designed to stick to your hair. To use, pull hair flat against your head while sweeping the powder on with the brush provided. Available in seven shades. Stephanie says: ‘This made little difference to my roots and was time-consuming. The pressed powder also looked strangely shiny on my hair, almost like eye shadow. It rubbed off if I touched
my head or brushed my hair. As for the colour, I was left with this rather peculiar golden shimmer — but couldn’t see the difference.’ 1/5
Sarah says: ‘The powder simply would not stick to my hair, however much I applied. I felt like I was being sprinkled with fairy dust! And if I brushed my hair, the few flecks which had settled just flew off.
‘Disappointing as this would be such a convenient product to keep in my bag. It gets one tick for coming in a nice case — which sort of misses the point! Plus it’s ridiculously expensive.’ 1/5
Hit the spot
Colour Fix by Superdrug, £4,99, superdrug.com What is it? A spray available in four shades. Best used on dry hair, the product is misted lightly on the roots via a nozzle for accurate application, and then left to dry.
Stephanie says: ‘This gave good coverage but the colour was strange. It said blonde on the tin, but my hair is dyed fair and this produced a dark blonde shade which gave me a kind of stripy look. It smelled nice and stayed on for a couple of days, washing out easily. Such a shame that the colour just didn’t work.’ 2/5 Sarah says: ‘This product was spot on — good coverage, and the bottle was well-designed, with a precision nozzle which can target the grey areas. And it’s reasonably priced. 4/5
Sticky issue
L’Oreal Magic Retouch, £8.99, Boots What is it? Another powder spray. According to the company, the micro-diffuser nozzle precisely targets greys and the rich pigments give perfectly blended coverage in one spray. Available in eight shades from light blonde to black hair. Stephanie says: ‘I used the one for light blonde hair as the picture on the packaging suggested this would be perfect for my colour. But when I put it on, it was dark — almost dark brown.
‘In fact, it changed the colour of my dyed blonde hair to match my roots! The coverage was good, it was still on the morning after, and there was no smell. However, there was a bit of residue in my hair that left it feeling a little tacky. 1/5 Sarah says: ‘I loved this. It went on beautifully in one clean sweep and dried instantly. It didn’t stain my fingers when I touched my hair and lasted 24 hours. The only drawback was that the spray left my hair feeling a little stiff — it lost some of its natural softness.’ 3/5