As I mentioned in yesterday’s post about Orchid Bliss Shampoo & Conditioner, my hair is an investment. Because I have “single process” uniform color, my grey roots start to show sometimes after as little as 3 weeks! There’s no way I can have my hair colored professionally every 3 weeks. Heck, even every 4 is amazingly expensive, but I do get my hair colored every 4 weeks because I hate to wait much longer. So I have about a week or so where I need to do something to camouflage my roots.
Here are three different root concealer forms that I have tried out.
Greyfree by Giuliano: Wand
For at least the past 5 years, I’ve been using a mascara wand type root concealer that I found at a local beauty supply store: Greyfree by Giuliano in the shade Auburn. That was the closest shade that they had to my copper hair. It was easy to use, and though it was deeper than my hair color, it covered up my grey and made the new growth less noticeable.
Happily, I discovered a new “metallic” line ColorMe by Giuliano on my last trip to the beauty supply store. The new shade, Copper, is just about an exact match to my hair color, Yipee!
As I mentioned, I’ve been using this type of root concealer for a long time. The key benefit is ease of application. It’s a breeze to use the wand to deposit color to my roots. A new benefit is the incredible color match: Copper is perfect for my hair. Roots be gone!
However, the downside is that the gel that the wand deposits on my hair can get cakey even though I comb it afterwards. Itt makes my hair feel a bit dirty. Oh well. I’ve put up with it for ages.
Style Edit Drop Red Gorgeous Root Touchup for Reds: Powder
About a year ago, a company whose brand name I don’t remember sent me their powder root concealer to try, and it was a disaster. It came with a brush applicator that was very similar to brush-on sunscreen powder, and I expected it to be easy to use. Unfortunately, the shade wasn’t a good match for my copper locks, and most important, it was messy. The powder got all over the place when I tried to brush it on with the big fluffy brush. I tossed it.
So when Style Edit Drop Red Gorgeous Root Touchup came my way, I told their PR reps I wasn’t sure that it would be for me. Nevertheless, I tried out their product and I’m glad I did.
Right off the bat, I loved the look of the packaging.
I took off the bottom piece of the unit, and there was a little sponge.
Next, I flipped up the top of the unit and there was the pressed powder (this is Light Red). There’s even a mirror to help you see where to apply the powder.
Swirl the sponge in the powder and dab onto my part and roots, and voilà, covered! Unlike the brush device I tried last year, with this sponge there is no fallout and no powder flying around. Style Edit sent me two shades: Light Red and Medium Red. I tried them both, and Light Red is closer to my shade.
What I like about the powder is that, in addition to ease of use, it seems to last in my hair till I wash it out. The Light Red shade is a decent match!
Style Edit Root Concealer: Spray
I must say right off the bat that I’m not much of a spray person. I don’t use dry shampoo or hair spray, so I am a spray novice. That said, this spray is easier to use than I expected because of the looooong spray nozzle. See!
However, the shade is not right for my hair. This is way too brown. Sorry. I’m more of a fan of the powder form.
Here are the swatches from each form and shade in case there are any redheads out there. It was a gloomy, dark day when I took the photo so the colors look a little deeper/browner than they really are.
So there you have it. I love ColorMe by Giuliano because the Copper shade is a perfect color match, and I love Style Edit Drop Red Gorgeous in Light Red because the shade is close enough and the powder/sponge applicator is simple and clean to use and it lasts till my next shampoo.
If you’re interested, Style Edit has a range of shades for most hair colors in both the powder (Blonde, Brunette, Red) and the spray (Blonde, Brunette and the Red must be so new that I couldn’t find it on their website yet). The powder is priced around $20 and the spray is priced around $16. Style Edit is a cruelty-free brand. Check out the Style Edit website. for more information and photos/swatches. Style Edit is sold in salons and on Amazon.
greyfree and ColorMe by Giuliano come in about a million shades. ColorMe comes in fashion shades like pastels, gold, silver etc. Both versions of the brand are sold in beauty supply stores and on Amazon. I paid about $12 per tube, but you can find them for much less on Amazon.
Have you tried any of these root touchups? If not, what’s your fave?
Allison, have you ever tried Root Touchup by Clairol? My hair grows extremely fast and I have gray roots within about two weeks. I used the Root Touchup about every three weeks, it is a permanent dye, and blends in wonderfully. Granted, I do not have your red hair, but somehow it blends right in. Just pick the shade closest to your hair color. Once every three weeks and I can put off getting my hair colored only about once every three months!!
No, Mary, I haven’t, but it sounds like you have absolutely incredible results if you can go for 3 months in between color! Unfortunately I have a feeling my colorist at Sassoon would have a fit if I used a permanent dye on my roots because she wouldn’t be able to easily color over it and I couldn’t afford to have her remove the color first. I used to use those shampoos with built-in color to keep my red looking the same red it is when I leave the salon, and she told me to stop using it because the color entered the hair shaft and screwed up the color she used. Nevertheless, I’m going to take a look at the Clairol and talk to her about it if they have a good color match for me. Thank you for the suggestion!
Oh wow, you make roots touch up look so easy, Allison! I kept telling my mum that she only needs to touch up her roots but she’s so stubborn and decides to colour her whole hair jet black all the time. It looks so harsh on her and her hair is completely destroyed. 🙁
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Gee, that’s too bad your mother won’t listen to you, Shireen. I hope she’s not coloring her hair more often than once a month. Maybe give her some easy touchup like the Style Edit powder, and do it for her? (Is she in CA or Malaysia?) I wish I could go longer than every 4-5 weeks in coloring my hair, but I have it done professionally and my colorist uses a color conditioner after the dye that makes my hair so shiny and soft that I don’t have problems with it.
She’s in Malaysia and she buys box colour and goes to her friend for the service. It’s horrible and I kept telling her please stop doing so but sigh, her mind is set. And she complains about her hair breaking and she’s going bald….like mum, really? I wonder why. LOL! It’s frustrating but she won’t listen.
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OMG, that is terrible, Shireen. I’m so sorry that she won’t listen to you. And also that her “friend” isn’t being a good friend for not telling her what you’re telling her 🙁
What an easy solution between color treatments!
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Oh my GOSH….between hair, eyebrows, lips, nails and skin….GETTING OLD (67 yrs) IS NOT FUN. I’m tired just writing the words. 😱 What’s a girl to do! And the expense! 💰 I now can understand why my grandma got so “frampy” as she got older. It’s so much easier. And we never judged her either. Just loved her. 🙋🏻❤
That’s so sweet, DiEtta. I always thought my maternal grandmother became better looking as she got older. She had gorgeous white hair, but she did go to the beauty parlor every week or so. She didn’t wear makeup except occasionally lipstick. However, that’s not for me! I actually like doing all this stuff, lol 🙂
I was so happy when I saw this blog post Allison. I have been looking at different products but without knowing someone that has used them I’m unwilling to try them.I just clicked on over to Amazon via your link and got me one of the Colorme (auburn) wands and I’m really liking the way the Style Edit in light (powder) looks.I always wondered if the powders stayed all day or needed to be reapplied throughout the day.Thanks for the reviews. 🙂
Yes, the Style Edit powder has lasted 5 days on me. I’m just about to wash my hair, Laura, and I’ll reapply it. I just rescheduled my color appointment for next Wednesday because of the snow today, and with the Style Edit, I can put it off a week to 5 weeks, yay! I have been using the Giuliano wands for at least 5 years and I like them too except as I wrote the make me feel like my roots are “dirty” though they’re not, they just have the mascara-like color on them. LMK what you think!
I want to try the ColorMe in a different shade – price is right! I have gotten my hair dyed twice now recently (I go every 8 weeks and it’s torture, but it’s what I can afford) and I need a root touch up for those later weeks!
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ColorMe has great fashion shades, and greyfree has a number of blonde shades and should be able to color dark roots I think
I just had my hair colored but when my roots tart growing out, I think I’d like the spray.
I wish this were your shade coz I’d send it to you! I’d love to gift this to someone whose hair it would match! The long nozzle on this Style Edit root concealer can makes it easy to use
This is why I keep my roots dark, less touch ups 🙂
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You just gave me an idea. I should try this next. I’m due for my color touchups end of this month!
For me, the Style Edit powder was the winner coz it’s so easy to use
Ah… this is seriously a life saver on time and money. My greys are so bad… but I have them because of genetics, my dad went grey early as did all of his siblings and my grandma (his mom) was completely grey/white by the time she passed. I tend to color my roots, but I’ve been so busy, I’ve been lazy. I could stand to use this for now.
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That’s so interesting, Honey. It’s always good to have some root touchup on hand for whatever purpose.
Love it! Looks totally natural and no one would ever be able to tell. My mom uses a spray for blondes for hers 🙂
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Thanks Anastasia! The shade of the spray I received wasn’t a good match and it was a little wet for me coz I’m not really a spray person, but I’m glad your mom has found something that works well for her 🙂
You found a red! I’m so happy for you. Every time I find a color product I think of you. I have something similar to the powder and love it since it extends my appointments from 3 weeks to 4. I’d love to try out the spray. It looks great with that super long nozzle.
Thank you, Marcia! I just love love love the Style Edit powder coz it’s so easy to use and now I postponed my appointment till next week – 5 weeks! I wish the spray were your shade coz I’d love to send it to you. Gotta find someone with golden brown hair who’d like to try it – the color definitely isn’t what I’d call auburn, but yes, the long nozzle makes it much easier to aim!
Wow, that looks perfect!!! I think an ashy blonde would help me in my *cough* “extreme blonde” areas that are shining right now waiting for a color fix.