I spend quite a bit each year on disguising my grey roots. I always joke that I've no idea what my true hair colour is because nobody's seen it for years!
When I was young, it was the lovely reddy gold colour that Ieuan has now but I actually think my real colour now is a dark brown, almost black with the odd grey.
I recently had the chance to try L'Oreal Paris Magic Retouch Instant Root Concealer Spray and I chose the brown shade to test.
The product comes in a little spray can which promises enough contents for up to 30 applications. The product is also supposed to last until you wash it out.
The size of the can makes it ideal to slip into your make-up bag or handbag.
I got the Husband to apply the spray for me down my center parting (cue much shouting of "keep still") and it took two good blasts of the spray to cover the roots.
The greys are also a lot less visible with just those couple of sprays.
The only issue I have is that I chose the shade to match my roots but this does not blend in with my dyed hair. I would have been better off selecting the dark blonde shade and plan to give this a try.
If the dark blonde shade gives as good a coverage as the brown one I tested then I think I could extend the time between salon colour appointments by a good couple of weeks.
At the moment, my salon offers a root touch up service where your roots can be dyed literally down your centre parting and you have the choice of either paying for a wash and blow dry or going home and washing it off yourself.
Currently the charge for this is around the £10-£15 mark (the wash & blow dry is extra of course) but you do have to find the time to get to the salon. Not so easy with the kids in tow!
This does, of course hide all the roots and the greys.
The Magic Retouch spray, on the other hand, retails at £8.99 in Boots and comes in 5 shades - Light Blonde, Dark Blonde, Brown, Dark Brown and Black.
And, as you can see, it does a pretty respectable job with, if not total grey / root coverage, almost total.
If you want to eek out your salon colour and possibly save yourself some money into the bargain, I think this product is well worth a try.
I'd rate it as an 'emergency' product for those times when you want to look groomed and you just haven't got the time or cash to go to the salon.