We all know that dyeing grey roots at home can be messy and annoyingly time-consuming. Luckily, if you want to stretch the time between appointments with your colorist, or if you don’t have enough silver hairs to dye your hair quite yet, there are lots of other do-it-yourself coloring tricks that won’t break your bank.
(Would you rather just embrace your greying hair? These women finally did—and it changed their lives.)
Grey hair touch-up sticks, sprays, and brushes are effective, easy-to-use tools for camouflaging unwanted silver strands. After washing and drying your hair, all you have to do is apply to your greys following the product’s instructions. When selecting your color, look to your hair’s natural hue or your usual dye. Picking the right shade may be a process of elimination, but the good thing is, most of these products (and all on our list below) wash out with shampoo.
Here, five types of grey hair concealers that users on Ulta love—and they all cost less than $30.
Touch-up wand: Cover Your Gray Waterproof Root Touch-Up
If you’re always on the move, this is the tool for you. When it comes to grey-hiding hair products, color wands are the easiest to apply and the best for making quick touch-ups throughout the day. For the best results, draw on your grey hair strands starting from your hair part and working your way down your scalp. The Cover Your Gray stick is waterproof, so you can rely on it to keep your silver hairs out of sight at the pool, too. One Ulta customer says the color holds in her hair for 10 days, as long as she touches up a bit at the five-day mark.
Touch-up brush: Madison Reed Root Touch Up
To mask bigger patches of silver hair, invest in a color brush. The Madison Reed brush is on the pricier side of temporary cover-up tools, but it will be well worth your buck. Spray a sheer layer of hairspray over the patches you want to hide before applying the powder to your hair; the hairspray will act as a glue to help the color stick throughout the day.
“Using this product has reduced my need to color my hair!” writes one Ulta customer. “I can touch up my roots and go a month or more without coloring. It works perfectly, but must be reapplied after shampooing.” (Here are six more ways to fix grey roots without dye.)
Here’s how you can get strong, shiny hair at 40+:
Cover-up spray: L’Oréal Paris Root Cover Up
If you’re looking for a product that is quick to apply and also covers bigger grey streaks, try a color spray. The L’Oréal Paris one won’t clump your strands together or leave behind a gloppy residue. Just make sure you spray only as much as you need to cover your greys—too much spray will make your hair appear damp. If you miss a section, hold the bottle farther away from your head and lightly mist.
“I style my hair and then just fill in my parts and hairline with short, quick sprays maybe 6 inches from the hair,” writes an Ulta reviewer. “Goes in easy and dries fast. It does not go on powdery or cakey.”
Touch-up concealer: John Frieda Root Blur Color Blending Concealer
Hair color concealer goes on the exact same way as the concealer you use to cover blemishes. Rub the applicator into the color and use it to hide your grey strands using medium-to-hard pressure. John Frieda’s brush is small, which makes the tool perfect for coloring in stray grey hairs in different sections of your scalp. Customers on Ulta also raved about this product’s dual color pallet, which includes two similar shades to choose from:
“The color combo is great for natural looking blending,” writes one reviewer. “I thought the light color wasn’t going to work, but it really does. Lasts until you wash again.” (You can also go grey in style with these hairstyling tips for gorgeous grey hair.)
Touch-up powder: Everpro Gray Away Root Touch-Up Magnetic Powder
Like a touch-up brush, this tool relies on a tinted powder for color—but you apply using a tiny sponge. For the most even coverage, apply the Everpro powder to your strands using light pressure. If you press down too hard, you’ll end up having to brush off residual powder. This stuff comes in a compact case, so you can stash it in your purse and touch up throughout the day.
“The best part of the application system, it has a little sponge and you dab it on,” notes one Ulta customer. “So quick and easy.”
