I am one of the few people who wasn’t blown away by WOW Dream Coat Supernatural Sealant (review here). However, Color WOW Root Cover Up in shade black is another story altogether and more than lives up to the hype.
If you have black hair that’s showing strong white or grey roots, or if you have dark hair that’s thinning at the front, this original root cover-up might be your saviour – but there might also be a cheaper alternative.
COLOR WOW Black Root Cover Up
- Covers grey seamlessly, even covers dark roots and extends highlights without peroxide (we’ll come to highlights later)
- Precise application, no mess like sprays (but a bit messy if you lose patience)
- Can also be used to fill in hairlines and cover gaps to create the look of thicker hair (yes, absolutely)
- Never stiff, sticky or waxy like mascaras and crayons (a little stiff, but that’s good in this case)
- Looks completely natural, mimics hair’s reflective qualities (um… no, but it still looks very convincing)
- Water-resistant formula, you can even swim in it (not tested, so can’t say)
- No waxes, dyes or parabens (great)
- Not been tested on animals (yay)
HOW TO USE
- Apply to dry hair.
- Load up small end of the brush with powder. Use free hand to pull hair flat/taut against head and press brush down firmly into roots, starting from scalp and working out – do not use sweeping motion. Apply more powder as needed.
- To extend highlights, use the side edge of small brush. Lightly dust off any excess powder with the wide end of the brush.
REVIEW
Lockdown hair is a tricky one. Do you attempt to dye it yourself or bite the bullet and wait for the hairdressers to reopen? I went with it, mainly because I couldn’t get hold of blonde hair dye anywhere. After a wobbly few weeks, I’ve now embraced my 6-inch roots (I measured them, they’re so bad) and I’m waiting ‘patiently’ until July.
But I did need to help my mum out who has dark, almost black, hair with subtle highlights so it looks like she’s just going grey – expensive to maintain but looks gorgeous.
Like me, mum’s hair also grows fast but her roots are white – dazzling white in fact. We actually bought Color WOW Root Touch Up about 4 years ago, but never really used it. It was £30.00 back then and it’s £28.50 now, so greedy Fenwick really marked the price up.
I used Color WOW on her freshly washed hair and carefully ‘dabbed’ it along the roots. It’s essentially eyeshadow for hair but it really ‘sticks’ to hair and doesn’t go all over the scalp as long as you’re careful. If it does then just mush it about with your finger to blend. I think the end result is brilliant and it covered all the white. It does take a bit of patience to apply, but you could easily do it by yourself.
Hair that’s not plumped up with hair dye is always going to look thin, but Color WOW makes a fantastic thickener. As we age hair can thin from the crown area and the temples, but this mineral powder formula bulks it up. I’m so impressed.
There are cheaper clones on the market and it makes me wonder if the dark shades work just as well as this one. I think you can get away with a lot when you have dark hair, I’m not sure the lighter ones would be as forgiving. Root Cover Up comes in 8 shades, so most colour combinations are covered.
RESULT
I took the photo below when I was almost finished, I had to redo some areas and carefully comb out others where I’d put too much product on.
By the way, the sign of a good haircut is how it grows out and my mum’s hair hasn’t been cut since January. The layers are long, but the shape is still there.
I’ve also cropped it slightly so you can’t see how black my mum’s neck is. Top tip, cover up the shoulders, use a light hand, and don’t overload the brush!
By the way, if you’re wondering why the highlights you can still see are so shiny, I used Aveda Damage Remedy Intensive Restructuring Treatment, I’d forgotten how good it is. Before I used the powder, the shine was all over. Black is a flat, matt shade, it’s a fine line between covering roots up or making it look false and hard.
ONE LITTLE THING
On the official colorwowhair.com site, there’s a video demonstrating how to ‘restore highlights’ in-between salon visits using Color WOW powder.
I know I’m being persnickety (by the way, I didn’t realise there was an ‘S’ in there. Thanks, Grammarly, I’ve been pronouncing it wrong my whole life), but there’s an ‘edit jump’ immediately after the hairdresser shows off suspiciously shiny highlights at 30 and 39 seconds. The thing is, the powder remains matt after application, there is no shine. I’m not calling the company out, because the product is excellent, but the video is a little bit misleading and I think some manipulation ie another product, went on.
CLAIROL ROOT TOUCH-UP – BLONDE
In the early weeks of lockdown when my roots were first starting to show through, I tried to purchase a box of Clairol Root Touch Up Dye in Blonde. These were sold out everywhere until I found them online at JD Williams. Even then, I had to wait an agonizing 9 days for delivery.
When the package finally arrived it contained 2 boxes of Clairol Root Touch-Up Concealing Powder. I was livid and fired off a complaint straight away, but I still opened one up anyway as I was desperate back then.
It’s a complete copycat of Color WOW of course, but the packaging ie the palette is much nicer, it’s weightier and more expensive-looking than the WOW one.
Also, and bear in mind, I’m comparing a black shade with a blonde shade here, the Clairol powder has light-reflecting particles in it. It also didn’t kick up as much dust as the WOW one either.
What let it down was the shade, not blonde by any means, but a light brown taupe shade (exactly the same as the box above). I don’t know if the pigment wasn’t strong enough, or my roots were too dark, but you couldn’t see any difference after application, the roots were still there, dark as ever. I’ve just looked at a few reviews for the blonde shade and they say the same thing you just can’t detect it on the hair.
It did work on my eyebrows though, combed through with a mascara spoolie, the shade was spot on and lasted all day. I definitely think the dark shades will work better for roots and it’s a no brainer to try it out because, for the same amount of product – 2.1g, this one costs a very reasonable £6.00.
JD Williams refunded my money. I said I would return one of the products and pay for the other one, but they said to keep them both, so that was nice of them.
Now, of course, my hair is too far gone, I’m no longer blonde, but two-tone light and dark. But I’m OK with that – until July 4th that is.
SHOPPING INFO
Color WOW Root Cover Up £29.50 Look Fantastic *
Clairol Root Touch Up £6.00 – JD William, VERY, Freemans.
