Mother’s Little (Hair Colour) Helper

Virtually undetectable, hair crayons buy you time between trips to the colourist.

CHEAP TRICK | Dark roots with blonde tresses may be in vogue right now with glamorous evangelists like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow flaunting them, but I am here to tell you that grey roots, as a deliberate style choice, will never be in fashion. Not now, not ever.

So what do you do with the grey in your hair? You could go all Patti Smith and let it show (an idea that does seem to have legs right now, if you read The New York Times beauty pages last Sunday)—or cover it up completely. For those choosing the latter and dealing with the unremitting tide of grow-out, there are two excellent and inexpensive stop-gap products to buy you extra time between dates with the colourist.

Both are big, fat hair colour crayons. Roux ‘Tween Time, a dry stick to wet before using, and Cover Your Gray, with a tacky texture like lipstick, are cheap ($8.50 and $7 respectively), easy to operate and, as far as I can tell, as effective as other more expensive options.

“Wow! This is amazing temporary camouflage. Where did you get this product?” my stylist enthused when I asked him to dab some on my hairdo post-haircut, pre-colour appointment. Shoppers Drug Mart, I told him.—Annabel Lee

Roux ‘Tween Time and Cover Your Gray are sold at Shoppers Drug Mart. You can also find these products on amazon.com.

Photo: C. Phaisalakani