The best root touch up powders, crayons and sprays - plus how to actually use them

These clever concealers will tide you over until your next colour appointment...

root touch up

Hands up who stretched out their hair colour appointment pre social isolating and is now seriously regretting it? We’ve witnessed some downright dreamy home hair jobs recently. Most notably, Elle Fanning, who took to Instagram to reveal a colour rinse that has us seriously re-thinking strawberry blonde for summer. But there is a simpler solution: temporary root touch up products.

root touch up

Instagram/@ellefanning

While visible roots are hardly top of our Coronavirus concerns, that badly done balayage effect can make you feel upended.

Thankfully, with a quick brush, pat or spritz you can now immediately cover grey hair and restore your highlights to their former glory.

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How to get a flawless root touch up

According to Josh Wood, the trick to applying root touch up products around the hairline is to first scrape your hair back into a ponytail.

‘A waxy crayon is a quick and precise solution,' he says. 'It literally colours away grey and works especially well on stubborn wiry hairs.'

Wood's Root Marker even comes with a small brush to help you distribute the colour. 'So if you go a bit heavy in places this helps you to blend it out.’

Tinted dry shampoos are virtually a 3-in-1 product: they cover roots in an instant, add volume and are perfect for refreshing 2nd-day hair. ‘On dry hair, simply spray along the parting and rub it in with your finger,’ says Wood.

Powders are particularly good for highlighted hair or those with an unsteady hand, says Zoe Irwin. ‘I like using the ColorWow Root Cover Up in Blonde. I load the colour onto the brush and turn it on its side. That way I can literally paint in skinny highlights.’

These are the root touch up products that have earned their place in our round up. But be quick, they're selling out fast..

Fiona Embleton

Fiona Embleton has been a beauty editor for over 10 years, writing and editing beauty copy and testing over 10,000 products. She has previously worked for magazines like Marie Claire, Stylist, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health. Beauty journalism allowed her to marry up her first class degree in English Literature and Language (she’s a stickler for grammar and a self-confessed ingredients geek) with a passion for make-up and skincare, photography and catwalk trends.