Clariol Nice'n Easy Root Touch Up

I had planned to write a bit of a rave review of this product. I've used it before and been very impressed. I bought this pack and merrily took before pictures in anticipation of being able to show you how great my hair looked afterwards. Unfortunately my stubborn greys had other ideas on this occasion so the before and after pictures would only serve to show you how resistant they are!

Despite the issue with my resistant greys (and they are very stubborn, the wiry little blighters), I still think this is an impressive products and worth mentioning. I know that not everyone has grey to cover but plenty of you other DIYers struggle with the same overdye problem that I do. I *know* that it's better not to dye the full length of my hair every time and this will lead to the ends of my hair getting overloaded with colour but I've always been very nervous of just doing the roots for fear that the colour won't match. I was also very sceptical about the Nice'n Easy Root Touch-up and thought it seemed rather expensive: it's £4.28 for the small touch up packet which is not much different to the box for a full application.

Included in the box is a small plastic trough, a brush for application, the obligatory pair of protective gloves and 15ml of colourant and 15ml of activator which need to be mixed together in the trough before application. It is a little tricky to mix the two products in the plastic trough because of both the consistency and the size of the container. Mixing the creme and the lotion together you go through a lumpy stage before it returns to a smooth, even paste. I am tempted to get a proper plastic bowl to mix it in in future to provide more space in which to whisk it around.

Application is relatively easy with the brush provided. You are instructed to apply to areas of obvious regrowth i.e. along your parting and hairline. I tend to apply either side of my parting quite a way and go as far towards the back of my head as I can for maximum root coverage. You wouldn't want to accidentally give the game away when going for a different parting. There isn't a huge amount of product provided and I used up all of the colourant the other day as I had left it a little while between applications. I shouldn't imagine you would have any issue if you've left it the standard 6-8 weeks.

In the instructions it tells you to leave the dye on for 10 minutes but recommends that you extend this time to 15 minutes to cover stubborn greys. I left it a little longer than 15 minutes this time but still didn't get full grey coverage. Fortunately, leaving the dye on slightly longer doesn't result in the colour becoming darker. Something which has been an issue for me with full head colouring. Once the time is up, you rinse away and style as normal. As it's only a root application, I find the rinsing part much less of a hassle.

Now to the bit that I think is the magic of this product and the reason I don't mind paying a lot for less product. The colour matches the rest of my hair seemlessly. I don't have any idea how it works but it is impossible for me to tell where my old colour ends and the new colour begins. I've checked too. Thoroughly! Admittedly, I used a Clairol Nice'n Easy hairdye as my regular all over colour so I haven't tested out the promise that it matches other leading brands.

Post application: still grey but the colour is a perfect match!

I know other people have suggested that you can achieve the same results by using a regular packet and mixing up a small amount to apply to the roots. I will have to try this sometime in order to make a fair comparison but having messed up many times before with box dyes, it's tempting to stick to the impressive colour matching of the Root Touch-Up. No matter what, I will continue to colour my roots only for the time being as it really is a lot less hassle than I had expected.