I Tried It: The Hairspray That Promises to Cover My Grey Hair

Blondes seem to think that they have it the hardest when it comes to color upkeep, and for much of my life as a low-maintenance brunette, this actually seemed true. I was always grateful that my natural dark brown color required basically nothing aside from the occasional highlight to look its best. And then I turned 30. Suddenly, the easy, breezy days of doing nothing stopped working: Now if I go more than a few months without a little help from a professional, the grey (or as I like to call it, silver) shoots through my hair, as glaringly obvious as lightning bolts slashing through the night sky. Alas, as a working mom, the chances of getting to that professional every couple of months to address said lightning bolts are basically nil. Sigh.

Enter, Style Edit root concealer. The “naturally-derived” spray (translation: no parabens, no mineral oils, no petroleums and no peroxide) blends to match the pigmentation of your hair, and is meant to cover greys and other problematic root colors.

I took it home a bit reluctantly. (It’s come to this, then? I thought. Spray paint for my hair?) The first day I tried to spray it on the baby silver hairs around my face, I missed and got it on my forehead, and was reminded for a moment of the old men who used to color their hair with shoe polish. I washed my face and put the spray down.

The next day, though, my aim was better. I liked the way the brown covered the tiny greys in a way that made them seem more like pretty light brown than a too-dark, too-obvious match to the rest of my head. I did a tiny spray here, a tiny spray there, and was happy that the color really did seem to blend in easily with the rest of my hair. It was nothing like shoe polish, and the texture was not at all sticky or stiff. (I guess I expected it to feel sort of like hair spray on my hair? It does not. Hair stays soft.)

Since then, I have sprayed sporadically, as needed (before a party, once; another time when I had a TV appearance), and I like it. I’d still like to get to the salon at some point for a full head of highlights, but it’s nice to have a quick and easy (and cheap!) fix until I can find time for the real deal. Because hey, it’s what we do as moms, as professionals, as women: We troubleshoot. We improvise. We do the best we can on the fly.

It’s nice when you stumble upon a tool that makes it all a little easier.

The Details: $19.50 at F.A.N. Friend and Nemesis, 2472 Frankford Avenue, East Kensington. Available for blonde, red, brunette and black hair.