We hosted our first #DIYmidlife masterclass from lockdown this week. If you missed it, it’s on IGTV. The first lesson? How to touch up your grey roots at home.
Before anyone sends us a stroppy email about vanity not being important at a time like this, we know that there are far more important things going on out there. Of course there are. But that doesn’t mean we have to enjoy seeing our grey roots thrive (or our midlife moustache for that matter). And it doesn’t mean that we have to put up with it.
Beauty expert Genevieve Nikolopoulos has decades of industry experience, and there isn’t a product or technique that she doesn’t know about. So she’s the perfect host for our #DIYmidlife Beauty videos – starting with what to do about those grey roots, without the help of a salon professional.
Getting rid of grey roots
The guinea pig for week one was Hylda’s founder Saska Graville. Overdue for her regular root cover up salon appointment, she was ready with her Josh Wood Colour blending brush, to follow Genevieve’s step-by-step instructions.
The brush is £15 from Joshwoodcolour.com, and comes in three shades. “Always go a bit lighter than your hair colour when you’re using home dye,” says Genevieve. “You use this brush on wet hair, then blow dry it in to set it. This means it will feel as soft as your normal hair, not crunchy. It will last for two or three washes.”
Saska’s verdict? Easy to use and pretty much idiot-proof. Check it out on IGTV to see for yourself. Genevieve’s advice to apply the brush close to the hairline but not directly on it, meant that there was no scalp tinting. Not pumping too much colour out at once minimised globbing. Grey roots sorted.
Two more to try
We’ve all got broken hairs around the hairline, that often manage to escape tinting, even when a professional is doing it.
For those grey hairs, Genevieve loves Josh Wood Colour’s Root Marker, £10, which comes in three shades. “It’s like a big crayon,” she says. “It’s a genius little thing. Use it for the broken hairs around your hairline. It’s very soft and you can just go over your hairs and it will cover them. It doesn’t last as long as the Blending Brush, and it will come out if you rub it.”
She’s also a fan of L’Oreal’s Magic Retouch spray, £8.26, Amazon. “This is a universal failsafe spray,” says Genevieve. “It’s not as good as the Josh Wood one which you put in wet, then blow dry and it’s done, but it is very quick. It has a really small nozzle, and comes in nine colours. One tip, cover your forehead with a tissue when you’re spraying your hair line.”
We doubt that our #DIYmidlife masterclasses will put any beauty professionals out of business, but we hope they help all of us midlifers through this challenging period with our beauty self esteem in tact. See you in the salon once this is all over.
You can read lots more beauty ideas and recommendations for a glowing midlife, here.
