Okay, so I kinda fibbed a little in my Vacation Hair post. Remember I said that I only took three products with me? Well, I actually brought four! If you look at the picture in that post again, you’ll see the same black tube that is pictured above.

You see, I hadn’t done a henna treatment since the Meet-Up at Pooka Boutique at the end of May and my grey hair was obnoxiously long and apparent proof that I was long overdue. Most times, I don’t mind my tri-color roots. However, there are occasions when I have an event to attend or someplace special to go and would prefer that my grey isn’t screaming, “Hi” at everyone it sees. Well, you know a henna treatment takes a good amount of time given the prep, application, “development,” rinse and post-treatment DC … and that’s without the added steps and time required for a two step indigo!! Needless to say, I don’t always have a day to devote to a treatment when I really want to hide those greys … and a quicker, permanent color or rinse isn’t an option for me. Enter the hair color touch-up stick.

So, about a week before we left for vacation, we “found” ourselves in Sally’s. I decided to hit the hair color aisle to check-out the assortment of hair color sticks that I’d seen before and had contemplated purchasing in the past. I mulled it over and decided to try one that had previously intrigued me, the Touch Back Hair Marker in Dark Auburn (matched my henna red grey). Only the box was in the aisle and you had to take it to the counter to get the actual product. So, I suspected it would be more expensive than the sticks that were readily available. Therefore, I also grabbed the Roux ‘Tween Time stick in Auburn.

THE MAIN EVENT

In this corner, in the black box, weighing in at .27 ounces and $26.99, is …

TOUCH BACK HAIR MARKER in DARK AUBURN

Ingredients: Water, Alcohol Denat., Propylene Glycol, PVP/VA Copolymer, Polyvinyl Acetate. Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Dimethicone Copolyol, Potassium Sorbate, Amodimethicone, Trideceth-12, Cetrimonium Chloride, Fragrance, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Benzl Salicylate, Linalool, Geraniol, Basic Blue 99 (CI 56059), Basic Brown 16 (CI 12250), Basic Red 76 (CI 12245), Basic Yellow 57 (CI 12719), Basic Brown 17 (CI 12251), Acid Violet 43 (CI 60730), Triethanolamine.

*Does not contain Paraphenylenediamine (PPD)

And, in this corner, in the slate grey tube, weighing in at 1/3 ounces at $6.99, is …

ROUX ‘TWEEN TIME in AUBURN

Ingredients: Tea-stearate, paraffin, ozokerite, synthetic beeswax, talc, parfum (fragrance), citral, citronellol, coumarin, eugenol, geraniol, hydroxycitronellal, limonene, linalool, methylparaben, propylparaben, CI 77489 (iron oxide), CI 77492 (iron oxide), CI 77499 (iron oxide), CI 77491 (iron oxide), CI 77891 (titanium dioxide), CI 77007 (ultramarines).

So, how did the contenders match up?

Touch Back
Touch Back comes in this nice, sleek container, really looks like a marker, applied easily like one and colored my grey roots a deep auburn that closely matched my hennaed grey. It left my hair with the normal amount of shine and didn’t seem drying. It didn’t flake or appear to rub off once dry. But, I did need to be careful when applying as it was easy to color “outside the lines” and end up with a red scalp too … and red fingers if I touched it before it dried (which only took a minute or less)!! Touch Back claims to last until the next wash, but I think that’s for those who wash their hair once every day or two and don’t apply creamy, buttery or oil-based products. It lasted about a day or so and then began to fade, requiring re-application if I didn’t want light orange/red roots. It also appeared to work better on freshly cleaned hair and didn’t seem to stick as well once I applied additional product to my hair.

The next day.

***8 points***
(2 point deduction for price)

Roux ‘Tween Time
This hair color stick is like a thick block of clay and had to be wet before it could be applied. However, once the stick was wet, it seemed to go on relatively easily and smoothly. It left my hair with a lighter auburn color than the Touch Back marker and had a chalky appearance when applied, which I’m sure is attributable to the talc in the ingredients. The color was lighter than my hennaed grey and reminded me of red clay dirt. It also claimed, “color stays until shampooed away.” Ummmm … yeah … not so much when you wash your hair once a week. However, I did not notice it flaking or rubbing off on anything.

***5 points***
(Red clay color appeared dusty and did not blend well with hennaed grey.)

AND THE WINNER IS …

Touch Back Marker by a technical knock-out!!

The Touch Back Marker was the superior temporary hair color touch-up stick by far. Shoot, given the price, it better be!! But, guess what, I Found It Cheaper!! LOL!! I went on Amazon and found it here for half the price at $13.50!! And, though it doesn’t qualify for Free Super Saver Shipping, at $4.59 for shipping, it still comes in under the Sally’s price!

So, I definitely think that I’ll continue to use the Touch Back Marker for those times that I need a quick color touch up! Shoot, I think I’ll be ordering a dark brown or black marker for that grey/red/black patch in the back of my head when an indigo treatment is long overdue, but not happening anytime soon!! LOL!!

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Have you tried any of the temporary hair color touch-up products? Which ones have you found to be effective and/or ineffective? What do you like and/or dislike about them?