How to make your hair colour last longer between appointments

Telegraph

10-02-2025

As I'm sure many of you agree,
Is there a way to spend less time (and money) in the salon? Of course, nothing can compare to the expert eye of a colourist and the overall finish they can execute, but there are some very good products that can keep your hair colour looking good in between visits.
I've been turning a blind eye to the few greys I'm sprouting each month and instead continue to go to my colourist every three months or so to add some
But there's been one product I've discovered that has stretched out my visits and added lots of vibrancy back into my coloured hair. This colour-enhancing tinted gloss takes your old highlights from dull to super shiny, almost like you've just had a fresh salon visit. In fact, Glaze's Super Color Conditioning Gloss in Cocoa Lights is the best £16 I've ever spent on my haircare routine.
Glaze Super Color Conditioning Gloss in Cocoa Lights, £16,
You apply it all over dry hair and leave it in for 10 minutes. Then you shampoo and condition your hair as normal. The first time I used it I immediately noticed my hair felt much softer – that's thanks to babassu oil and vitamin E – and my colour looked fresher and glossier. You don't need to use it for every wash, either: each pre-shampoo treatment lasts up to 10 washes, so if you wash your hair every other day, that's around every three weeks.
Of course, I was straight on the phone to my colourist, Anita Rice, to find out what she thought about these colour treatments. 'Using a tinted conditioner is the perfect way to prolong colour, enhance richness and add subtle depth between salon visits,' she tells me. Phew. Rice also recommends the Alchemic conditioners by Davines.
Davines Alchemic Conditioner Copper, £29,
She suggests these types of conditioners and treatments if you want to experiment with shifting your hair colour a little with zero commitment: 'If you have blonde hair and want to dip your toe into a softer caramel shade, these conditioners wash out without leaving any permanent colour change.' Likewise, if you've recently taken your hair a shade or two darker, these products help to maintain richness before your next salon visit.
Glaze's Conditioning Gloss comes in a few shades, but the ones I think are particularly brilliant are Vanilla Lights, which will knock out any brassiness in blonde hair, Caramel Lights, to enrich caramel tones in mid-toned brunette hair, and Cocoa Lights, which I've been using, to revive any darker brunette highlights.
Although these colour conditioners don't work on grey root regrowth, there are some excellent options to cover greys in between visits. The best high-street option is Magic Retouch Instant Root Concealer Spray by L'Oréal Paris.
Magic Retouch Instant Root Concealer Spray by L'Oréal Paris, £9.99,
This conceals grey regrowth really well, but a little tip on using it: if you have a definite, defined centre or side parting, place the long thin handle of a fine-tooth comb (or even a chopstick!) in the parting, and then spray.
Once you lift away the handle from your parting, you'll have all the colour deposited exactly where it's supposed to be, rather than in your parting, giving a much more natural finish.
Elsewhere, Root Smudge by superstar colourist Josh Wood is an excellent on-the-go product to touch up any greys. It's a densely pigmented powder that you can smudge into your roots, without leaving any powdery residue. All-round brilliant.
Root Smudge, £15,