Colorsmash Hair Shadow

Fun hair colours are super-trendy now but they require a lot of maintenance and what looks great in a magazine doesn't always translate well in real life. So a product like Colorsmash Hair Shadow, which can be thought of as eye shadow for your hair, sounds really appealing: it's temporary, affordable and available in dozens of colours that range from a metallic silver to jet black to a lime/blue colour that's supposed to create an ombre effect.

The colour I tried out is called Je New Sais Quoi and it's a bright pink. It's not the colour I would have picked but it is what showed up in my Topbox so it's what I ended up trying out. While this was my first time trying out Colorsmash hair shadow, I have tried out a similar product before and was impressed with how easy it was to use and that its colourful but temporary results. So because of that past positive experience, I thought this product would also be great.

Unfortunately, it turns out that ColorSmash is an inferior item compared to Splat Hair Chalk. While both are fundamentally the same product, the hair chalk has much better packaging. Its applicator is designed in such a way to protect your fingers from the colour. Colorsmash doesn't have that feature and as a result, the colour gets all over your thumb as you use it to press your hair against the shadow and pull it down your strands. At one point, I did cover my thumb with a cotton pad but that just resulted in a lot of wasted shadow.

Adding to the fun is that ColorSmash likes to shed its pigment over your body, your clothes, the floor, etc. To stop this, you need then cover the shadow-coated sections in hair spray, which at least in my case, left my hair looking and feeling stiff and well, gross (thankfully, I decided to wear my hair in a ponytail so it didn't look as crappy as it could have).

Love the idea but could do without the mess

Colorsmash claims that it, "adds temporary color for luscious locks with ease" but while it definitely did add bright, vivid streaks of pink to my hair, it wasn't easy to apply and the use of hair spray meant that my locks were far from "luscious."

Using hair spray did lock the colour in for a bit. But as the night wore on, and my hair rubbed against my neck, then my coat and finally my pillow case and pyjama top, the colour came loose. When I woke up the following morning, I found pink powder on all of those items and very little of it left in my hair.

Thankfully, this product easily washes out of both hair and fabrics, as well as off of one's body. This may actually be its best quality.

It's really a shame that Colorsmash doesn't have smarter packaging and isn't better at staying on the hair because the shades that it is offered in are fantastic. It's also reasonably priced at under $20 and unlike Splat, one disc should get you more than a couple of uses.

Would I buy this product: No.

Should you buy this product: Only if you're prepared for a bit of a mess.