2015 has been a boring hair year for me. I’m growing it out. This means I’m heat styling less, dying and bleaching less and conditioning it like crazy. Earlier this year, I was so bored and wanted to chop it off again. I talked myself out of it, but I ended up adding some highlights or “baby lights” as they call them now. To my surprise, highlights are a lot of work. I like brass-free, ash shades but no matter what, my hair would eventually turn some “off” shade. One of the products that kept my blonde hair looking awesome was Roux Fanci-Full.

Roux Fanci-Full is a temporary haircolor that washes out with one shampoo. It’s been around forever. I remember seeing a few bottles of it at my grandmother’s when I was growing up. It doesn’t damage hair (no ammonia or peroxide) and is rather easy to use. Roux Fanci-Full comes in two formulas, Haircolor Rinse and Styling Mousse.

What I like about this product is that since it’s non-committal, it’s good for a lot of things.Think of it like your favorite Instagram filters but for your hair. It can blend in roots (yes, even gray roots) with the rest of the hair. It can freshen faded color. It can even enhance or diminish warm tones (or cool tones). And it can change the color of hair (well, darken hair). It’s like:  #nofilter #justahairrinse

And it’s really great for achieving that gray/steel hair trend that’s really popular right now. Like the model below using Roux:

You can find a lot of Youtube tutorials using Roux Fanci-Ful to achieve a lovely gray/steel look on blonde hair. It’s gorgeous.

It’s relatively easy to use. You apply it to damp, clean hair. It stays around until you wash.

Hair Rinse is available in thirteen shades. Here’s what I’ve tried:

41 True Steel – Pure steel gray for white or gray hair. 

This color would turn my blonde highlights a delightful cool ash shade like you know, that hip gray shade that’s really hot right now. My hair is not all blonde so my effect was more subtle but it still looked really good. Now that I’m back to ash brown, this stuff is still awesome. It keeps my hair ashy, cool and I love the gray tint. If you want to play around with that steel gray hair trend and you already have light blonde hair (dyed or natural), try this!

42 Silver Lining – Tones and brightens bleached or gray hair. 

If you like cool blonde, this is going to be one of your favorite products. I truly loved this one because it was like a gentle toner. I’d use it and any gold tones would vanish and I would be left with these pure blonde highlights, like bright blonde. I mean, it should technically look gray-ish but this was like toning and following up with a really great purple shampoo. Now that my hair is brown, I’m going to continue using this because it just makes my hair so shiny with a cool undertone.

21 Plush Brown – Blends away gray and enriches medium brown. 

Plush Brown is beautiful neutral brown. It’s a lovely brown that I’m now using on my dyed brown hair. It makes my hair look so healthy. This will totally prolong my dye job.

13 Chocolate Kiss – Enhances light to medium brown hair. 

I find Chocolate Kiss is slightly cooler than Plush Brown. I love it. It makes my hair look slightly darker and cooler but still like “Did she do anything different to her hair or not?” It really makes my hair look healthy.

The formula is a liquid with a light floral aroma. I’d compare it to a leave-in conditioner because it tames frizzies and leaves my hair looking sleek and shiny.

The rinse retails for under $7 and I find that a bottle lasts on my hair at least 15 applications. At least.

Color Styling Mousse is available in eleven shades. Here’s what I tried:

23 Frivolous Fawn – Light golden brown enriches dark blonde/light brown hair. 

This added a golden hue to my hair. I’m usually really weird when it comes to gold tones (it’s not what I like) but this actually looked warm, beachy and well, good. I used this to blend my hair and it looked good. This stuff is great for “settling down” highlights.

32 Lucky Copper – Light auburn to enhance reds. 

I was nervous to try this one because I love ashy shades. However, I used it on my sister who was in town and she has dyed red hair. She hadn’t dyed her roots in longer than she wanted to admit. This was like magic. We were amazed. It blended her natural dark brown hair into her red…LIKE MAGIC! She ended up buying her own bottles. I ended up using this on my brown hair and it added these pretty auburn highlights which I admit, is fun for a few days.

Here’s the red over her already intense red. It looks freshly dyed, right?

The formula is a mousse with a light floral aroma. It’s more “user friendly” than the rinse because it isn’t a liquid. The con is that it costs more and there isn’t as much product in the bottle. It also acts more like a styling mousse too so keep that in mind when you’re styling your hair. I actually loved it for air drying my hair in the hot summer. I’d do some “twists” and then rake my fingers through once my hair dried and be left with pretty, subtle waves.

The mousse retails for about $10.50. I get about 8-10 uses per bottle from it.

Like I said, I see these more as “filters” for your hair color. It’s not going to perform any miracles like you know, turn your black hair blonde. It’s magical but it’s not magic. I like them for playing up or down different undertones and for enhancing my current color.

Here’s my tried and true tips: 

The rinse is like water so I apply it in the shower in case I splash or it drips. This has prevented any staining. So I have it in the shower and apply after washing and combing my hair.

The mousse is easier to use because it doesn’t drip. However, I still like the hair color rinse because it feels more like a leave-in conditioner than a styling mousse. I like them both but it depends on how I want to style my hair. Like if I want straight, silky looking hair, I use the rinse. If I want something with more body, I use the mousse.

A friend of mine has “proper ombre” hair. She sometimes gets tired of it and wants a more even look. Like me, she gets tired of her hair color frequently but she’s not ready to get rid of the ombre yet. She puts the hair color rinse in a spray bottle and sprays the bottom portion of her hair while in the shower. I thought this was a cool tip because she’d just spray her ends while in the shower and then comb through. She feels she wastes less product this way.

Since this washes out in one wash, I usually use a dry shampoo to prolong the color. And I’ve mastered some nice braids and buns to get me to wash to wash. Since I’m growing my hair out longer, I should wash it less frequently anyway.

These adhere to hair much better if you don’t condition. Just shampoo and this stuff will be surprisingly conditioning. Now if you want a VERY subtle tint, I’d recommended shampoo, condition and then apply Fanci-Full.

I haven’t noticed any transfer of product but this is coming from someone who’s “all black everything”. However, my sheets are white and I haven’t noticed any transferring. But, I have rather porous hair and I haven’t been stuck in a thunderstorm without an umbrella. So, I’d say some transfer is possible just like it is with any temporary hair color.

You can purchase Roux Fanci-Full Rinse or Mousse at Sally Beauty stores or sallybeauty.com. Be sure to follow Roux on Facebook for coupons and more!

***AND THERE’S A CONTEST!***

 

 

Enter to win the ROUX I’M SO FANCI HAIR COLOR CONTEST. One lucky fashionista will win a designer handbag with $3,200 value. Ten winners will win a a year’s worth of Roux Anti-Aging Hair Care.

PLUS everyone that enters will receive a free sample of Roux Anti-Aging Shampoo and Conditioner and a BOGO coupon for Roux Anti-Aging Hair Care at Sally Beauty stores.

Here’s the link to enter this giveaway!

Good luck!

 

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*Product provided by the brand. My opinions are my own. All photos are mine except for the model which came from Roux.