I had shared the Anastasia Hypercolor Powders I'd received before Christmas on Instagram (for those of you that don't follow me ... come find me!), but due to sad circumstances shortly after Christmas (the loss of a family member) and getting the flu I hadn't had the opportunity to give these a whirl until now. They come in 4 colors, which you'll see below and can see above in the promotional picture.I've tried other "chalking" style products in the past with little success. My biggest issue has been that I have black hair so colors rarely showed up on my hair or looked insanely dull. I was open to giving these a try though because I really love Anastasia's other products (have you seen the new Bold & Beautiful Kit or Covet Waterproof Liners??? They look so fabulous!).
Anastasia suggests, like other chalking brands, that you use a leave-in conditioner prior to applying the powder. My go-to leave-in conditioner is a Leonor Greyl product that I can no longer find (and I'm almost out too!), but I think I'll try their Tonique Hydratant next. Fabulous stuff!
Anyway, to apply this product to your hair, you simply take strips of your hair (smaller is easier to work with) and run the shadow-like pan of Hypercolor down the length of your lock. My hair is insanely thick so it took me a bit longer than it probably would someone else to get both sides of the lock of hair I was working on, but even with the first application I could tell these were far more pigmented than anything else I'd used.
Here's the results:
Electric Blue - this is the first one I tried. I probably did about 5 passes through my hair to get it this vibrant, but still ... there's no mistaking the fact that it's blue!
From left to right: In the Pink, Megawatt Green, Ultra-Violet, Teal Tornado.
The proof is in the pudding folks! All of these but Ultra-Violet were incredibly vibrant on my black hair. Granted Ultra-Violet wasn't so faint you couldn't see it, it lacked the vibrancy I experienced in the other 4.
Where to Buy
Anastasia Hypercolor Brow and Hair pigments are available on their site HERE.
Price
These retail for $12.50 per color.
Final Thoughts
I think it would be most effective if I separate my thoughts into pros and cons!
Pros:
These are by far the most pigmented "chalking" type powders I've used on my hair. I was expecting the brighter colors especially to be super dull on my hair. Aside from Ultra-Violet being a bit more faint and subdued, they were all incredibly bright! I think the price is also really great for the level of pigmentation you get. These also washed right off of my hands and the counter in the bathroom I applied these in with a little soap and warm water. They came right out of my hair with some shampoo, too! And again ... THE PIGMENTATION WAS AWESOME! I think my favorite on my hair are Teal Tornado, Electric Blue and In the Pink. I'm insanely impressed with Megawatt Green's pigmentation for such a light color, too.
Cons:
I am personally not a bit fan of "chalking" type powders because they dry my hair out like nuts. Now, keep in mind, I have incredibly thick, textured, ethnic hair that requires a lot of care to keep it from getting dry in general so I'm already teetering on the edge naturally. I find that all of the chalking products I've tried do tend to dry my hair out a bit so I wouldn't be able to use them regularly. The other thing I'd say is a slight con is the packaging. Now the packaging itself is actually very convenient and super cute, but I hate rubbing pans of powder down my hair. Again, my hair is textured, so rubbing something down a lock of my hair causes it to go nuts even with light friction. That being said, it may not bother other people. The final con which is probably only something I would be a little iffy on is the fact that I don't use hairspray on my hair almost ever. I don't like aerosols environmentally. At the same time, hairspray does really give these powders extra staying powder, otherwise they will come off on everything.
Overall:
I would say these are really great for someone that wants a fun pop of color for a short period! I LOVE that these work well on dark hair like mine because let's be serious, rarely anything ever does! I think the price is phenomenal and I think anyone looking for something like this needs to go out and grab them. I look forward to trying them on my brows, I can tell they'll be phenomenal!
Tip: Make sure you're wearing something you don't mind getting pigment on and don't plan on leaving the house with since excess powder will get on you while you're applying/before you set with hairspray. Also, make sure you do this some place you can easily wipe down after.
So, what do you think?
