Anastasia Beverly Hills HYPERCOLOR Brow and Hair Powder Review

... I'd also wanted to title this post: 'Pop of Color for Your Hair' but a) the word 'pop' appears to be increasingly controversial, b) I run out of space. However, this is exactly what this post is going to be about, so if you suffer from January blues, here's something bright in store for you!

The HYPERCOLOR Brow and Hair Powders by Anastasia Beverly Hills are 'extremely pigmented for great color payoff [and] meant to be fun and temporary'. According to the brand, '[they] developed HYPERCOLOR Brow and Hair Powder as an easier alternative to chalk. Chalk dries out your hair, plus it is really hard to get deep pigmentation with chalk. HYPERCOLOR will not damage hair, washes out easily and provides stunning salon-worthy color without any of the commitment.' The 5 available colors are sold separately (so far, the product is only available at Ulta) for $12.50 each.

The HYPERCOLORs come in an eyeshadow type pot with a clear, screw-on lid and look pretty much exactly like big, matte eyeshadows with very cool, almost neon like shades. Mind you, I didn't have a huge experience with hair chalk-type products before, although both the packaging and the price point seem to be comparable to other brands on the market. Here are some close-up of the available colors: Ultra-Violet, a cool, deep lilac purple, In The Pink, a neon fuschia, Mega Watt Green, a neon lime green, Teal Tornado, a true deep teal, and Electric Blue, an ultramarine blue. From the swatches, Mega Watt Green appears to be the most intensely pigmented, with the blue, teal and pink following closely and the purple Ultra-Violet just a bit less vibrant.

Having first photographed the product and briefly swatched it on my arm, one grey and dull morning I cheerfully set off to my bathroom to have a little HYPERCOLOR session. I basically applied two of the shades, Ultra-Violet and In The Pink, randomly throghout my hair, concentring mostly on the ends for a more ombre look. I used my fingers to pick up the product from the pan and then rubbed it on smaller hairstrands in sections. I found that using thinner strands was giving me more oomph, as the application actually took a bit longer than I expected - I ended up having to go back and forth to the pan a lot, so covering larger areas was a bit too time-consuming for me. The color transferred very nice and vibrant onto the hair and felt a bit more creamy than I was expecting, quite akin to those volumizing hair powders you sprinkle onto your roots. Lastly, I sealed with my everyday hairspray and off I went to work.

The HYPERCOLORs remained just as vibrant as in the morning for the entire day with no visible transfer onto my (dark) clothing; the brand doesn't recommend wearing white tops with the powders. They also recommend washing it off before going to bed to avoid staining your pillows but I didn't - the result was a little bit of transfer onto my sheets but nothing a little laundry detergent couldn't solve. The powders washed off completely the next morning with my usual double shampoo and left no stains whatsoever, which is sometihing I was a bit concerned about.

All in all, I was really happy with the performace of the Anastasia Beverly Hills HYPERCOLORs; I thought the shade selection was nicely thought-out and I liked the vibrancy of the powder in my hair and the variety of looks you could achieve with it: neon highlights, dip dye ends, ombre. However, for my personal preference, neon accents are not necessarily something I would opt for very often - I guess I might just feel a tad too... old for that?

What do you think? Have you ever tried hair chalk or had colorful accents in your hair?

Disclaimer: The product featured in this post has been kindly provided by the manufacturer for review consideration. All of the opinions expressed are 100% my own and honest. Thanks for reading!