7 minute read
Color Wow has an unusual position in professional haircare. It was built specifically around colour-treated hair, and almost every product in the range is engineered to solve one very specific, very annoying problem rather than to be a general-purpose shampoo or conditioner.
The trouble is that the names are marketing-led rather than descriptive. Nothing about "Dream Filter" tells you it removes mineral deposits, and "Money Masque" gives you no clue that it is a deep conditioning treatment. So here is what each product is genuinely for.
What is Color Wow Dream Coat and is it worth the hype?
Dream Coat is Color Wow's signature product and the reason most people find the brand. It is a heat-activated anti-humidity spray — you apply it to damp hair, blow dry, and it forms a hydrophobic barrier that keeps humidity out for up to three washes.
It is genuinely different from a serum or an oil. Those sit on the surface and wash off in one shampoo. Dream Coat bonds under heat and lasts.
There are three versions:
- Dream Coat Supernatural Spray 200ml — the original, and right for most hair types
- Dream Coat Extra Strength 200ml — for coarse, thick or very frizz-prone hair
- Dream Coat for Curly Hair 200ml — for curls, where the goal is smooth definition rather than a straight finish
The mistake to avoid: Dream Coat does nothing if you air dry. Heat is what activates it. If you never blow dry, this is not your product.
Our guide on why hair gets frizzy and how to control it is a useful read alongside this — humidity frizz and damage frizz need different solutions, and Dream Coat only solves one of them.
What is Dream Filter and why does my blonde look dull?
Color Wow Dream Filter Pre-Shampoo Mineral Remover 200ml is one of the most quietly useful products in professional haircare, and it solves a problem most people do not know they have.
Hard water deposits copper, iron and calcium onto hair. On blonde and lightened hair this shows up as a dull, slightly orange or grey cast that no amount of purple shampoo will fix — because purple shampoo neutralises yellow pigment, not metal.
Dream Filter is a pre-shampoo treatment that chelates those minerals out. If you live in a hard water area — which covers most of eastern and southern England — and your blonde has gone flat, this is very often the answer.
Choose it if: your colour looks dull or brassy despite toning, or you swim regularly.
What is Money Masque for?
Color Wow Money Masque 215ml is the range's deep conditioning treatment — a weekly mask for hair that has been coloured and needs moisture and shine returned without weight. There is also a 50ml travel size if you would rather try it first.
Around it sits the rest of the Money family. Money Laundering Hydrating Shampoo and Money Laundering Hydrating Conditioner are the matching cleanse-and-condition pair for everyday use, and Money Mist Leave-In Conditioner is the lightweight daily spray that sits on top of both. Use the shampoo and conditioner as your routine, the masque weekly in place of the conditioner, and Money Mist whenever hair needs softening between washes.
Which Color Wow shampoo should I use?
The Color Security line is the everyday range, and it is split by hair density rather than by concern:
Both are sulphate-free and designed to extend colour. Pick by how much your hair weighs down.
For curls, Color Wow's Curl Wow line is a complete separate system: Curl Wow Hooked Clean Curl Shampoo, Coco-Motion Lubricating Conditioner, Flo-etry Vital Natural Serum and Shook Mix + Fix Bundling Spray for definition.
What is Root Cover Up and how good is it really?
Root Cover Up is a mineral powder that covers regrowth and greys between salon appointments. It is applied with a brush, sets on contact, and — crucially — is water-resistant but shampoos out cleanly.
It is one of those products that sounds gimmicky and turns out to be genuinely excellent. The shade range covers:
Sizing tip: if you are between shades, go lighter. A slightly light root reads as natural; a slightly dark one reads as makeup.
Which Color Wow product should I use for volume?
Two options, depending on where you want the lift.
Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer builds body through the length. Raise the Root Thicken and Lift Spray is a targeted root spray for lift at the scalp.
For texture and grip rather than volume, Style on Steroids Texturizing Spray is the one.
What about shine, toning and scalp?
Pop & Lock High Gloss Finish is a finishing serum for glass-hair shine and for sealing split ends between cuts.
Color Control Purple Toning and Styling Foam tones brass while giving light hold — a neat two-in-one for blondes who find purple shampoo drying.
For the scalp, Youth Juice Collagen Scalp Treatment targets scalp health, which is increasingly recognised as the foundation of hair quality rather than an afterthought.
And for serious repair, Dream Cocktail Advanced Repair and Resurfacing Treatment is the intensive option for hair that has taken real punishment.
Where should I start with Color Wow?
If you buy one thing: Dream Coat, provided you blow dry.
If you buy two: add Dream Filter if you are blonde and live somewhere with hard water, or Money Masque if your hair is dry and coloured.
If you buy three: a Color Security shampoo matched to your hair density, so the first two are not being washed away by a harsh cleanser.
Everything beyond that is targeted — buy it when you have a specific problem it solves, not because it completes the set.