Colour Refresh is the Maria Nila product people are most excited about and most likely to get wrong. It is not dye. It is not a toner in the salon sense. It is a conditioning mask carrying colour pigment, and once you understand what that means — what it can do, and the four things it firmly cannot — it becomes one of the most useful products in a colour client's bathroom.
What it actually is
A nourishing hair mask with semi-permanent colour pigments and argan oil. The argan oil is doing real work: it moisturises and reduces frizz, so the hair comes out silky rather than coated.
The pigments attach to the outer layer of the hair rather than penetrating the cortex the way permanent dye does. That single fact explains everything else about the product:
- It is gentle, because nothing has to be opened up to let colour in.
- It washes out gradually, over roughly 4–10 washes.
- It cannot lighten, because lightening requires lifting pigment out of the cortex.
- It cannot cover grey, because grey hair has no pigment for the deposit to sit convincingly on top of.
- It works best on colour-treated hair, whose cuticle is more receptive. On virgin hair the result can be barely visible.
For reference, the Bright Copper ingredient list runs: water, cetearyl alcohol, behentrimonium chloride, cetyl alcohol, argania spinosa (argan) kernel oil, panthenol, sunflower seed oil,
hydrolysed wheat protein, glycerin, and — at the end, where colourants sit — Basic Brown 17, Basic Red 76, Basic Yellow 57. Those last three are the direct dyes. Everything before them is conditioner.
The four hard rules
Maria Nila publishes these itself. They are not fine print.
- It does not cover grey. If grey coverage is what you need, you need a permanent colour.
- It cannot lighten. It can only adjust tone or take you slightly darker. There is no Colour Refresh that will make your hair lighter.
- Do not use it before a bleach or lightening service. Residual pigment can cause discoloration. Always tell your colourist if you have used Colour Refresh — bleaching should not be done while pigment remains in the hair.
- Strand test first. Every time, on every new shade. Maria Nila cannot guarantee identical results on every head because hair quality and colour history vary. A strand test costs you five minutes and prevents the one outcome nobody wants.
How to apply it
Step 1. Wash with shampoo, rinse, and towel-dry. You want damp, clean hair — product residue and excess water both dilute the result.
Step 2. Put gloves on. Apply the mask evenly with your fingers or a comb, or only to the sections you want coloured. This is the point at which you can mix: blend two Colour Refresh shades to make your own tone.
Step 3. Leave it in for 3–10 minutes. This is your intensity dial — the longer it sits, the more intense the deposit. Start at the short end on a first use.
Step 4. Rinse until the water runs clear, then finish with conditioner. That last step matters more than it sounds: conditioner closes the cuticle, and a closed cuticle holds the pigment significantly longer.
Expect 4–10 washes. The exact number depends on the shade, your natural colour and your hair quality. Bright, saturated shades on porous, pre-lightened hair last longest. Subtle shades on healthy hair fade fastest.
Choosing your shade
Maria Nila splits the range by how light your hair already is. The numeric levels below are the ones the brand publishes; where it describes a shade in words instead, we have used its words.
For light and blonde hair
| Shade | What it gives | Maria Nila's guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Pearl Silver 0.20 / 0.92 | Cool silver tones | Cool toner for light hair; no numeric level published |
| Cool Cream 8.1 | Beige, cold tones | Blonde hair, level 7–10 |
| Honey Blonde 8.3 | Warm golden blonde | Blonde hair, level 7–10 |
| Beige Blonde 9.23 | Sandy, cool-toned glow | "Subtle colour and lustrous shine in light hair" |
| Pearl Rose 10.26 | Soft pink | "Subtle colour and lustrous shine to light hair" |
| Pink Peach 9.46 | Warm pink-peach | "A warm pink pop of colour and lustrous shine to light hair" |
For medium and dark hair
| Shade | What it gives | Maria Nila's guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Cacao 6.5 | Warm brown | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
| Cacao Intense 4.10 | Deeper, cooler brown | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
| Beige Brown 7.23 | Natural, subtle warm brown | "Depth and shine to medium to dark hair" |
| Caramel Brown 7.35 | Rich caramel with a copper glow | "Revives medium to dark hair" |
| Bright Copper 7.40 | Vivid copper | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
| Autumn Red 6.60 | Deep warm red | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
| Bright Red 0.66 | Saturated true red | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
| Pink Pop 0.06 | Bold pink | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
| Vivid Violet 0.22 | Bold purple | Medium to dark hair, level 2–7 |
A note on White Mix
Maria Nila also makes White Mix, an unpigmented version of the same mask that dilutes any shade into a pastel. We do not currently stock it at ProHair, so everything below works without it: on these masks your intensity dial is the processing time, and your shade dial is blending two pigments together.
If you are between shade families
If you have light hair (level 7–10) and want to go brunette, Maria Nila's advice is not to use the dark shades — the risk of discoloration is real, and Colour Refresh cannot deliver a genuine colour change anyway. Get that done in a salon.
If you have dark hair and want a pastel, that is not what this product does either. Pastels require pre-lightened hair; on level 2–7 hair, a diluted shade will read as barely anything.
Mixing your own shade
This is the most underused feature of the range.
Two shades together. Any two Colour Refresh shades can be blended. Common salon combinations: Bright Copper with Autumn Red for a deeper ginger; Cacao with Caramel Brown for a warmer brunette; Pearl Silver with Cool Cream for a colder blonde.
Timing, as your third dial. With two shades chosen, the leave-on time is what moves the result between a whisper and a statement. Three minutes on a first attempt, then extend on the next application once you have seen how your hair takes it.
Write down what you used. The most frustrating Colour Refresh experience is getting a shade you love and being unable to reproduce it. Note the ratio and the timing.
Troubleshooting
The colour barely showed up. Most likely your hair is virgin or only lightly treated — the pigments do not adhere well to untreated hair. It can also mean the leave-on time was too short, or the hair was too wet when you applied it. Try again on drier, towel-dried hair, and go longer.
It came out too intense. Use a shorter leave-on time next application. To speed up the fade now, Maria Nila's own recommendation is to wash with a product that is not colour-preserving — the opposite of what Luminous Colour is built to do. Be aware that this is not a colour remover and some pigment will remain.
It went patchy. Almost always uneven application on hair with uneven porosity. Sectioning and a comb solve it. Porous, previously bleached sections grab more colour than healthy ones.
It stained my skin. Gloves, and a barrier along the hairline. Maria Nila makes a Skin Protection Cream and a Stain Remover Liquid for exactly this — both are salon-standard items and both work on skin, not fabric.
The result is not what I expected. Discoloration can come from hair quality, colour history, an unsuitable shade choice for your level, or even chlorinated water. And tell your hairdresser before any bleach service.
I am pregnant or breastfeeding. Maria Nila's products are gentle, 100% vegan and free from sulfates and parabens, but this is a conversation for your doctor or midwife, not a beauty blog. Ask them.
Which size?
Colour Refresh comes in 100 ml and 300 ml.
Buy the 100 ml if you are trying a shade for the first time, if you are only refreshing a section or your ends, if you have short hair, or if you are experimenting with a mix. Buy the 300 ml once you know the shade works and you have long or thick hair — for shoulder-length or longer hair a single full-head application takes a meaningful amount of product.
The short version
- It is a conditioning mask with semi-permanent pigment, not dye.
- Apply to clean, towel-dried hair, leave 3–10 minutes, rinse, then condition.
- Lasts 4–10 washes.
- No grey coverage. No lightening. Not before bleach. Always strand test.
- Level 2–7 hair takes the rich and warm shades; level 7–10 hair takes the cool and pastel ones.
- Blend two shades to make your own tone; leave-on time is your intensity dial.
- Too intense? A shampoo that is not colour-preserving speeds up the fade.
Browse the Colour Refresh shades and the rest of the range at prohair.ca/collections/maria-nila. ProHair.ca has supplied Canadian salons since 1996 — free shipping over $120.