“The ubiquitous brand of beard-color-in-a-box-product-available-at-every-single-pharmacy ?did an acceptable job but triggered SEVER allergic reactions for me (and I'm not allergic to virtually anything, so I consider that stuff caustic). So I've been on a hunt for something else for a while now. Volt has become my top choice at this point.
I'd used it several times primarily just for a couple hours in the evening for dinner out with the wife, but Memorial Day was the big test. I spent 8+ hours sweating and wiping sweat off my face and beard, each time fearfully checking for the towel for the presence of dark brown drips or any sign of the Volt coloring wiping off. I was terrified I was unwittingly doing a Giuliani impersonation. But no issues! Every time there was no sign of it wiping or dripping off; it was on rock-solid.
There was some subtle wear off by the end of the night (making it look a bit lighter or a bit more salt-and-pepper), but my wife said she'd have never noticed if I hadn't specifically called it to her attention and asked.
Like the other reviewers, I do like the ability to go light with it (producing a more salt-and-pepper look) or full on. The salt-and-pepper is a little hard to achieve evenly across your entire beard, but getting a solid full cover is very easy.
The applicator is basically an oversized mascara stick, awkward at first (unless you wear mascara) but you become pretty deft with it by maybe your 3rd or 4th usage. I can now do a full beard coloring in under 5 minutes, so it is completely doable to throw it on right before you head out for dinner or whatever.
Soap will wash it right off. If don't shower before hitting the sack, it WILL all be gone in the morning... I have no idea where it goes, as I never find any hint of it on my pillow case. But it is basically a 1 day live span max.
The only negative I can say is it leaves your beard feeling very dry... only when the coloring is on it, not after you wash it out. I haven't noticed any long term affects to my beard's general feel when fully cleaned of Volt.”
