Wave Your Wand and--Voila

Mascara traditionally has been a cosmetic for the lashes, a brush-on colorant to make them seem longer and thicker.

Now it’s highlighting the hair in a whole new hue.

Dior calls its product, Mascara Flash, “a stroke of brilliance for the hair.”

It may also be a stroke of marketing genius. Since Dior introduced Mascara Flash to the U.S. consumer in May, retail sales have reached nearly 500,000 units at $19.50 each.

Now other companies, big and small, with brand names and generics, are rushing to market with their versions to be displayed, variously, with cosmetics or the shampoos.

American International of Los Angeles introduced Hair Flair, a $4.95 mass market brand, in July. Sally Beauty Supply introduced Hair Highlighter, $5.99, in August, and Senscience entered the market with Color Effects Hair Mascara, $10 each, in September.

Lancome had an October roll-out of Hair Streaks Illuminating Colour Highlights, $15; Revlon’s Street-lights, $5 from its Streetwear brand, is available this month, and L’Oreal’s Hair Mascara, $8, is due in December.

“We have the hardest time keeping it in stock all over the world,” Caroline Geerlings says. Geerlings is senior vice president of marketing for Christian Dior Perfumes Inc., the marketing arm for beauty products.

“It’s so popular because it’s so fun,” she says. “You can really play with it and have instant highlights. You’re not taking any risks.”

These colors on a wand range from neutrals to brights. The intensity depends on the hue and how much is used.

“For highlights, you can use the shade that’s closest to your own hair color,” according to Stacy Keating, brand director for Senscience International. “For instance, champagne works very nicely with blond, bronze works with brunet, copper works on redheads, and bordeaux is for dark brown or black hair.”

If you’re feeling frisky, try the frankly fake such as Tinsel, a teal shade from Lancome with matching lipstick and nail enamel; Fresh Green from Dior; Wild Lilac from Ardell.

Packaging for these brush-on highlights is similar to that of mascara for the lashes although some have a larger brush. And the name’s the same, based on the Spanish and Italian words for “mask.” But few manufacturers would suggest that they are interchangeable.

“There would be no problem applying it to the eyebrows,” according to a representative at Dior. “But the brush size makes it impractical to apply to the lashes, and the formula doesn’t have the strength of a good formulation for the lashes.”

At least, they are both cosmetics. Donna Barasch, a marketing executive at Lancome, says it’s makeup for the hair.

“Playing with makeup is fun,” she says, “and your hair is another area to decorate. It’s no-commitment color that stays on till you wash it out.”

Kim Lepine, a hair stylist and owner of a salon in New York, says the mascara has a practical side, too.

“If your highlights have grown out, it could help your color look better for a couple of days,” she says. “It’s like a touch-up before you see your colorist.”

It’s also like, well, cheap chic for the club set with spikes to chunk.

“If your hair is light brown,” Lepine says, “you could create a root effect with red. Or take marigold to chunk the ends.”

Or, as Barasch says, “You could do your bangs in four colors and make four stripes.”

A word of caution. Ease up on other makeup.

“If you’re using bright colors like teal, or big, bold streaks, then your main focus is going to be your hair,” Karen Kawahara, a makeup artist in Los Angeles, says. “I would do the makeup very soft and pretty. Otherwise it could be clownish.”

Stephanie Kelley, brand manager at American International, says men are picking up on the colors.

“It’s definitely for the avant-garde, the kind of men in the Melrose area who wear nail polish and different-colored hair,” Kelley says.

“They’re weekend club warriors, and if they have a day job, they wash it out.”