Tai-pan

Actually, you can't. The reason is because the shampoos and conditioners you can buy online or at the head shops just coat/mask the hair. The testers got wise to that really fast and now they wash the sample of your hair prior to testing it. Even the simple testers wash the sample now before throwing the hair into the test solution.

I'd say you can certainly try just conditioning your hair to mask it but I'd also suggest you get your resume together as you are most certainly going to fail. Don't take my word for it...others are saying the same thing.

Not trying to upset you but this thread was started a year ago when testers just started to wash the samples. Now they all do (from the research I have done prior to my own test). Masking shampoos and conditioners don't remove the chemical markers...they just try to seal the hair to prevent the test solutions from making their way inside the hair.

It all comes down to how bad you want the job/need to pass the test. In my case it was a MUST that I get this job so I wasn't willing to risk my chance at just a simple covering shampoo. I took the time and IMHO did it right by using IDA's method....and I passed my test. My ex-roommate, however, just informed me on Saturday that he failed his hair test to get into the same company I work for. He smokes less than me but he tried Zydot (or whatever it is called) and they clocked his PPM way above the cut-off limit.

Simply comes down to the fact, if you want to be lazy and try just covering you can do it but don't expect to pass. Link above has many sob stories of people trying to do the exact thing you are thinking of. Many people in this thread and that link, including myself, have done the IDA or Mac method and passed our tests. Some don't some do, but nearly everyone that tries to cover their hair today will fail. IMHO it's not worth slacking.