Hair Color Root Touch-up at Home: 7 Tips from Colorists

Let’s talk about hair color. Specifically, let’s talk about root touch-up hair color.

“I believe that it’s worth spending time and money on a style that makes us feel good,” says Jenna Perry, a celebrity hair colorist from New York. She says, “Frequent hair coloring isn’t safe, but a skilled root touch-up is enough to keep the color even on every strand.” 

Coloring your hair helps you flaunt a trendy hairdo or cover gray hair. More than style, you no longer have to worry about dull hair. 

Hair colors bring a magical change to you. Your hair should feel soft, silky, and strong. It adds shine, volume, and bounce to your hair, making you look young and healthy.

What’s a Root Touch Up

Jenna says, “Hair coloring goes ugly when the hairs grow out. The subtle roots will spot a different hue after a fortnight or even before that.”

It would help if you had more time and money to repeat full hairstyling biweekly at a salon. Root touch-up is the practical option to maintain an even hue from hair roots to bulbs. 

In simple terms, a root touch-up is a method of applying hair color only to the roots of your hair. It’s a cost-effective way to help seamlessly blend your roots into the rest of your hair. This quick-fix method helps to hide the original color of your hair that peeks out at the roots.

“Root color-fix products, available as spray, powder, or paste, are carefully applied directly to the roots and act as hair color extenders,” says Jenna Perry. 

You don’t need to rush to your stylist when the color is uneven. These are three simple ways you can touch up your roots at home:

  • Use a box dye to DIY your root touch-up kit.
  • Use a root touch-up spray, paste, or powder.
  • Use makeup for a quick fix (brow hair pencil, mascara, etc.).

7 Tips for At-Home Root Cover Touch-up

Root cover touch-ups at home are a practical solution to maintaining even hair color between your hair color appointments. It not only keeps your hairstyle intact but also saves time and money. Moreover, it’s easy and convenient as well.

Here are a few helpful tips for making your root color cover-up at home:

1. Gather the essentials

Luckily, all the chair coloring essentials can be purchased online. Choose a color formula and the peroxide that activates the color. Or else, look for natural dyes. You’ll also need a brush, an application, guard clothing, and gloves. You can get ready-to-use color box kits and high-quality natural hair care products from davines.com at a low cost. The color pack includes gloves, a bowl, clips, and a hair coloring brush.

2. Apply the color precisely to the discolored area

In two weeks, the hair grows around one-quarter of an inch or half a centimeter long. Remember, the touchup is just for a newly grown patch of hair at the root—Target specific areas like the hairline.

By applying hair dye where there is color already, the hair will look less natural and opaque. For an easy fix, you could apply conditionerwhich is thick or coconut oil, to the hair strands you don’t intend to color.

3. Pick the right shade

Make sure you choose the right shade that matches your hair color. The root touch-up color should be identical to the rest of the hair (blonde, brunette, red, grey, or black). If you have gray or silver hair, choose a lighter color. The gray color inside will make the dye darker. Use a “virtual try-on tool” to help you try different shades of hair color.

The best root touch-up products include Color Wow Root Cover, Clairol Root, Garnier, Revlon, Moroccanoil, Magic Root Cover-up, Kiss Quick, L’Oreal Paris, Boldify, DpHue, etc. Clairol Root is the most popular among the many root concealer colors, though it may be the best product.

4. Opt for a temporary root cover-up

Hair experts recommend root touch-up spray or powder as the safest solution. They are temporary dyes that will be washed out when you shampoo. Also, using them is easy, and you can complete the touch-up in a few minutes. Oribe Airbrush Root Touch-up Spray is our top pick

5. Take the necessary precautions

Some people develop allergic conditions to peroxide, ammonia, and other color components. When you are using a new product, do a skin test. Apply a tiny patch of color mixture behind your earlobes or an area behind your neck. Leave it for 24 hours to see any signs of allergy.

6. Prep hair before coloring

Most stylists recommend stopping washing your hair three days before coloring. The natural oil in the hair can help protect the scalp from the chemicals in the dye. To remove knots and tangles from hair, use boar-bristle brushes. Applying Vaseline to the forehead, earlobes, and neckline will reduce the risk of skin staining. 

7. Follow the coloring procedure listed on the hair color box

When you buy a branded product, the manufacturer will also provide a user’s manual printed on the box or a leaflet inside the box. Follow every step of the instructions mentioned in the user’s manual.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a hair root touch-up last?

Hair grows at different speeds for everyone. It also depends on hair types like blonde hair and straight, wavy, or curly hair. On average, a semi-permanent hair touch-up lasts up to six weeks. If you use temporary hair color, it will disappear after shampooing.

What is the best way to touch up your roots?

Most hair stylists recommend root touch-up powder or spray as the best solution for covering the roots. They are temporary quick fixes and wash out when you shampoo.

How often should I touch up my hair roots?

The frequency of color touch-ups depends on the growth rate of your hair and the type of color you use. Semi-permanent hair dye typically lasts about six weeks. It would be best to redo the touch-up after shampooing your hair using temporary colors such as powder or spray.

Is the root touch-up permanent?

There is no permanent hair color. As the hair grows, the roots will have the natural color of your hair. The color difference will become easily noticeable 4 to 6 weeks after your root touch-up with a demi-permanent dye.

Does root retouch wash out?

Root touch-up powder or spray is a temporary root touch-up solution. It washes out each time you shampoo the hair. Regular hair dyes gradually fade away after a few rounds of shampooing for 6 to 8 weeks.

Can I shampoo my hair after a root touch-up?

Hair colorists recommend clients wait 48 hours to shampoo their hair after coloring. Do not use harsh, chemical-based shampoo and conditioner on your cooled hair.

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