Mandy asks: Whenever I dye my hair either at home or at a salon, my roots never catch the colour. Do you have any ideas why?
Left Brain says:
This is an interesting question Mandy. I’m assuming you’ve considered and rejected the obvious answer that you are not putting enough coloring paste on the hair at the roots. This is understandable because you are encouraged not to get any chemicals on your scalp. But beyond this, the most likely reason your roots aren’t taking up color is that they are just too “healthy” or undamaged. Let me explain.
How hair grows
First, you have to know a little about hair growth. Hair grows by pushing its way out of the hair follicle onto your head. It’s a bit like one of those Play-Doh factory sets where you squeeze the putty through a small hole. So, the newest hair is closest to the scalp. When hair is exposed to things like UV, heat, combing, shampooing, wind, etc. it becomes damaged. And while damaged hair doesn’t look or feel as good as less damaged hair, it does have one significant advantage. It is easier to color. Why? Read on.
Damaged hair colors easier
When you color hair, part of the process involves chemically loosening the outer layer (cuticle) so the color chemicals can get inside. It turns out to be much easier to loosen damaged cuticle layers. New, undamaged hair, such as the kind found at your roots, has a much stronger outer layer and does not loosen up enough to let as many color molecules in. When the color molecules can’t get into the hair, they can’t change the hair color.
**Warning: Try the following tips at your own risk. You could end up with a hair color you did not want.
Tips for coloring the roots
If the warning didn’t scare you, then feel free to try either of these 2 things to get more color on your roots.
1. Leave it on longer.
Leave the color solution on the roots for a longer period of time before rinsing it out. So, if the time on the box says 20 minutes, leave it on your roots for 30 minutes. This will give the chemicals more time to get into the hair.
2. Color the roots twice.
If the first method isn’t successful, try this. The first time you do the coloring process, just follow the directions as normal, but save a small part of the solution (don’t even mix it together) to use for later. After you’ve finished coloring, combine the remaining solution and color the roots a second time. This double process should damage the hair enough to get it to absorb enough color. Everyone’s hair is different so you’ll have to experiment with how long to leave the color on.
Beauty Brains Bottom Line:
Coloring your roots is harder but it is possible. You just need to do things a little different and be prepared for some unexpected results.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
wow i had no idea. i have the same prob. just a few small patches that never take color. oh well.
This always happens to me- either at a Salon, Or at Home.
What I do now after colouring, I use a second process like Clairol’s ”Root touch up kit” or
Revlon’s version… I use that on the roots and it darkens it enough to look natural, and not two-toned. Plus the handy applicator bottle is just enough dye for the roots.
If I’m at a Salon, I raise holy hell and let them know that I am paying for them to NOT do this, and they usually fix it.
Good Luck.
Best,
Dr. Melba
I usually do the “root application” technique when I color my hair at home. It should be listed in the instructions. You put the color only on the roots, leave it on for more than half the time, then for the last 10-15 minutes, comb it through the rest of the hair. This has worked great for my blond hair, which tends to get too light on the ends.
Since I henna my hair, doing my roots is not a problem, save for actually /doing/ them. But I recall colouring my hair purple years ago. I don’t know what the packets* had in them but they stained my hair (and clothes) like nothing else. Gorgeous colour. Sort of a purply pomegranate. It really suited my colouring!
Anyway, they changed their formula and, I found out the hard way, it just -stopped- working on me. I found this out when I coloured my hair and ONLY my roots were purple. The rest was untouched. I had to give up the shade then. I really miss it!
(*Disclaimer that these packets weren’t typical two step hair colour, but rather some sort of stain.)
This is a very smart column, but I was searching for an answer to a questions I have yet to find…and I don’t know if this comes too late in this stream, but here goes:
I am graying “flaxen” which is silky, shiny and was impossible to color. Pre-flaxen, I used products like Feria, and ONLY ever colored re-growth, but now my brands don’t work…and, to the extent they “take”, they disappear with washings as if they’re semi-permanent (although they’re called “permanent”.) So, I tried the root touch-up products…and voila!! not 100% but considerably better coverage at a faster pace! In fact, now I only need to do my roots every 3-4 weeks because the color lasts. BUT now my roots are getting dried and damaged (which never resulted from Feria or the like.) Given what’s offered above, these events lead me to believe that these new root products are stronger — because they both take better and are destroying my hair. Yet, these root products are not advertised as being more potent, and I can’t find anything to this effect in my research. Does anyone know?
I have read and been told by colorists that you can put 20 volume peroxide, available at beauty supply stores or the roots for ten minutes, rinse it out well, dry the hair and proceed. Also, you can make up the hair color with 20 vol developer (buy the color at the store, too, instead of a box to make sure). Some box colors just aren’t strong enough. I love the box color everywhere except my temples, which either don’t take or wash out as if they were just demi- or semipermanent.I am having some luck right now with Robert Craig colors which claim to be peroxide free, but actually aren’t–when you add water peroxide is formed.
i have my color done professionally every 4 weeks…. the roots get a touch up. but after 2 weeks i see the regrowth….so…..what i do is get loving care…and just color the roots on top and sides around my face. no were else. the rest doensn’t show because my hair is really long. i have not had a problem…. and loving care is not permanent. what i have put on my hair at the salon is goldwell the regular full strength color for a root touch up and every few months she uses Courance…sp? wich is a color wash. just a trasparent was of color that isn’t hard on my hair…it makes it so silky and shiney. and smooth. i have course thick hair and this makes me hair perfect.
loven tha hair its pretty but thanks for the tip on tha hair dye;D
My name is Bonnie Steen, and my product, “Roots Only”, is a hair color applicator comb designed specifically to apply hair color solution to new growth, leaving already colored hair free from solution. The hollow teeth allow the solution to reach the scalp first. You just comb and squeeze. You are finished with the coloring application in less than 5 minutes…with professional results. Go to http://www.rootsonly.com for more information.