When you dye your hair – in a salon or at home – you get roots. Some people love them, and even emphasize them: many of the chicest variations on ombré are essentially full-blown roots. However, if you don’t love roots, they’re pretty painless to erase – as is the fading that goes with coloring your hair too.
When you go to a colorist, ask them about color (and brand) recommendations first. Some salons make special root fixation kits for each individual customer; others recommend over-the-counter products. “You want professional advice on the color shade and how often you should apply color,” emphasizes Marie Robinson of the Marie Robinson Salon in New York.
just fix the roots
Mending your roots shouldn’t involve re-coloring all of your hair for several reasons. Your hair roots are a different shade than the rest of your hair, says Clairol Color Director James Corbett of New York’s James Corbett Studio. “You think you want it all to go together, but since the base color of the roots doesn’t match the already dyed part of your hair, they won’t match. Re-dyeing your entire head is the most common mistake women make when dyeing their hair at home. “
Color over color dulls and smooths the look and texture of your hair. Redken celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham points out that over-colored roots can cause dark hues to turn darker than they should: “You’re essentially layering color on top of color,” she says. “If you’re blonde, recoloring too often will cause breaks.” Just pin the roots in place and let the rest stand for as long as possible.
Ask Jean: Three at home
Root miracle
Clean, super effective, but (very temporary): eyeshadow for the hair. Color Wow makes compact ones that look like extra luxurious eyeshadow palettes and release some kind of amazing powder that sticks to your hair, looks completely natural, and only comes out when you wash it. You apply the powder with a brush – it is invisible and absolutely effective. Everyone should have someone in the shade for emergencies, but we know an editor who uses it all the time. As in, it never touches its roots with real dye. “It’s definitely less harmful and it literally takes me two minutes,” she says.
Clean and lasts
seven shampoos: temporary gel color
Famous French colorist Christophe Robin developed color in a box that blends imperceptibly, looks as natural as the color he would give you if you flew to his Paris salon, and holds seven shampoos before it fades. It also feels (and acts) more like a hair treatment than a hair color. Best of all, without PPD (a compound found in permanent and semi-permanent hair coloring formulas that has been linked to everything from scalp itching to life-threatening reactions), resorcinol (another common chemical used in hair coloring), Ammonia (a corrosive agent), peroxide, oxidizing agents, silicones, and sodium laurel sulfate.
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Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel in Golden Blonde, $ 35
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Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel in Light Chestnut, $ 35
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Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel in Dark Blonde, $ 35
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Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel in Dark Chestnut Goop, $ 35
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You wash your hair, apply the gel, wait forty minutes, and rinse it off. It comes in four shades, from golden blonde to dark chestnut, and comes with gloves, a toothbrush-like applicator, and instructions for roots and all-over color. The gel is super thick so nothing drips; I spent the 40 minute painting sessions doing work, soaking “The Martini” in a goop bath with Tammy Fender’s Restorative Radiance Masque on my face, doing a pedicure, and even cooking dinner.
It feels more like a beauty treatment than a hair color because it is. I also put a bit of conditioner on my tips to protect my highlights, but nowhere near any hair I just dyed.
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goop Beauty “The Martini” Emotional Detox Bath Soak goop, $ 35
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Omega-9 failure
Goop Hair Mask, $ 42SHOPPING NOW
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Tammy Fender restorative
Radiance Masque Goop, $ 195SHOPPING NOW
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Cote x goop nail polish
(G10) Goop, $ 18SHOPPING NOW
Not clean, but will last until your roots grow out: lasting color. Years ago, Marie Robinson connected me to the Clairol Root Touch-Up for the home, straight out of the box, and it absolutely changed my life. It takes ten minutes, is permanent, and blends with virtually any hair color out there.
The incredible ease and mixability is apparently partly because the color is designed to match slightly faded hair, but I still don’t fully understand the miracle that is going on. Did this discovery make me break up with Marie and dye my hair all the time? She didn’t: The first time she ever dyed my hair, I happened to post a first date for several hours. Somehow the subject of hair color came up on the date. “Do you know how much people pay to make their hair look like yours look natural?” The date asked me. Never not go to Marie.
choose the right color
Go lighter with root touch-up shades, especially on the face, says Cunningham: “Always do a lighter color around your hairline. Otherwise it looks really dark because the hair around your face is like facial hair and the color draws in differently. “
Your choice of all-over hair color seriously affects how often it needs touching up, notes Robinson: “If you’re a busy working mom, going pale blonde may be easier to maintain than ideal.” Red, which fades the fastest, is another option that isn’t particularly busy.
Treat fade (aka the irritating
Red/
Orange / brassiness)
Any permanent hair color will fade and lose its original shine. Whenever you dye hair – even a dark color – the process involves an initial bleaching so that the color gets into the hair shaft. If the color is slowly coming out of the hair, what is left is lighter than your original color. “Darker colors like black fade purple-red, dark brown fades reddish, brown fades orange and blonde fades from orange to very gold – brass-colored,” explains Robinson.
Fade fix # 1: start with
Colors of the “ash” family
You will find that most boxed hair colors are labeled “ash,” “warm,” or “golden”. Warm and gold have more red in them; If red or orange bothers you, start with ash. All colorists will no doubt be stunned by this last statement, but the only people we’ve met who want more red in their hair are pretty clear about it, while most people who don’t want red don’t understand that ” Ashes “is (generally) the antidote. When you have a colorist to advise you, listen. But if you’re in the hair dye aisle in the drugstore and don’t want a reddish fade, start with ash.
Fade Fix # 2: Shine
Salons treat fading with gloss – essentially semi-permanent paint that temporarily adjusts the hue (removes the color fade effect) and increases gloss. Cunningham says she treats her clients with Redken’s Shades EQ Gloss (on the salon website) when the color starts to fade, increases the time between hair colors, and keeps the hair as healthy as possible. A gloss typically lasts between twelve and twenty shampoos, depending on your hair and how you treat it. You can get a similar effect at home with semi-permanent paints, says Corbett, who likes Clairol Natural Instincts (about $ 7 at drug stores) but offers that advice no matter what brand you use: “Pick a shade that works on the lighter side is what looks right the first time. If you don’t get enough tone correction with that shade, go a shade darker next time.
Fade fix no.3:
Avoid pools and sun
“The worst!” says Corbett. “Especially the combination of both. If you ever find yourself in a pool or hot tub, get your hair wet and seal in the water with conditioner or hair serum before going into the pool. Think of your hair like a sponge: fill it up with plain water before using anything chlorinated – chlorine is bleach – so it doesn’t absorb the chlorine as much. It’s really worth the extra step every time. “
Fade fix no.4:
Think before you shampoo
Washing your hair – especially with laundry detergent (most lathering shampoos are made with laundry detergent, also known as SLS) – strips the color and fades. Remember to wash less often, use SLS-free formulas (we only sell SLS-free shampoos on Goop), and use plenty of conditioner to bring back softness and shine. You can also use shampoo to address the color, says Robinson: “Generally, a purple-based shampoo counteracts orange, yellow, blue, or purple to correct the brass, and green-based shampoos help counteract red and orange.” Purple works excellent for blonde tones, green more for brown tones.
Rule for all hair colors:
Never. Stop. Conditioning.
Below are the best absolutely clean and absolutely moisturizing conditioners we know.
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Rahua Hydrating Conditioner Goop, $ 36
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Sangre de Fruta Garden of Earthly Delights Botanical Conditioner goop, $ 52
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Rahua Voluminous Conditioner Goop, $ 36
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Grown Alchemist Nourishing Conditioner Goop, $ 49
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Innersense Hydrating Cream Conditioner goop, $ 30
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Sangre de Fruta Head of Roses Botanical Conditioner goop, $ 52
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