Can you color over hot roots?

Colourists use the term hot roots to describe the effect where your hair’s roots are visibly warmer than the rest of your hair colour.

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Why does this happen?
How to avoid hot roots:
Salon Accessories
How do you cover hot roots?
Do hot roots go away?
Can you get hot roots when going darker?

Hot roots generally look lighter than the colour result in your lengths, and they may have a warm, orange tone.

Why does this happen?

Hot roots occur because the heat from your scalp causes the colour at the roots to develop faster than the colour on the mid-lengths or ends. This can lead to a lighter colour result at your roots than the rest of the hair.

Hot roots can also occur if you lighten your colour. The lightening process exposes naturally occuring warmth in your hair, which contributes a lighter, brassy tone to your colour result.

Know your limitations when going lighter. Select a colour within 2 levels of your natural colour, or a colour which is darker than your already coloured hair to avoid hot roots.

How to avoid hot roots:

Careful colour selection is critical to avoiding hot roots.

Moderate colour changes, especially when lightening your hair help to avoid the hot root effect. It is almost always a good idea to add cool tones if you are lightening your colour. The cool tones will mute warmth revealed during the lightening process, leaving a tonally balanced result.

If you have some greys and you want to colour with a warm colour (such as a golden or copper based colour), it can be best to blend your warm colour with a neutral colour. The neutral colour will fill pigments which are missing from any greys at your roots. Colours with brighter or warm tones will look lighter and brighter over greys. Blend your warm or bright colour with a neutral, the neutral pigments will anchor and fill the missing pigments in greys, leaving you with an eve, consistent colour finish.

We offer Duo colour kits which include everything you need to blend two colours together.

We recommend that you get in touch with our colourists for personalised colour advice to help you avoid lighter, brighter colour results over your roots.

Salon Accessories

Hairdressers know that you really need the right tools for true salon results at home.

Using a tint brush lets you apply colour with precision, and avoid colour layering or banding.

Technique

If you are going lighter or have had a problem with hot roots before, begin your hair colour application about 1.5 inches away from your roots. Continue applying the colour to your lengths, and then the ends of your hair, and only apply the colour to your roots in the last ten minutes of the total processing time.

Colour applied at your roots will process faster due to the heat from your scalp, so you want to place colour there last (unless you are looking to cover greys).

You can avoid hot roots and get even, consistent colour results with the right colour and right colour application.

I’ve been having my heir coloured professionally for ever and decided to try to do it myself to save myself some time and money……. what could possibly go wrong?! As it turns out – nothing! It’s a simple process and the results have been excellent. It even lasts longer than my salon colour! Would highly recommend The Shade.
J. Nairn

I adore my colour from The Shade. They colour matched my previous brand but The Shade is much better quality. It’s better for my hair, simple to use and I live the results. I’m definitely a repeat customer.
S. Carter

OBSESSED! Honestly wish I discovered The Shade sooner. My hair feels amazing afterwards and unlike normal box dye when I dye my roots they don’t turn a horrible orange/yellow. 100% recommend!
S. Harlow

How do you cover hot roots?

Hot roots stand out because they have a warmer tone than the rest of your hair, but by coloring them or using a toning shampoo, you can fix them! You could apply a hair gloss in a cool tone, which will cover the brassy color of your roots. Alternatively, wash your hair with a blue or purple-toned shampoo instead.

Do hot roots go away?

Unfortunately, these pesky warm strands will not go away on their own. As your hair grows, your natural hair color will start to show through–leading to brassiness and warm-colored roots. The best way to get rid of rid of them is to touch up your color every 4-6 weeks.