How to match hair color to roots

Have you decided to take control of your Hair Colour? You’re not alone. Every day, our Colour Consultants receive questions from people in your position, unsure what to do with their already Coloured Hair. Ensuring a smooth transition to a new Colour may seem a tricky feat. We’re here to show you how to find the right shade and which application will give you the fresh start and seamless finish you’re looking for.

Step 1: Ask yourself, how do I feel about my Hair Colour?

Each person's starting point and requirements will differ, so we always begin by asking the most important question: do you like your Hair Colour?

If the answer is YES, excellent we’ve easily found your starting point. If your last Hair Colour used the numbering system find the closest number in the My Hairdresser range. Otherwise, there are over 20+ Hair Colours, that are mixable to create a custom Hair Colour, to browse through.

If the answer is NO, what is it you would like to change about your Hair Colour?
The most often answers to that question are:

#1 My Hair is too orange or brassy.

#2 My Hair Colour isn’t giving me enough.

Step 2: Choose your perfect Developer

For example:

The Hair Colour you want to be: 5.53 Chocolate Brown
(minus)
Your Natural Hair Colour: 3 Dark Brown
(equals)
2 Shades. You will need a 20 Volume Developer to Lighten your Hair 2 Shades.

My Hairdresser

20 Volume
Developer

The Hair Colour you want to be: 7.46 Rich Copper
(minus)
Your Natural Hair Colour: 4 Medium Brown
(equals)
3 Shades. You will need a 30 Volume Developer to Lighten your Hair 3 Shades.

My Hairdresser

30 Volume
Developer

The Hair Colour you want to be: 10.2 Very Light Blonde
(minus)
Your Natural Hair Colour: 6 Dark Blonde
(equals)
4 Shades. You will need a 40 Volume Developer to Lighten your Hair 4 Shades.

My Hairdresser

40 Volume
Developer

Step 3: Apply your Colour

Using gloves, mix your Colour and Developer according to the mixing ratios in a Tint Bowl.

Apply your Colour mixture to dry, combed and sectioned Hair, focusing on your Regrowth. Your aim is to cover all your Natural Hair without overlapping the older Colour through your ends.

Once your Regrowth is covered, start your processing time.

During the last 15 minutes of your processing time, add a splash of water to your leftover Colour mixture and mix to combine. Apply your watered down mixture through the lengths of your Hair, completely covering it.

During the final 5 minutes, use your Wide Tooth Comb to gently comb your mixture from your roots down, to blend your Colour for a seamless and even tone. This will allow you to match your Colour without causing a heavy line of difference (known as Colour Banding).

In the future, when you are applying your new Colour, use the same Colour and Developer for your Regrowth Touchups.

How to dye your roots to match them with the rest of your hair?

The obvious answer to this question will always be to color the roots the same color as the rest of the hair.

However, what happens if you don’t remember the exact number of the dye?

In this case:

• If your roots are light and the rest of the hair is dark, you’ll have to apply a full color with a slight color difference from what you had before.
• If your roots are dark and the lengths are lighter, and you had bleached previously, you’ll have to bleach your roots. However, you’ll use 20-volume peroxide because roots bleach faster.
• Once you bleach your roots, you’ll only have to apply the hair dye to unify them with the rest.

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Times flies and, many times, we don’t realize. However, there’s an infallible way for us, women, to notice: grown roots.

When the color difference between the roots and the rest of the hair is very noticeable, the time has passed, and it’s time to touch up the roots.

 If you always color your hair at a salon, you only have to get an appointment and surrender to your colorist.   She’ll know what special color mixture she used and will apply it again.

My first tip is to always color your hair at the same salon. If you don’t apply the same color, you won’t be able to unify the roots with the rest of your hair.

Do you always color your hair yourself? Then,  you only have to color roots the same color you used before. 

Don’t you remember it? Then, to be on the safe side, you’ll have to do a full color to unify it. In a few moments, I’ll tell you how to choose and apply the correct color.

You may also have bleached your hair first and then colored it. In this case, dear friend, to unify the color in your hair, you will have to bleach your roots.

Yes, each situation requires a different road map. However, don’t panic because I’ll tell you.

• How to color light roots to unify them with dark lengths.
• How to color dark roots to unify them with light lengths.

Tabla de Contenidos

• How to color light roots to unify them with dark lengths.
  • How to apply hair dye to match your roots with the rest of the hair.
• How to color dark roots to unify them with light lengths.
  • Step-by-step:
• Conclusions

How to color light roots to unify them with dark lengths.

If you remember the color you used the last time, you’ll only have to use that same color to dye your roots. Then, the roots and lengths will be unified.

However, if you don’t remember the color, you’ll have to do full color with a slightly different shade to get unity.

For example:

• If you don’t remember whether you applied dark brown 3 or brown 4, you can use either.
• If you don’t remember if you applied light brown 5 or chocolate, you can apply chocolate for perfect coverage.
• If you don’t remember if you applied brown 4 or light brown 5, you can apply light brown to not darken your look too much.
• If you don’t remember whether you applied black 1 or darkest brown 2, you can use either.

If you remember the last color you applied, you’ll only have to color your roots to unify the color. You’ll need a box dye of the corresponding number, rattail comb, and clips.

How to apply hair dye to match your roots with the rest of the hair.

• Comb your hair, sectioning it into 4 sections, from your forehead to your neck and from ear to ear, holding each section with a clip.
• Mix the dye and peroxide included in the kit.
• With your gloves on, release one of the sections, split it into three, and apply the mixture to the roots.
• Comb the dye 1 centimeter into the dividing line between your roots and the rest of your hair to fade the dividing line and unify colors.
• Repeat in each section and let the mix develop for 40 minutes.
• Then, rinse with plenty of lukewarm water and apply the after color treatment included in the kit.

How to color dark roots to unify them with light lengths.

In this case, we must distinguisth two very different situations.

• Whether you bleached your hair to apply extra bright or very bright tones.
• Whether you applied the hair dye over your hair without bleaching.

Why is this difference so important?

Because if you applied hair dye directly, you’ll have to color your roots just as I explained before.

 However, if you bleached your hair before coloring, you’ll have to bleach your roots very carefully. 

If you stain your hair with bleach, you’ll have to bleach all your hair.

What do you need to bleach your roots and, then, unify the color?

• Dye kit of your hair color.
• 20-volume peroxide
• Bleach powder
• Coconut oil
• Rattail comb
• Dye brush
• Hair clips

Step-by-step:

• Comb your hair, splitting it into 4 sections, from forehead to neck and ear to ear.
• In a plastic container, mix the bleach powder, 20-volume peroxide, and 10 coconut oil drops.  Don’t use higher volume peroxide because your roots may end up white. 
• With your gloves on, release one of the sections, split it into three, and apply the mixture from the roots until the color dividing line. Don’t go over that line more than half a centimeter because, otherwise, your hair will have two colors again.
• Repeat in each section and let it develop from 10 to 20 minutes, checking the color of the roots every 5 minutes.
• Then, rinse with plenty of lukewarm water to remove all traces of bleach.

Conclusions

If you always touch up your roots at the salon, your best choice is to trust your stylist to match the color with the rest of your hair.

If you touch up your roots at home and remember the color number, apply the color to your roots. If you don’t remember it, and your roots are light, apply full color with one tone difference in your hair to unify it.

If you had previously bleached your hair to color it, you’ll have to bleach your roots and then, apply color in the growth, combing it to unify the color and avoid dividing lines.