I have gray roots. I colored my hair red...the only part that came out red was my roots. i look stupid. Help!

Question

My natural hair color is dark brown, except for the gray roots. Everytime I color my hair my roots come out lighter than the rest of my hair. I look ridiculous. What can I do? Has this every happened to anyone out there?

Will it hurt my hair to re dye again?

Answer 1

Your roots are coming out lighter for one of two reasons:
A) Your midshaft and ends of your hair has more color on it than your grey (colorless) roots, therefore it comes out lighter. If this is the case you would need to chose a darker color and ONLY apply retouch applications to the root area.
B) You have what is called "hot roots". This is where the color you have chosen is slightly too light. Heat causes hair color to lift faster and more intensely, so the body heat from your head is lifting the roots, while the cold ends only ABSORB color. This is what is most likely happening.

Either way, I would recommend that you go to a professional. It sounds to me like you are in a situation it would be hard to get one's self out of!

Things to avoid like the plague: HENNA and METALLIC DYES (like those found in just for men, mustache dyes, etc.) No matter what anyone tells you, these are the top two no-no's of hair coloring. (This was made explicitly clear to me day one of cosmetology school!)

Answer 2

My mom has the same problem so she has just given up and decided to go black. go to the hair salon so they can use two different colors, a darker for the roots and a lighter for the rest of the hair because if the dye is not high pigmented then the roots will always be lighter and on top of everyhing your hair is naturally dark..so i say look for professional help

Answer 3

I go to a professional colorist, but my problem is my grey roots always come out looking like hot roots, and I always have to go back for glazes which only correct the roots somewhat and I always color every 4 to 5 weeks because I have dark red hair, I m tired of changing colorist, what can I do?

Answer 4

Oh yeah my mother i law does this all the time!! You are putting the dye right on pure white color, so it does nothave to go through all the different shades in your hair to process the color te gray just takes it. I suggest going to a hair salon and getting it done:)

A dye job runs about 40-60 depending on length of hair and they can do the roots properly exspecially when working with red:)

Answer 5

This is a problem. I totally understand this. I touch up with men's mustache/beard hair color for my silver foil looking temples and then I use the normal hair color for the rest. It covers those grays. Or you can leave the coloring on the gray longer and do the rest. I had to stay away from reds because of that problem. I switched to browns and that helped with your problem.

Answer 6

Henna is the best answer. It will cover everything evenly, but of course the gray won't be the same color. The gray turns a lighter shade which looks good. If your interested, watch where you get it as henna is advertised in some chemical hair dyes, which makes it "not true henna"

Answer 7

That happens to everyone with lighter roots or grays. It's a little difficult to deal with them in touchups...Most of the time you just have to put a darker color on the roots (1 shade darker) to even it out, or leave the color on longer so the gray has time to finish processing.

Answer 8

Hmm...I suggest a neutral medium to dark brown permanent. This will even it out, cover up the grey and leave you with some auburn highlights. You won't get rid of all the red but it will look much better. You can always use a semipermanent brown later on to help cover it up more and stay out of the sun and away from highlighting shampoos, as they will intensify the red. Don't use a colour with gold or auburn in it. It will come out even redder and light brown and blonde won't cover it.

Answer 9

How To Dye Grey Roots

Answer 10

uhm try dying your hair before the roots so you can get a even tone. or put VERy little on your roots and the rest on your hair.