Using a cool or ashy-toned hair dye will help neutralize that. Contrary to the name, hot roots are anything but “hot.” A result of improper bleaching or lightening, they appear warmer than the rest of your hair. This usually occurs because the heat from your scalp causes the dye nearest your head to process faster. ‘Hot roots‘ is a general term to benzyl alcohol hair describe hair in the scalp area that’s lighter than the full length of the hair to the ends. You don’t have to be a trained hair professional to learn how to avoid hot roots when coloring hair, but it’s important to understand why they occur. Trying to color previously colored hair an even lighter color is also another leading cause of hot roots.
It doesn’t matter if you have a professional treatment or dye your hair at home. Hot roots can happen to anyone when treatment is done incorrectly. When your new red hue is as subtle as a screaming siren, the best fix is usually brown. Choose a boxed color that matches the predominant brown tones in your hair, minus any warmth (look for ‘cool’ or ‘neutral’ on the box). Semi-permanent dye is a great way to combat your hot roots if you’re apprehensive about using a permanent dye.
Once you know what might have caused the problem in the first place, you’ll be better prepared to treat them. You don’t necessarily have to go to a salon to get rid of the problem. Finding the right treatment can leave your hair looking healthy and beautiful. Hot roots have nothing to do with how great your hair looks or the temperature. Unfortunately, it’s not a term you want to hear when it comes to your hair.
Some people see success in dyeing their roots twice. It can take a good eye and a knowledge of how your hair responds to dye to get this right. But, if you’re able to dye your roots twice and get the color you want, it’s a quick and easy fix. Keep in mind that sometimes, hot roots might not hold color as well. If you’re coloring your hair for the first time, hot roots are more common.
The biggest problem is that it can be challenging to even them out. Once you’ve bleached your hair and your roots are a different color, it takes a few different techniques to get them to be an even color. They can appear ashy as well as lighter in nature. If you bleach your hair and then dye it, it doesn’t necessarily fix the problem. Your roots will still likely be a lighter shade than the rest of your hair.
Then, for the final five minutes of processing, combing the color through the rest of your hair for a quick refresh. Combine the dye and a 10 to 20 volume developer in a plastic bowl. Choose a 10 volume developer if you want to darken your roots and a 20 volume if you want a lighter hair color. Well, if you’re not going for a color change and you know the possibility of hot roots can be an issue for you, I recommend balancing the color. By this what I mean is using a demi/semi-permanent on the mid-ends, and only permanent at the root. This way you avoid build-up and then avoid hot roots, so long as you stick to the same/similar shades.
So, if you have unwanted warmth that’s starting to show, getting a gloss treatment can help tone them down and make them less noticeable. Keep in mind that toners will only last a few weeks–so you’ll need to reapply it as needed. But, if used correctly, toners can be a great way to help manage hot roots. Purple shampoo is specifically designed to counteract yellow and orange tones in blonde hair.
If you’re uncomfortable trying the tips at home, make sure your stylist knows your concerns. They will be able to take the right steps to color your hair correctly. Not only can they draw negative attention to the top of your head, but they can make you look like you have ashy ends.
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. Hot roots generally look lighter than the colour result in your lengths, and they may have a warm, orange tone. 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. If it’s too late for prevention and you already got hot roots, don’t despair.