We’ve all been in that place where we don’t get to the salon as soon as we need to, and the roots start showing.
“No woman should walk around with regrowth showing, gray coverage maintenance should be every 2-4 weeks depending on how much gray is growing in,” says Sherry Ratay of Salon Ratay. In between visits to the salon you can use a colored crayon/pencil that is designed for your specific hair color, Ratay suggests. First, you would style your hair then follow up with touching up the showing gray with the colored crayon/pencil. (Again make sure it is close to your specific hair color, or it will look BAD.)
Try highlights instead of fully color
Not all gray hair can actually pick up and hold color, so highlights are a nice way to gradually go gray or show some of your gray along with some of the color you prefer.
Use accessories!
If your gray roots are just starting to show through, try a thick headband or fashion-forward hat to get you through until your next hair appointment.
“Gray hair is so stubborn that most at home remedies will not do the trick and can alter the effectiveness of the professional color if something is done improperly at home,” warns Ashley Stone of Beauty Entourage, a mobile beauty salon.
Example: Over the counter temporary color for a quick remedy. Although some will blend your gray those are not going to give full gray coverage. Therefore gray will still show through and depending on the tone of your hair it may just give an unwanted lighter effect at the root.
There are a few tricks you can do to help you tolerate the gray to stretch out your next appointment if you can’t get in right away, Ashley allows. Gray hair is usually coarse and can help at time providing additional volume. When blow drying your hair use a round brush and lift at the root when styling. The volume can help camouflage some of the gray — this is especially useful since many people have uneven touches of gray through their hair.
In some cases you can just change your part in your hair to a side that has less gray, says Ashley. Changing your part usually goes against the way your hair naturally falls and the usually will result in lift at the root giving volume as well.
Hair powders
There are hair powders on the market that come in different tones. Bumble and Bumble is known for their range of colors, Ashley suggests. Add the powder to your hands and with a quick tousle of the hair at the root you can work the powder in. You really want to avoid wearing your hair up or tighter away from the face because that will make the root area stand out more!
