Should root touch up be lighter or darker?

Author: Melissa Senger  |  Last update: Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Is it better to go lighter or darker to cover grey hair? As for your permanent colour kit choice, for the best grey coverage, Josh recommends choosing a shade close to your natural root colour (that's the colour between the greys.) "Make sure to never stray more than two shades away from this,” says Josh.

Should you go lighter or darker with root touch up?

For new hair regrowths, it is better to touch up the roots. Because if you colour through from roots to ends, the hair becomes successively darker, with the ends being darkest. If you have never coloured before, colour from roots to ends long as selected shades are not 2 shades lighter than your natural shades.

How do I choose the right color for root touch up?

choosing the right product and color

For root touch ups, you'll want to make sure you have a product that blends seamlessly with your existing hair color and provides up to 100% gray coverage and the best scalp protection.

Why do my roots look so light after root touch up?

Roots almost always go lighter, it's virgin hair (usually) and is less damage so they dye brighter and have nothing else to dye over except natural hair. Shampoo a few times to see if you can get your length to even out, and if not dye just your roots to match. Or leave it as is and pretend it was intentional lol.

Is it better to go lighter or darker to cover gray hair?

Darker will always cover gray better .

How to Cover Gray Hair in 1 Step | The Best Product to Cover Grays & Roots

What hair color hides grey best?

Cool shades like ash blonde and mushroom brown are among the best hair colors to hide grays, since the cool tones won't clash with your silvery streaks.

Is it better to go lighter or darker with hair dye?

Your skin colour has a great say on what hair colour suits you. You can see the skin colour chart to find the closest colour to your skin. In general, darker skin tones are well-suited for dark hair colours, and lighter skin tones are best suited for lighter hair colours.

Why are my roots still showing after highlights?

Another reason for roots showing can be down to the swelling of the bleach and high lift colours. These types of colour applications swell as they develop, so the hairdresser applying the colour must pay attention to this.

What do I do if my root touch up is too dark?

Use Hair Lightener or Toner

Hair lighteners or toners are great for lifting darker shades and achieving a lighter shade. Apply the toner or hair lightener to your hair according to the product's instructions. Rinse it out once you've reached your desired color.

How long can you leave root touch up on?

We don't recommend doing this—if you leave Root Perfection on your roots for more than ten minutes, your color might turn out darker than you want. (It really just takes ten minutes to completely cover your roots!)

What are the disadvantages of root touch up hair?

Root touch-up spray often works based on propellant gas. Essentially, you spray the 'colour' onto your hair, and it's almost impossible to avoid getting some on your scalp. This can dry out your scalp and cause unsightly stains.

Why do my roots show after 1 week?

It could be that your hair is resistant to tint, especially when the hair texture has changed as a result of going white. But also it could be that by going lighter, either all over, or by introducing (subtle) highlights you would not see the regrowth strip quite as quickly as if it were lighter.

What does 7 mean in hair color?

The level system is made up of 10 numbers which help determine the depth level of your natural hair. 1 is black, 5 is light brown, 6 is dark blonde, 7 is blonde and 10 is the lightest blonde.

How to choose the right color for root touch up?

While coloring your hair at home the most important thing is to choose the right shade of hair color. Your root touch up hair color cannot be darker or lighter than the color of the lengths of your hair. It will make the hair color look shabby and inconsistent.

Do roots grow better in dark or light?

Root stress may lead to reduced plant growth and productivity. In some cases, light can encourage the development of diseases in the root system. By keeping the roots in the dark, you can minimise the risk of pathogenic infections and root rot.

What happens if you put grey hair dye on brown hair?

If your hair is brown, you may need to bleach it more than once before you apply the grey dye. It's important you get your hair as light as possible before you attempt to turn it grey – this will help ensure a more even tone and vibrant, all-over colour.

Will Dawn dish soap lighten dyed hair?

Dish Soap

Fortunately, if you go through the effort of using this drying soap on your dyed hair, it can help remove unwanted color. You'll need to do many washes to fade it out, but it is a step in the right direction if you want to remove a color.

Why are my roots lighter after dying darker?

Your roots are lighter than your lengths

Light roots, dark ends is another very common DIY hair-dye mistake. Similar to the orange issue above, when your regrowth ends up a shade lighter than the rest of your hair, it is typically because virgin hair reacts differently to dye than previously colored strands.

Why is toner not working on my roots?

And secondly, as a blonde, your previously bleached lengths (even those close to your roots) are likely quite porous. This means they will soak the toner up quicker. Your roots, on the other hand, will be much less porous and therefore will not soak up as much of the toner.

Will a toner blend my roots with highlights?

Finish with a Toner to Refresh and Balance

This will refresh the existing highlights, while helping the new root colour blend more seamlessly.

What do bad highlights look like?

Bad highlights are streaks of uneven color, too much brightness, or poor results in the hair. These can be caused by DIY attempts, inexperienced stylists, or a misunderstanding of the desired result. Bad picks can make your hair look unnatural and unflattering.

What is the difference between root touch up and highlights?

The Main Difference Between Root Retouching & Highlights

A root retouch is a single process color, whereas highlights are a 2-process color and much more dimensional. The type of retouching or highlight service we recommend is always based on the client's current hair and their overall goals for the look of their hair.

Is lighter or darker hair more attractive?

Interestingly, other research has shown that men find women with lighter hair to have more positive perceptions in terms of relationship and parenting potential. Women, on the other hand, care more about overall appearance and dress size, which generally leads to darker hair being preferred by women.

What is the rule in hair coloring?

A basic rule of haircolor is that cool (ash) tones neutralize warm (red or gold) tones and warm tones neutralize cool tones. Decide if it is too red, orange or yellow, then just choose the complementary tone that is opposite on the color wheel.

What happens if I put blonde box dye on brown hair?

If you apply blonde hair dye on dark hair, you will never reach a blond hair colour. You will however damage your hair from the chemicals in hair dye and risk ending up with dry, brassy, straw-like hair. If you have dark hair and you want to go blonde, you’ll have to bleach it.

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