How to Dye Grey Roots

Gray can be more color resistant than the rest of your hair.

If you regularly color your gray hair, telltale silvery roots can appear all too soon. While hair dominated by gray is best left in the capable hands of a professional colorist, it is relatively easy to blend away gray strands of regrowth using a root touch-up hair dye product at home. Gray hair tends to be drier and more prone to breakage than other hair types. Therefore, it is important to use a conditioning hair colorant formulated for use on gray hair.

Things You'll Need

• Root touch-up dye product
• Plastic comb
• Sectioning clips

Instructions

1. Purchase a root touch-up product suitable for use on gray hair, in the desired color.

2. Perform a skin allergy test and a strand test, following the instructions provided with your dye product. The strand test will indicate the development time needed to achieve the desired shade.

3. Part your hair as you normally wear it. Divide the hair into five or six roughly equal sections and secure each in place with sectioning clips.

4. Mix the dye and activating solution together as instructed by the manufacturer of your dye product.

5. Release one section of hair from the clip. Create a part at the edge of the loose section using a plastic comb. Paint the roots with dye using the applicator brush provided with your kit.

6. Continue to part the hair and paint the exposed roots with dye, being careful to cover the hair shaft up to the scalp without painting the skin itself. Pay particular attention to the hairline and your natural part.

7. Repeat for each section of hair.

8. Leave the dye on your roots for the length of time specified by the manufacturer or as indicated by your strand test.

9. Rinse out the excess dye with warm water until the water runs clear.

10. Style your hair as desired.

Tips & Warnings

• Apply a layer of petroleum jelly around the hairline to avoid staining your skin with hair dye.

• Use towels to protect your clothes from splashes of hair dye, or wear old clothing during the coloring process.

• Look for permanent or semi-permanent dye products that don't contain ammonium peroxide or alcohol, which can be too harsh for dry, brittle gray hair.

• For a quick fix, color in visible gray roots with a temporary hair marker pen or color wand. Brands include Colormark TouchBack and Irene Gari Cover Your Gray.

References

• Good Housekeeping; Five Things About Going Gray; Ginger Otis
• Allure; 9 Easy Steps for Covering Grays, Creating Volume, and Fattening Thinning Hair; Kayleigh Donahue
• Clairol; Root Touch-Up - Instructions
• Clairol; Root Touch-Up - How to Use It