I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends, what should I do?

I have just had my hair dyed by my sister. However, it turns out red roots black hair! I dyed my hair and only my roots change color. I followed guidelines from the internet but it didn’t work. Now I want to fix my hair color without wasting money in hair salon. What should I do now?

Thanks for sending your question to our website. We will give you some advices and tips to fix your failed hair color. Please read this post following to get more detail information.

I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends
I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends

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What causes hair color not to take the ends of hair as light as the roots?

Heat from scalp

Normally, the roots, which newly grow haven’t affected by any chemical and other outside force yet. It means that this part is stronger than other parts of your hair. Therefore, they need more time to absorb hair dye. However, every colorist usually applies hair dye to this part lastly. Why?

In dyeing, temperature can influence on the dyeing process a lot. Meanwhile, your scalp will emit heat which enhances the hair dye to appear earlier and faster.

Unreasonable time

I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends

As mentioned above, professional colorist will dye mid-lengths and the ends of your hair at first then touch the root up at last. In contrary, some people will apply hair dye to all of your head at the same time. Due to the heat of your scalp, the roots are lighter the ends.

Put light shade on roots

Many people take a mistake to put light shade on the roots. Because it is common knowledge that new hair gets more time to have right color. Thus, some people add light shade on roots at the same time with darker shade on other parts to shorten time. Yet, this will make “hot roots” to your hair. The roots will look like they have just got burnt.

Color all your head every time you dye

6-8 weeks after dyeing, your new hair will grow up. So, to have even color, you need to touch the roots up. Remember, just touch them up, do not dye all your hair with already-dyed color.

I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends
I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends

Meanwhile, your hair color will fade out as well but it is not the reason for you to dye your hair again. If you do, your hair color will be uneven or lighter than the new roots after dyeing.

How to dye roots darker the rest of hair?

In your case, you need to have light root dark ends fix. We will show you some methods to fix your fault.

Apply darker shade dye to your roots

It is easy to fix light roots dark ends by this way. However, you should have a professional colorist touch the roots up. They have skills to make your hair color even. If you do it by yourself at home or ask an amateur person to do it for you, it will be a risk, because the color can be uneven or get worse.

Use tinted dry shampoo

This type of shampoo has ability to make your hair color look more vibrant and can even cover up your roots. However, remember to apply shampoo to your roots only. Try to limit the contact of shampoo and other parts of hair, or it will cause the lack of humidity to your hair. But sometimes, for brunettes especially, dry shampoo can leave a white, powdery cast which is not much better than greasy hair.

Blending at the roots

I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends
I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends

There are some products in the market can help you to disguise the lighter roots. You can search for a suitable product for your hair color and hair materials. However, this method is a short-term fix. You need a long-term one instead.

Use mask to your hair

There are many tips to make hair mask at home. These types of masks below will help you have a lighter color.

  • Honey is a really useful method to make your hair color up and shine bright. Honey has hydrogen peroxide and iron which release free oxy and brighten your hair color. You should mix honey and conditioner together and apply the mid-lengths and the ends of your hair. After leaving this mixture in your hair about 10 minutes, rinse with cool water.
I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends
I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends
  • Another mask for your hair is lemon. Put lemon juice and water with the ratio 1:3 relatively and add an olive spoon to this mixture. Apply this mixture to your hair and let it dry naturally. Then, you should rinse with conditioner and cool water to make sure that acid in lemon won’t hurt your hair.
  • Because lemons are acidic, don’t use pure lemon juice on your hair.

Vitamin C

We all know that vitamin C is really good for your hair growth. Lack of vitamin C may lead to split ends, dry hair and so on. Vitamin C has ability to help hair against the oxidative which can maintain the color and prevent hair from aging process. Now, we know another use of vitamin C in hair caring. You can apply vitamin C to your “hot roots” to darken them.

I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends
I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends

You have to pulverize Vitamin C pill and dissolve it in water to have a very thick mixture. Smear it to your hair roots and leave it in your hair for an hour. Then rinse with cool water. This method will make your hair roots less light than the origin.

If you dyed your hair and the roots are lighter than the ends, you can try these tips above to darken the roots. All of the above methods have been tried and succeeded on many subjects. However, due to use on the human body, each person will have different deviations.

If you have sensitive skin or have other problems, consult your doctor. If you are not confident and lack knowledge, you should not try it at home. Salon with reputable professionals is a good choice for you.

Hope that this post is useful for you. Don’t hesitate to contact us when you have any question or problem about hair. You can follow our website to get more advices in hair caring and hair beauty. Good luck!

Hair Care Expert at Ivirgo Hair | + posts

I am Thomas Taw, the CEO of CITIZENSNIPS. I have experience in hair product development and chemical research, as well as sustainable resource engineering. In 2009, I co-created Sunsilk, one of the world's leading haircare brands. More recently, I was the CEO of SMOKINGPANDA LTD. I am a professional with a strong track record in delivering tangible results.

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11 thoughts on “I dyed my hair and the roots are lighter than the ends, what should I do?

  1. Avatar of Barrett
    Barrett says:

    It makes me crazy when my ends were lighter after I dyed my hair!And I guess it’s not just me who have to get through this lol and I put it up in order not to over think about it. I first thought it was damaged or something like that but when looking closer I can see that they were fine

  2. Avatar of Baron
    Baron says:

    I think this is right when almost all people who consider that hair is going to be affected by the sunlight over the time so that after 2, 3, 4 years passing by, it will definitely lighten. People with blondes who are going to dye their hair need to keep in mind this as when their roots start to grow longer and longer, they will think that, “Oh no, I will not be blonde anymore”. My roots hair at first start out as the ashy blonde, but when they just reach my shoulder, they start to turn into a light golden blonde

  3. Avatar of Barnaby
    Barnaby says:

    The roots part of my hair always has a very dark brown with a light red shade on it. In contrast, the ends one always appears with a bright red. I have just figured this thing out lately. ^-^ The top half part of my hair is still natural and then you can still observe the distinction with the root to halfway along the length

  4. Avatar of Baldwin
    Baldwin says:

    My hair is often in the dark brown color in the winter and then turns to the bright auburn in the summer because of the sun exposure and swimming as well. Therefore, my hair in the winter is a lot darker than in the summer every year

  5. Avatar of Austin
    Austin says:

    Before I had my blonde hair dyed for the first time, my hair had a very nice light blonde color at my roots, while the hair at my ends part was more golden. Also, the hair of my 8-year-old daughter has the same kind of “ombre” hair as me. A lot of people asked me that if I had dyed her hair. The answer is absolutely not, and I will not do that. In my family, many women never dyed their hair but their roots part has a different tone from their ends hair. I guess the reason can be that the root hair is near with nutrient so it is more healthy and get more pigment in its cuticle, which makes the parts appear differently.

  6. Avatar of Anthony
    Anthony says:

    I’m glad that I have found and read this article! My ends part is much lighter(redder) than my roots, especially the below part. It is so easy to see that different, which is annoying a lot now. And now I have covered my multi-toned hair with the hair or just simply make a bun, as I’m just too lazy to dye my hair once 2 months to make them get the same color

  7. Avatar of Angus
    Angus says:

    This situation can happen due to sun exposure, blow dryer, straightening or relax and even just basic wear and tear. They also have been around longer than your root parts. I simply just like the sunlight can bleach blond hair to the lighter blond, and the same thing can be applied to the brunettes. The only way to resolve this problem is to lighten your roots or darken the ends part if this thing happens. I own a quite dark hair so I don’t have to face this issue 😛

  8. Avatar of Andrew
    Andrew says:

    This one is super useful! I’ve dyed many times but the color of the root had never reached the color of the ends area. It turned out that I never let my hair sit in a proper time in order to make the roots to absorb the hair dye. Now I have dyed my hair again and the new color was spread fairly all over my head. The color of the root and the ends part is the same. Thank you a lot for your article!

  9. Avatar of Amery
    Amery says:

    My biggest problem was that all the time that I dyed my hair, it always turned out very a very bright color after a few months (even the times that I went to the salon), so al the time I was trying all the best to cover it with darker tones. Every time that I dye my hair, I always choose the darker one than my natural hair color, so that the dark ends part is not really a big problem for me. At first, I want to make it lighter right the way, but now I’ll wait!

  10. Avatar of Ambrose
    Ambrose says:

    My hair just “ombrés” naturally as it grows longer and longer. The ends part is always having the lighter color. I like it.

  11. Avatar of Alton
    Alton says:

    I know this is not a new topic, but I can notice that my hair also has the same characteristic too! At first, I thought it happened because sometimes I used the relaxer…and I considered it was due to the relaxer. But no, it seemed to be my natural color! Both my ends and my roots are healthy…my hair is super healthy. I really love my hair! And now I’m asking whether my ends part will get longer, it will be lighter or not.

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