25 Best Root Touch Ups to Cover Gray Roots Between Colorings

August 9, 2020

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Coloring your hair is great, but with an annoying downside: roots! As your hair continues to grow, that natural color of yours is going to show back up right at the base of your hair. Not a great look, most of the time.

Getting your hair recolored every single time natural hair color became noticeable would be incredibly expensive. Luckily, there are dedicated root touch up products specifically to cover your roots without affecting the rest of your hair.

With so many to choose from, here are our favorites based on personal testing of these products and reviews from other women.

In This Article

25 Best Root Touch Ups to Cover Gray Roots Between Colorings

L’Oreal Paris Magic Root Cover Up Gray Concealer Spray
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L’Oreal is one of several hair and beauty leaders you’ll find on this list. This light-weight spray is designed to seamlessly blend your roots into your new hair color without smudges or streaks.
The root cover is temporary so it can be reapplied over new root growth without creating unsightly patchy color messes.
Works best when blending specifically with L’Oreal Paris Excellence or Superior Preference hair colors.
Pros
• Seamless blend with L’Oreal hair color brands
• Excellent gray coverage
• Effective for stretching out the time between coloring
Cons
• Spray can be a bit messy
• Not quite as long lived on hairless areas as powder root covering
Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch-up
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Want a fast root retouch that lasts weeks? Cairol Nice ’n Easy Root Touch-up is for you.
Applied in just 10 minutes, this root color will last for up to 3 weeks. It comes with a precision applicator brush to help you target roots for full color retouching.
Clairol root touch-up provides 100% gray coverage and blends seamlessly with Clairol’s permanent hair color ranges.
Pros
• Neat application with precision brush
• Fast working
• Long lasting
Cons
• Blonde colors can sometimes turn out darker than advertised
dpHUE Root Touch Up Kit
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dpHue root touch up kit will clear away unsightly gray root growth and return your hair to a luscious, even color in no time.
The dpHue hair color comes with a precision applicator and offers 100% gray coverage. While the shades are best matched with other dpHue products, they can be matched with others easily.
dpHue colors are vegan and all-natural, for those after ethically sourced root touch ups.
Pros
• Vegan and gluten free
• All natural ingredients
• Easy to apply
Cons
• Only blends well with selected colors
Madison Reed Root Touch Up
Up till now on the list we’ve had sprays and creams, but this Maddison Reed Root Touch Up kit is more of a classic approach.
With this kit, hair color is touched up using a pressed powder applied with a brush. It’s fast and efficient, allowing you to quickly cover your grays without messy application or cleaning.
This is intended mostly for roots. If you need to recolor stray grays, you’ll need a different product — or get a new hair color application.
Pros
• Fast application
• Quick results
• Blends with many brands
Cons
• Powdery texture not suitable for long strands
• Can color the scalp oddly
Oribe Root Touch Up
Oribe Airbrush root touch up provides a quick and effective way to cover up unsightly grays as they try to reappear at your roots.
Application is simple. Shake the bottle well before starting. Spray your problem areas with a generous application of root touch up, and blend in with your fingers. Brush the color through, and you’re done!
Oribe offers two sizes of spray bottle; it’s best to get the larger spray even for light use.
Pros
• Can work as a root touch up for brands or natural hair color
• Easy to apply
• Reasonably long lasting
Cons
• Very expensive for the amount of product your receive
• Need a lot of product for sufficient coverage
Color Wow Root Cover Up
Color Wow root cover up is another powder-based root cover up that offers 100% gray coverage.
Compressed powder is applied with the included brush, which has two sides for broad and precise application. The he longevity of the powder depends on the grayness of the hair. 50% gray will be covered for up to a year, while 90-100% gray will be covered for up to 6 months.
Pros
• Very long lasting
• Useful applicator
• Blends well with natural hair colors
Cons
• Very expensive compared to many other brands
• Can leave roots with a powdery texture after initial application
Rita Hazan Root Concealer Touch Up Stick
The Rita Hazan Root Concealer Touch Up Stick is a bit different from other items on the list.
Rather than coloring all your gray roots, this stick is specially designed for the eyebrows and temple.
Gray hairs don’t just appear at the top of our heads, growing from the scalp. Our eyebrows also succumb to graying, and sometimes our temples will gray earlier or faster than the rest of our hair.
This handy, easy-to-use touch up stick makes quick work of these areas for consistent, reliable results.
Pros
• Easy to use
• Precise
• Mix and match colors to suit most hair colors
Cons
• Limited functionality — although a useful one
TouchBack PRO Gray Root Touch Up Marker Applicator
TouchBack PRO Gray Root Touch Up Marker Applicator offers temporary coverage for gray roots.
The touch up application will last until you next shampoo your hair, so ideal to apply for a special night out but when you don’t need to worry about long lasting results.
Each pen is rated for 60 applications, although your particular mileage may vary depending on how much hair you need to cover.
There’s no ammonia or other unpleasant, foul-smelling chemicals. Best of all, it doesn’t flake or rub off when brushed, so you don’t need to worry about leaving hair coloring around on a big night.
Pros
• Good gray coverage
• Fast to apply
• Temporary
Cons
• Longevity can vary wildly from person to person
• Can color the scalp itself
Garnier Express Retouch Gray Hair Concealer
Garnier Express Retouch Gray Hair Concealer is an easy to apply, temporary root color concealer.
Unlike brands like L’Oreal at the top of the list, this isn’t intended to be used just with Garnier hair colors. It will go with any hair color, natural or otherwise, that roughly matches the shade of the concealer due to excellent blending.
The concealer is applied with a foam brush that’s excellent at reaching tricky roots. Transfer-resistant formulation prevents color from getting around, letting you conceal on the go.
Pros
• Doesn’t need to be used with Garnier hair colors for best results
• Easy to apply
• Transfer resistant
Cons
• Only four colors available
Everpro Gray Away Temporary Root Concealer
Everpro Gray Awyway is a spray-on temporary root concealer with “self-adjusting color technology”.
The formulation is fast-drying, flake resistant, sweat resistant, and transfer resistant. Color lasts until your next shampoo — great for a night out, not ideal if you’re looking for a semi-permanent solution.
Spray-on application is often messy, but the Everpro comes with a precision applicator to prevent concealer getting in your face and clothes.
Pros
• Precision applicator
• Easy to use with little mess
• Blends with many hair colors easily
Cons
• Limited colors available
• Quite temporary
Clairol Root Touch-Up Concealing Powder
We’ve mentioned Clairol once on this list, but now they’re back with a compressed powder root concealer.
The compressed powder color is applied with a supplied brush perfectly sized to get even the most hard to reach hairs. From a single strand, to your eyebrows, to your whole temple, this brush has you covered.
Unlike their Nice ’n Easy root concealer, this powder isn’t designed to match specific Clairol hair colors. Instead it comes in a range of generic hair colors carefully formulated to blend with as many colors as possible.
Pros
• Versatile — useable for natural or treated hair
• Easy to apply with 100% gray coverage
• Available in packs of 3
Cons
• Like all powders, can leave hair a little dusty immediately after application
Bumble and Bumble Color Stick for Unisex Hair Color
While most of the root touch-ups on this list haven’t been explicitly for women, it’s reasonably implied. This Bumble and Bumble Color Stick on the other hand, is specifically intended for unisex hair.
This stick is easy to apply to the roots, and precise enough to give you coverage of temples, scalp, and eyebrows alike. Application is quick and easy, leaving hair silky and manageable. Color transfer and flaking are at a minimum.
Pros
• Unisex
• Great gray coverage
• Can also be used to create instant streaks in hair for stylistic choices
Cons
• Be careful with application or you’ll color your scalp as well
Revlon Permanent Root Erase
It took a little while for Revlon to appear on the list, but here they are.
This permanent root erase kit is good for three applications, giving you great bang for your buck. The lid of the bottle doubles as a mixing container — just shake the can, spray into the lid, mix, and apply!
Application takes just 5 minutes and can match at-home or salon dyes. With 13 shades to choose from, you’ll be able to match your hair color easily with Revlon Permanent Root Erase.
Pros
• Convenient kit
• Multiple uses out of a single bottle
• Cleanable nozzle to prevent build up and uneven application
Cons
• Some report colors come out darker than expected
Rootflage Temporary Root Cover Up
Best not to mistake this for a makeup brush, you don’t want hair color all over your face.
The Rootflage Temporary Root Cover Up p comes in a snazzy little bottle that’ll look right at home in your makeup kit. Brush on the dry powder concealer directly onto grays around the temple or top of your head for fast, effective results!
Rootflage is great for both grays and natural hair color that’s revealing itself after coloring. Had a bleach and now your real brunette color is showing? Rootflage will lighten and blend that out for you in no time.
Pros
• Easy to apply to large areas
• Good for gray and natural hair color
Cons
• Powdery texture
Joan Rivers Great Hair Day Fill-in-Powder
Hair doesn’t just lose color as we age — it can also start to thin out. When we get hair color treatment, either at home or in a salon, it often bulks the volume of the hair as well.
Joan Rivers Great Hair Day fill-in powder allows you to not just conceal the gray color of your roots, but also restore the lost volume. This lets you touch up your roots and avoid a full re color for even longer.
Formulated to stay in your hair until you shampoo, so no worries about leaving stains on your pillow. Apply with the provided brush and be on your day. Each container provides up to 90 days worth of application.
Pros
• Blends with natural and treated hair
• Color safe
• Non-transferring
Cons
• Can come out darker than anticipated
• Provided brush not the highest quality
Kiss Quick Cover Brush-in Color Touch
Quick Cover from Kiss is a temporary gray hair touch up brush suitable for all hair types.
Like other temporary root concealers, it’s formulated to stay in place until shampooed out. Water, sweat, and flake resistant, it’ll stay in your hair securely until it’s time to go. The applicator might look like eyeliner, but don’t worry — this won’t cause any clumps or matting in your hair.
Perfect for a quick spot application or a full blown color concealment, whichever you need.
Pros
• Suitable for all hair types
• Transfer resistant
• Extra large brush for large areas
Cons
• Colors can come out darker than advertised
Stargazer Everyday Hair Mascara
Available in four natural-looking shades, Stargazer Everyday Hair Mascara is a no-mess root concealer you can use on the go.
Powder and spray concealers have a habit of causing a bit of a mess after application. This means you really need to be careful when applying, and preferably apply at home to not leave embarrassing stains.
Not so with Stargazer Everyday Hair Mascara. The mascara-like formula won’t get in your face or on your clothes, is quick to apply, and won’t transfer. Perfect for touch ups on the go or when travelling in unfamiliar places.
Pros
• Convenient to use
• No-mess
• 100% gray coverage
Cons
• Limited colors
• Blonde shade is a bit too warm for natural blonde
Clairol Root Touch-Up Permanent Hair Color Creme
It should come as no surprised that Clairol has a range of root touch-up options in its catalogue. This time we’re looking at their permanent hair color creme with precision applicator.
This product has features of their previous two entries on the list — it’s a creme like the first option, but it’s also a generic color like their powder application. Rather than being formulated to work best with Clairol’s specific hair color ranges, this is intended to blend in to just about anything. Natural, home color, salon color — whatever you need.
With a 60 day satisfaction guarantee, you really can’t go wrong.
Pros
• Versatile — works with all hair
• 100% gray coverage
• Precision applicator makes life easy and mess-free
• Long lasting results
Cons
• Some transfer issues to skin and pillows
R+Co Bright Shadows Root Touch-Up Spray
Pros
• Provides a Bright Shine
• Can be used as an instant hair color
Cons
• Uneven texture
• Pricey
Dark and Lovely, Go Intense Color Sprays
Dark and Lovely Go Intense Color Sprays aren’t specifically intended to be root concealers, but they work perfectly in a pinch.
This spray-on hair color is fast and easy to use. It’s actually labelled as “makeup for hair”, denoting its temporary nature and ease of washing out. This makes it a perfect grab-and-go quick root concealer to use when those pesky grays just won’t stop rearing their head.
With surprisingly low transfer for an instant color, Dark and Lovely Go Intense Color Sprays are a welcome addition to at-home hair color maintenance.
Pros
• Fast and easy to use
• Easily rinses out
• Many colors to choose from
• Can be used as an instant hair color
Cons
• Not too precise
• Generally intended as a full hair color solution, so go for the neutral shades that will match your hair best
Cleanse and Cover Hair Freshener
Cover Your Gray Cleanse & Cover Hair Freshener is a semi-permanent root concealer that helps to bulk up hair volume while you cover.
Unlike most temporary root concealers, Cleanse and Cover is formulated to last up to two washes. The broad application brush makes it ideal for large areas of exposed grays, such as temples, brow, and hair part.
Adding volume to hair is always a welcome touch that keeps up the fight against ageing between hair color treatment.
Pros
• Increases hair volume
• Good for large patches of graying hair
• Quick results
Cons
• Not ideal for small patches
• Powder-based and can leave a dusty texture
Style Edit Root Concealer
Style Edit Root Concealer Touch Up Spray is designed to cover up dark and gray roots that appear between hair dying.
For fast, easy touch-ups, it doesn’t get much easier than this root concealer. In just three seconds, you can hide any root color regrowth with a spray that won’t stick, flake, or transfer.
Just spray the concealer onto the darkening roots and presto — instant hair touch up! You can extend the time between trips to the stylist by up to double using Style Edit Root Concealer to keep your roots in check.
Also works to cover up gray root regrowth with 100% gray coverage.
Pros
• Color adaptive pigment for seamless blending
• Quick and easy to apply
• Great for gray and dark roots
Cons
• Can stain the scalp
John Frieda Root Blur Color Blending Concealer
John Frieda Root Blur Color Blending Concealer is an interesting take on pressed powder root concealers.
Each kit comes with a color palette that allows you to create custom blends for results that suit your exact look. No matter the product or color you’ve dyed with, the John Frieda root blur concealer gives you the power to seamlessly blend it out.
Like most powders this is a temporary concealer, designed to stay in until the next time you wash your hair. The powder itself is very lightweight and doesn’t leave you with an unpleasant chalky residue after application.
Pros
• Make your own custom color
• No chalky residue
• Quick and easy to apply
Cons
• Doesn’t add volume to thin hair
• Easy to accidentally waste powder by blending too much
EverPro Gray Away Temporary Root Concealer Magnetic Powder
EverPro appeared a little higher on the list earlier as a spray-on application. This is their powder offering, and it features the same colour-adjusting technology as the spray.
This neat little kit contains the sponge applicator hidden in a compartment in the bottom, with the powder itself up the top. Just pop out the sponge applicator, dust on some powder, and apply to the roots. It’s quick and easy to use, with no flaking or fly-away color.
The color-adjusting technology means you’re sure to get a seamless transition from old roots to new color.
Pros
• Compact kit
• Color-adjusting pigment technology
Cons
• Not as quick or efficient as the spray version
Lisa Rachel Cyg C Brush-In Wand
The Lisa Rachel brush-in wand is another of the root touch-up mascaras we’ve mentioned throughout the list.
For quick, effective results, just brush the problem hairs with the wand and see the color instantly transform. Can be used on short patches of hair, such as around the temple and sideburns, or to color long strands that escaped the dyeing process.
Blends with all brands of hair dyes for salon quality right at home, helping increase the time between hair coloring trips.
Lisa Rachachel Cyb G brush-in wand provides temporary color that’s formulated to hold in place until you next shampoo your hair.
Pros
• Available in a wide range of colors
• Blends with any at home or salon color
• 100% gray coverage
Cons
• Color can sometimes appear darker than anticipated
• Can be thick and sticky if you’re not careful with application