Once you dye your hair, roots will grow back in, and you’re going to have to decide what you want to do about them. Gray hair grows faster than pigmented hair. Some people’s gray hair grows so quickly that they have to touch up their roots every week; others can wait six weeks. Fortunately, with Natural Roots, covering rapidly growing roots is simple and can be done each week as they become visible. If you read our blog Natural Roots for Hair 101, you know how quickly you can prepare your dye by taking some frozen henna out of your designated henna paste ice cube tray, thaw it, mix it with Indigo Powder for your desired shade, dab it on the visible roots, put on the cap, and wash out the paste out in a couple of hours. You will generally not need more than a few spoonsful of this paste for touch- ups.

Once you’ve gotten the depth of color you want on the length of your hair, you only need to dye roots as they grow out, because unlike synthetic dyes, henna and indigo do not fade. You can keep this up for years and grow your hair out long enough to sit on. Dyeing roots with henna and indigo is exactly the same process as dyeing the length of the hair except that it’s not necessary to pull the paste all the way to the tips. Even if you use this every week, you hair will be long, glossy, heavy, and thick. There will be done no damage, nor will your hair be “coated” in any way. There will be no visible lines from redoing your roots month after month. Natural Roots covers your gray perfectly, and leaves your hair not only in perfect condition, but in better condition than if you had not dyed it. It also reverses the premature graying caused by synthetic dyes.

Why is Natural Roots a permanent hair dye?

Unlike chemical dyes, repeated applications of true Henna+Indigo mix develops a richer, deeper color with each succeeding application. Once the dye has oxidized and reached its final shades, the lawsone molecule present in Natural Roots is permanently bound into the hair keratin by a Micheal Addition (that's a special sort of molecular bond that's very strong and stable). Think of a teaspoonful of coffee in a white cup. It will look very light brown. Add 10 more teaspoonfuls and it looks like dark brown, fill the cup to the top and it looks like “black” coffee. 

Each application coats the last, changing the depth and bounce of the light wavelengths off your hair and giving the appearance of progressively deeper richer color each time. To avoid darkening, just do your roots once you get the color you want.

 Step by Step Guide to Covering Grays with Natural Roots

Watch the full tutorial on how to cover grays with Natural Roots on our Instagram page by clicking the link below:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cks0vfGgRUR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

1. Always begin with clean hair (not oily or dirty) and comb it into sections. It takes about 25g of each powder (Henna and Indigo) to make plenty of paste to do roots. The Henna paste is mixed the same way as for the full length of the hair, with an acidic mix, and dye release. Frozen henna does as good a job as freshly mixed paste. Some people say frozen Natural Roots henna paste is even better than fresh! You can do your mixing quickly, and do not need to begin the process a day ahead of dyeing time.

2. Mix Henna with Indigo Paste according to your desired share ie auburn, light/medium/dark brown, or black. Once the Natural Roots henna and indigo are mixed together, the paste should be applied quickly, before the indoxyl molecules convert to indigo. It is best to use the henna-indigo mix within 15 minutes.

3. Once hair is sectioned, begin to push the paste along the part and hairline. You can do this with your fingers or the applicator brush provided. Don’t forget to wear the gloves.

4. Then, lift a 1⁄4” section and push more paste into the other side of the section, making certain that every hair is thickly coated. Massaging the paste into the hair with fingers is a good way to be certain that every hair is thickly coated. The sections are never more than 1⁄4” apart so that every hair is fully saturated with the paste.

5. Pull up one section after another. Lay each new section over previously applied paste, and then apply paste to the other side. Work patiently through your hair. It takes 15 minutes to apply the paste all the way around.

6. Make sure that all the roots are covered to the hairline and all the way around the head. Apply Natural Roots paste to the newly grown area, and about 1” beyond.

7. Wipe your skin clean around the forehead and ears, or not. This is not absolutely necessary, that depends on how fussy one is about being presentable the next day. The dye stains on the hairline are very light, and never last more than a day or two. Some people apply our Rose Lip Butter just below the hairline to keep the skin free of stain.

8. When all of the roots everywhere on your head are well coated with Natural Roots paste, tie up your hair to get it out of the way. The whitest hair will always get the exact shade you want. The best thing about Natural Roots is that your hair will alway look variegated and natural, as if it has grown that way.

7. Wrap the plastic cap around your hair, so it will stay warm and moist for several hours before you shampoo it out. Gray hair may be dye-resistant, so anything which can assist keeping the paste in the hair longer, keeping it more warm and moist, will help produce the best results.

8. Wash hair until water runs clear, followed by shampoo and conditioner.

8. With the henna and indigo mix applied month after month, your hair will look completely natural and never fade. Your hair will become healthier and thicker year after year, never showing gray!🌱