How much does it cost to touch up your roots in a professional salon?

 

When it comes to prices, there are so many different factors at play.

A few days ago, I visited a family member in Buenos Aires. I love that city! Every time I want to get away for a little while, I don’t have to look any farther than to that city.

 

One night I went out to eat at a cool restaurant in the Puerto Madero neighborhood, one of the chicest areas of Buenos Aires. I had a pasta dish that really was yummy.

The day I was going to leave the city, we had lunch in a restaurant in the Caballito neighborhood, another area of the city, and I also got a pasta dish.

You might not believe it, but when I was in Puerto Madero, I paid 30 dollars for the dish and in Caballito, the same kind of pasta cost me 15 dollars.

It was exactly double the price. Why?

 

Because there are so many seemly unrelated factors that go into price, like location, the cost of rent for the place where the restaurant is located, the number of people that work there, the ingredients they use and even the decoration.

It’s the same when it comes to beauty salons.

In cities like Barcelona, Madrid, New York and Paris, it’s more expensive to get your roots touched up because everything in those cities is more expensive.

 

 I think it’s most important that you know what goes into the price of a touch-up, even more than necessarily evaluating what exactly you might end up paying. That way, you have the tools you need to decide if the price the salon charges is fair or not. 

Do you want to know if the price you’re being charged in the salon is fair or not?

 

If so, stick around, because I’m going to tell you:

 

 

The hair colorist’s experience will always influence price

Many clients come to my salon asking for a touch-up on their roots, which is relatively simple compared to other color techniques.

That’s because all you have to do is use the same color on the roots as the rest of your hair to cover the base color or grey hair that might be growing in.

 An experienced hair colorist will know your hair color from the moment you walk into a salon, and will know exactly what materials they’ll need to use and how to apply them. 

 

I remember a few months ago, a woman who had never been to the salon before came in to ask for my services.

She wanted to cover her grey since she already had an inch and a half showing at her roots. We were on the same page up to that point.

 

The problem came when I told her that we should use a specific color to cover them that she said was too light.

I’m aware of the phrase “the customer is always right,” but I can assure you that in this case, that is not always true at all. Because if I had used the color she asked for, her roots would have been two shades darker than the rest of her hair.

And whose fault would that have been? Mine, of course.

 

That’s why, after taking a while to show her the possible colors and explaining to her why I thought that she needed the color she did, she listened to my suggestion.

And the result was phenomenal.

A good hair colorist will always do what is best for your hair, keeping in mind what you’re looking for of course, and will also make decisions based on their background knowledge.

 

If my client had gone to another salon where the hair colorist didn’t have much experience, they might had done exactly what my client had asked for without looking hard at her hair’s real color. And the result would have been a disaster.

 A hair colorist with three months of experience is very different from one with more than five years of experience. 

Because experience means safety and confidence in what they are doing, and when it comes to difficult clients or clients that want impossible things, an experienced professional will have the necessary tools to suggest the best way forward.

 

Experience is also important when it comes to using the dye and especially in preparing the mixtures that the hair colorist will use on your hair.

What’s the first thing you should find out when choosing a salon?

 

 The professional’s experience directly influences the price because after all, it’s their work that will be the one that shows in your hair. 

But, other factors can influence the price of touching up your roots, which I’ll tell you about soon.

 

Other factors that influence how much it costs to touch up your roots

Most of the more expensive salons use dyes from well-known, high-quality brands, brands that are well-known all over the world.

 

Although brands do have a professional line of products that is a little bit less expensive for salons because salons buy them in bulk, that doesn’t mean that the price of those products still isn’t high.

 Those prices translate into the processes and add to the professional’s work.  

That’s why you must ask them to show you what products they are going to use on your hair. If you’re paying for a high-quality dye, ask the hair colorist to show you the tube.

 

When their clients choose a color, the hair colorists go to another part of the salon to mix the products and they switch out the high-quality dye for one that’s not as well-known or of as high quality.

A good professional will mix the dyes in front of you and will open the tube and show you the color and the expiration date on the dye.

If you’re paying for the best, you should get the best.

 

Do you know why?

 

Your roots are virgin hair, that is brand new hair, and therefore, more fragile than other parts of your hair, so it is important to use high-quality dyes on them as much as is possible.

 And, if your hair is dry or prone to breakage, then you must have the touch up done with the best dyes out there, which will make the price go up. 

 

If your hair is in really, really bad shape, then your hair colorist might recommend that you touch up the roots with semi-permanent dye, which is more expensive than permanent dye.

Since it doesn’t contain either ammonia or sulfates, semi-permanent dyes are special dyes that don’t damage your hair fiber as much as the permanent dye, which drives up the price of the materials.

 

Conclusion

In general, a touch up for your roots shouldn’t cost more than 25-30 dollars.

And you should know that for that price, you’re in the hands of a professional hair colorist with experience that will use high-quality dye on your hair after evaluating its health.

You get what you pay for, just like everything in life.

Now tell me, how much did you pay the last time you touched up your roots?