Hot roots: An unexpected hair colour trend

Just saying “hot roots” out loud is enough to cause panic to most hairdressers.

It is, after all, something that hairdressers use to describe a hair mistake – excessive brightness caused when bleaching your hair.

When done badly, it can make anyone look like a hair disaster, but it is surprisingly pretty if the colours are properly matched and the hot roots purposefully done!

Read on to find out more about hot roots!


Hot roots: What it is

No, we are not talking about bleaching gone wrong, where you have a bright yellow or orange band at the roots of your hair. We’re talking about an actual style that is, in fact, trending!

Also known as reverse ombre, it is exactly what its name suggests. The roots are coloured a more vibrant colour than the ends, unlike the typical ombre.

By Bump @ River Valley
By Bump @ River Valley
By Xavier Leong
By Xavier Leong

Instead of a perfect, clean line of bleach, the roots are a few inches long to make it look deliberate.

By Bump @ Holland Village
By Bump @ Holland Village

It can be done to both light or dark colours, and it makes the hair colour more natural and low-maintenance.

HARTS Salon
HARTS Salon

How you can get it

1. Bleach your roots

The point of hot roots is to make your roots the brightest part of your hair. To make it white and bright, bleaching is required. Luckily, you will only need to bleach a few inches of your hair.

Half and Half Hair Colour by Full House Salon
Half and Half Hair Colour by Full House Salon

2. Colour your roots

Next step, colouring. This is possibly the most tricky part and it’s best to discuss with your stylist to see which colour combination will present a more pleasing effect. Remember to choose a colour that is more vibrant at the roots than the ends!

Hairpage Underground
Hairpage Underground

The colour options are so broad as you can pretty much get any and every colour. You can get it with bright bleached hair …

brightly coloured hair …

jet black hair …

or even just a dyeing a bit of your roots!

You can also change it up by getting hot roots and a dip dye.

Where you can get it

You can get it at any hair salon that does hair colours. However, some stylists are possibly more skillful at making the hot roots appear natural than others.

1. Hairpage Underground

Hairpage Underground
Hairpage Underground

There’s a lot to love about South Beach Avenue. But what we love most is that it’s run by a highly talented group of Singaporean hairstylists. The first time we came across their hair colour designs, we were WOWED! These stylists are highly demanded among those in the know. There are no assistants here as your stylist will perform the service for you from start till end, making the service feel extremely personalised. If you are looking for an awesome hair colour, be sure to pay Hairpage Underground a visit.

2. Hair by Xavier Leong

Hair by Xavier Leong
Hair by Xavier Leong

Xavier Leong takes the hair experience to a whole new level! Besides a spacious environment, your hair experience includes a one-to-one personalised service and a Spotify or Netflix playlist for you to enjoy as well. His attention is exclusively on you from beginning till the end so you really get what you pay for – Xavier’s expertise!

Many customers who’ve had their hair done by him swear by Xavier’s hair colours! Maybe its because he’s more conscientious than most, or maybe its because he is truly artistically inclined, that his hair creations stand out from the rest. Customers also appreciate how he goes the extra mile to ensure that their hair is well taken care of throughout the process. We also like it that Xavier’s hair services include hair treatment and Olaplex!

3. 99 Percent Hair Studio @ Bedok Point

99 Percent Hair Studio @ Bedok Point
99 Percent Hair Studio @ Bedok Point

There are many salons out there that claim that they do hair colouring very well, but few of them can create beautiful hair colours the way 99 Percent Hair Studio does it! We’re not just saying this because of their Instagram feed – we know of many Beauty Undercover agents and friends who have all been more than impressed with the hair colouring here! Hence, it comes as no surprise that 99 Percent Studio is on the top of our list whenever someone asks for recommendations to do challenging hair colours.

4. Full House Salon @ Tampines Central

Full House Salon @ Tampines Central
Full House Salon @ Tampines Central

The hair colours here don’t just look trendy, we hear that they last very long and don’t make your hair dry! Co-Founder Samantha credits their very popular hair colours to the use of high quality hair colour product, Joico, which has been voted the World’s Best Hair Colour for years! Especially with the latest low-damage hair colour Vero K Pak Reconstructor, Samantha finds that the hair colours they do for customers can last more than six months while repairing customers existing damaged hair.

All the stylists here are experienced in mixing hair colours to achieve beautiful hair results for customers, and will ensure that you are happy with your hair results before you walk out the door. With the high level of service, great hair products, and skilful hairstylists, Full House is a must-try hair salon in Tampines!

5. Bump Hair Design @ River Valley

Bump Hair Design @ River Valley
Bump Hair Design @ River Valley

Bump Hair Design is built on the philosophy of quality hair services and great Japanese service at an affordable price. We’re especially enamoured with talented Japanese stylist Sone who can create vibrant hair colours which stand out for being classy and head-turning at the same time. Sone is also very fast with hairstyle trends and is a great choice for anyone looking for creative hair colours with Japanese service.

Why you should or should not get hot roots:

It is a fun and new hairstyle. It is really unique and, since trends do not last long, you could just try it out for a few weeks.

BUT!

This hairstyle is high-maintenance as you can’t let your real roots show. Since the focus of this is at the roots, you will have to go for touch-ups whenever your uncoloured roots start to grow out. Not only is that time-consuming and expensive, it is not good to let bleach touch your scalp too often.

When you should get it:

If you have decided to give hot roots a try, the best time to do it is …

NOW!

Since trends move at lightning speed, you should get it as soon as possible, before it becomes passé. Of course, it’s all up to you, and some might even wait for the trend to pass so that they will be the only one having it. It also helps if you’ve already gotten your hair fully bleached because you won’t need to pay for bleaching to achieve this effect.


Planning to try out hot roots or any other hair trend? Share your experience on Beauty Undercover SG1