Nobody wakes up ready to walk the red carpet. Fab hair takes work and maintenance. More than likely, you don’t have a live-in stylist to keep those roots color-perfect and curls tousled. If so, we hope you’re paying him or her well.

Sure, it may be in your best interest to defer at least some work to a hair care professional, but that doesn’t mean that you’re stranded on an island if you’re outside shouting distance to Douglas Carroll Salon. Here are 3 do-it-yourself hair secrets that our stylists swear by!

Root touch up products 

There’s an array of temporary root cover-up products available to tide you over those last few days before your color appointment. Product applications can be found in the form of a spray, or something you apply with a small brush. Some people have been known to get enough temporary coverage from eyeshadow or even a mascara that matches your hair color! How’s that for resourcefulness?

Purple shampoo 

If you’re a blonde, one of your best tools you can keep in your arsenal is purple shampoo. Purple shampoo is your friend once that salon-fresh toner starts to wear off after a few weeks. Toner (sometimes also called glaze, or gloss) is used in-salon to combat brassy or yellow tones that are revealed when hair is lightened from its natural color. Purple shampoo, while not as long-lasting or tonally specific as a toner, is a great way to tide yourself over between visits. Just be warned that most purple shampoos are drying, so make sure to incorporate a hydrating mask into your routine once you introduce the purple shampoo, and keep usage to once every 3 washes or so. Be advised that purple shampoo won’t do much good if you’re seeing a lot of orangey tones in your hair–generally this means your hair isn’t quite light enough to see effectiveness and/or the undertones you’re dealing with fall outside the scope of a purple shampoo. 

Dry Shampoo

We’ve all woken up late and realized we’re one day past wash day, or maybe toe-ing the line! So what if you’re out of dry shampoo? The best trick in the book is baby powder, or even cornstarch. That’s right–these low-profile household items are here to the rescue! Just sprinkle a little in your clean hands and work it into the roots of your hair where it will absorb some of the oils accumulating there. Using your hands will give you more control of how much gets applied to your hair, and avoid excess residue and a billowing white cloud! If you’re anticipating a need for some oil absorption, darker heads of hair may benefit from application the night before. This gives the powder time to fully absorb so as to reduce any white residue. 

Looking for more than just DIY? Give Douglas Carroll Salon a call and schedule a visit today.