When your foils or highlights grow out, you can be left with a pretty harsh contrast between your natural roots and your lengths. In this guide you’ll learn exactly how to fix dark roots on blonde hair at home - without the use of bleach. Trust me, it’s easier than you think!
HOW TO FIX DARK ROOTS ON BLONDE HAIR AT HOME
You really have three options for fixing your dark roots at home: leave them as they are and let your blonde grow out, lighten with bleach or soften with what the hairdressing world calls a Base Break.
Because you’re here, we definitely know we’re not leaving them to grow out! And while we could lighten them up with a few little highlights at home (I’ll be sure to do another guide on this) today we’re going to focus on the Base Break.
WHAT IS A BASE BREAK
A Base Break is a term used by hairdressers. It describes a process which softens the harsh line between dark regrowth and lighter lengths.
Putting it super simply, a base break lightens your natural roots a little bit and blends away the harsh regrowth line.
A Base Break uses permanent colour instead of bleach, which is not only much easier to do yourself at home, but also gives your hair a nice break from bleach! If you’re suffering from a lot of breakage (which happens when you overlap bleach) - try a base break instead!
BASE BREAK BEFORE AND AFTER BLONDE HAIR
Here are some before and afters showing a base break - see how the roots look slightly lighter and blend much more naturally into the blonde lengths?
WHICH PRODUCTS DO I NEED TO DO A BASE BREAK?
You only need two products to do a base break on your hair and lighten your regrowth at home!
You will need:
- Permanent Hair Colour
- 20 Vol Developer
HOW TO DO A BASE BREAK AT HOME
My favourite part of a base break is how easy it is!
You want to pick a permanent colour that’s one or two shades lighter than your natural hair colour. At the end of this guide I’ll give my favourite formulas for each natural hair/root colour - but for now here’s the process:
Step 1: Mix your permanent colour with 20 Vol Developer as per the instructions on the box/tube.
Step 2: Apply your mixture to your hair. You want to do this quickly, as we’re not going to leave it on for the full time recommended on the box. Aim to apply the mixture within 2-5 minutes - you can always do the top of your head first and then repeat the process again on the bottom if you’re worried!
Step 3: Allow the colour to process (sit on your hair) for 10 minutes. You want to keep an eye on it - don’t be tempted to leave it on any longer!
Step 4: Thoroughly wash out your colour and enjoy your new softened roots!
WHY DO I ONLY LEAVE THE COLOUR ON FOR 10 MINUTES FOR A BASE BREAK?
Leaving your colour formula on your roots for only 10 minutes is super important. What we’re doing here is allowing the colour to work on your hair just enough to lighten your hair slightly without it going too far and looking brassy - I know you don’t want that!
The aim of a base break is to get your roots one to two levels (which just means one to two shades) lighter - no more than that. Leaving the colour on for 10 minutes is all you need!
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT LEVEL MY NATURAL ROOTS ARE?
As we’ve learnt, a level is just a term hairdressers use to describe how light or dark your hair is. You can use a chart, like the one below, to work out which level your natural roots are.
See how each shade has a number attached to it? That’s your level!
We’re going to use this number to pick which permanent colour to use for your base break.
You want to pick a colour that’s one or two shades lighter than your natural hair level. My recommendation is to pick one shade lighter - this will help to avoid any brassiness!
BASE BREAK FORMULAS
Here are my favourite formulas for you to use to do a base break at home!
LEVEL 5 BASE BREAK FORMULA
If you have level 5 roots, I recommend the Wella 6AA Dark Blonde Intense Ash Colour & 20 Vol Developer.
Natural level 5 hair can have a tendency to go a red/orange colour when you lighten it. The Wella 6AA is packed with double the amount of green/olive pigments which will help to avoid any of that red/orange brassiness when you do your base break.
AUSTRALIA:Purchase the Wella 6AA directly from Tint Department here!
UNITED STATES: I’ve found the Wella 6AA on Amazon for you here.*affiliate link
LEVEL 6 BASE BREAK FORMULA
For those with level 6 roots, I recommend the Wella 7AA Medium Blonde Intense Ash Colour & 20 Vol Developer.
Natural level 6 hair can have a tendency to go an orange colour when you lighten it - you might have experienced this with your foils! For this reason, the Wella 7AA is packed with double the amount of green pigments - which will avoid any orange brassiness.
AUSTRALIA:Purchase the Wella 7AA directly from Tint Department here!
UNITED STATES: I’ve found the Wella 7AA on Amazon for you here.*affiliate link
LEVEL 7 BASE BREAK FORMULA
If your roots are a level 7, I recommend the Wella 8A Light Ash Blonde Colour & 20 Vol Developer.
This colour has blue pigments in it, which will counteract any orange/yellow brassiness.
AUSTRALIA:Purchase the Wella 8A directly from Tint Department here!
UNITED STATES: I’ve found the Wella 8A on Amazon for you here.*affiliate link
LEVEL 8 BASE BREAK FORMULA
If your roots are a level 8, I recommend the Wella 9A Pale Ash Blonde Colour & 20 Vol Developer.
This colour has blue and violet pigments in it, which will counteract any gold/yellow brassiness.
AUSTRALIA: Purchase the Wella 9A directly from Tint Department here!
UNITED STATES: I’ve found the Wella 9A on Amazon for you here.*affiliate link
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