On average, most people find it necessary to touch up their gray hair every 4-6 weeks, but the time may vary depending on the rate of your hair growth, the amount of gray hair you have, the type of dye used, and your personal preference. For those using permanent hair color for gray coverage, regular root touch-ups are useful to keep the gray hidden. Temporary gray hair coverage options, such as root concealers or cover-up sprays, can be used more frequently, even daily, to extend the time between full coloring sessions or for quick fixes.

The best hair color for gray coverage depends on your natural shade and desired result. Generally, shades that are close to your natural hair color tend to provide the most seamless and effective gray hair coverage. Permanent hair dyes like Excellence Cool Supreme Permanent Gray Coverage are typically recommended for full gray coverage, as they penetrate the hair shaft for long-lasting results. For optimal gray hair coverage, neutral or natural-looking shades (like deep browns, natural blacks, or medium blondes) often work well as they tend to cover gray more uniformly. However, if you have a significant amount of gray, multi-tonal shades like those available from Age Perfect by Excellence can also be effective at blending the grays rather than just covering them, creating a more dimensional look. To get a better idea of what color suits you, use our Virtual Try-On Tool.

The most low-maintenance way to cover gray hair often involves techniques that blend grays rather than completely concealing them, making new growth less noticeable. This includes methods like highlights, lowlights, or balayage. By strategically adding lighter or darker tones, these techniques help to diffuse the appearance of gray hairs, allowing them to blend seamlessly with your natural or colored hair. This means less frequent full coloring sessions, as the contrast between your roots and colored hair is minimized.

Another excellent low-maintenance option for gray hair coverage is the use of temporary root touch-up products. Root touch-up sprays and precision pens offer instant, on-the-go solutions for camouflaging visible gray roots between washes or full color treatments. These products provide quick, localized gray hair touch up, extending the time needed between more intensive coloring treatments and significantly reducing maintenance effort.

When looking for the best hair color ingredients in a product for covering grays, look for both lasting color formulations and gentle ingredients that help nourish and condition hair. For effective gray hair coverage, key ingredients in permanent hair color formulations include oxidative dyes to penetrate the hair shaft and create long-lasting color. Alkaline agents such as ammonia are usually necessary to gently open the hair cuticle, allowing the color molecules to deposit deeply, but L’Oreal Paris also offers ammonia-free options. Our gray coverage hair color products also incorporate conditioning ingredients and proteins to help protect the hair during the coloring process, ensuring the gray hair, which can often be coarser, remains soft, shiny, and well-conditioned.

The longevity of L'Oréal Paris gray hair coverage products varies depending on the specific product type, from 8 weeks for permanent hair color to temporary sprays that last until your next shampoo.

•For comprehensive gray hair coverage, L'Oréal Paris offers permanent hair color solutions designed to last until your hair grows out, typically offering vibrant color for up to 8 weeks.

•For quick fixes and gray hair touch up between full coloring sessions, we also offer temporary gray coverage products. These convenient solutions, such as root cover-up sprays or pens, are designed to last until your next shampoo, providing immediate camouflage for visible grays with minimal commitment.

This variety allows you to choose the ideal product based on your desired longevity and level of gray hair coverage.

L’Oréal Paris offers a variety of gray hair touch up hair color products for touching up gray roots between full coloring sessions:

•Magic Root Cover Up spray quickly covers gray hairs within seconds and lasts until your next shower.

•The Magic Root Precision Pen is designed to quickly cover scattered grays.

•The Magic Root Permanent 10-Minute Root Coloring Kit provides permanent hair color coverage that lasts several weeks, unlike our other more temporary root touch up products.

For blending or covering gray hair, lowlights are generally a more effective choice than highlights. Lowlights involve adding darker shades back into the hair, which helps to subtly blend gray strands with your existing hair color. This approach creates a multi-tonal effect that camouflages the grays without requiring the use of bleach, which is typically used for highlights. While highlights can add dimension, they don't directly cover gray; instead, they can make grays less noticeable by adding contrast. Lowlights, by integrating darker tones, offer a more seamless and natural gray hair coverage or blending solution.

You can purchase L’Oréal Paris gray hair coverage products in-person at your local drugstore, at grocery chains, large retailers like Walmart and Target, or online through retailers like Amazon and Ulta Beauty. Click the “Buy Online” button on the gray hair coverage products' individual pages to see where to purchase online, or use our Store Locator to find an in-store option to shop for products to cover gray hair near you.