How to Hide Your Roots Between Salon Visits

We've all been there: One day your color is fine and the next, you're standing under fluorescent lighting with day-old hair and practically sprinting to the salon to get your roots retouched. We asked Victoria Hunter, the go-to colorist for hairstylist Guido Palau (she's the one mixing up the hair color for the wigs on the Marc Jacobs runway season after season) and the coolest models, to share her favorite products and styling tips for covering roots in a pinch.

"People with wavy or curly hair can get away with roots for longer (about three to four months) because their hair has more volume, but people with straight, flat hair aren't as lucky," says Hunter. "When your roots start to show, you want products that are going to lift them up—texturizers and dry shampoos."

If you have blonde hair with dark roots: "Obviously when you're blonde and have darker roots, nothing but peroxide or bleach will whiten them, says Hunter, who suggests any styling products that spray out white. "We use Sachajuan Volume Powder for a dusting of light color."

If you have very dark hair with gray or blonde roots: "Root Vanish is great for Asian hair or people who have black hair with whites that come through quickly—you twist the brush and the color comes out onto a little mascra brush for hair."

If you have platinum blonde, warm blonde, brunette or red hair with roots: "Rita Hazan Root Concealer For Gray Coverage and Bumble & Bumble Hair Powders are the best," says Hunter. For a less temporary fix (that's easier than retouching them on your own), she recommends Davines' Alchemic Conditioner line. "They have brown, copper, silver and more; the longer you leave them on, the brighter and richer they'll leave your hair."

When it comes to root-friendly hairstyles, Hunter says braids, French twists and "any interesting updos you've been wanting to try" are the way to go. "Or you can do a little bit of a twirl by taking bits above your ear and around the hairline, twisting them back and pinning them with bobby pins. It mixes all the colors together, disguises gray and shows dimension."