When buying makeup at a retail store, many clients opt for a  beauty specialty store like Sephora or Ulta as opposed to venturing to their nearby discount drugstore to shop for cosmetics because Sephora and Ulta offer one-on-one support to the customer and quality products. That means matching customers’ skintone using a machine in order to get a list of specific shades of every single foundation, BB cream and concealer in the store that would work for them, demonstrating that new product the customer has been considering buying on his or her own face, or teaching them how to achieve the perfect cat eye with personalized tutorials. It’s the model of a retail store led by makeup experts.

Now take that model, and translate it to haircolor. That is exactly what Redken is doing with its new professional root-blending system, Root Fusion.

Root Fusion is a single-use haircolor kit that is prescribed exclusively by haircolorists in the salon. The kit includes one set of gloves, an easy-to-follow instruction sheet, the low-ammonia Professional Root Retouch color (oxidative permanent color) prescribed by the colorist, 20 volume developer, one professional-grade brush and a mixing bowl, retailing for a minimum of $25.

“It’s a 20-minute process just to shade away or blend the gray to get her over the hump until she’s ready to come back into the salon and see you,” says David Stanko, Redken master colorist. “It’s only enough product to do her hairline and her part line, it’s not enough to do the entire head.”

Root Fusion developer included in the kit. 

Unlike traditional retail products, the professional has to recommend it to the client in order for them to purchase it. Not only is it a product exclusively sold at salons, it is only sold as an add-on to a color service.

Similar to the Sephora example, the expert is telling the client why this product would work for them, and then matching them to their exact shade. Each of the 27 Root Fusion shades match all of Redken’s permanent color brands, including Color Fusion, Color Gels and Chromatics, allowing colorists to convert their client’s custom salon color to one they can take home and apply themselves.

“No matter what haircolor line we use of Redken in the salon, we’re going to be able to pair this retail product to her formula,” Stanko says. “It’s not for everybody, but it’s for at least 25 to 30% of clients that can’t bear to see one gray hair poke through at the two-and-a-half or three-week period.”

And, like any product you would buy at Sephora, the colorist offers their client a tutorial of how to use Root Fusion at home. Although Root Fusion comes with instructions, a personalized tutorial in the salon that the client can record on their phones will further assist them when applying at home.

Stanko emphasizes this is in no way meant to prolong time in between color appointments or take money out of colorists’ pockets. It is a way to make the colorist’s work look even better in between appointments and for the client to feel more confident about hiding their grays.

“It’s not taking money away from colorists, it’s building the relationship with their clients,” Stanko says. “This recommendation is coming from the person who knows their hair best.”