Labor and Manufacturing Shifts
Someone asked me last week, “Shouldn’t boxes get cheaper with automation?” Have you tried hiring for a color-processing plant lately? No one wants to mix ammonia for minimum wage, not even with overtime.
So, companies move production overseas, but then boxes come back labeled wrong or missing little parts. Shelby in Miami (six years at Luxe Roots) got a shipment missing all the protective caps because the factory switched and nobody told the US distributor. That’s a thing.
Minimum wage hikes in some states raised payroll at US bottling plants. Not saying that’s bad, but paired with Covid backlogs and weird demand spikes? It’s just more price chaos. And when a factory retools for “vegan” or “cruelty-free” status, they shut down for a week, so shelves go empty and old stock goes on “sale.” It’s never smooth.
Consumer Demand and Changing Habits
It’s kind of funny—like, in a “why do I live at Target now?” way—how root touch-up demand keeps spiking, even though salons bounced back to 86% of pre-pandemic business by early 2024 (NPD data). Root regrowth used to be a crisis. Now? Just another Tuesday.
Post-Pandemic At-Home Coloring
Nobody wants to admit it, but all those months of DIY kits after 2020 turned “home hair colorist” into an actual job title. My neighbor brags she saves $50 every six weeks skipping the salon, but the catch? Product prices crept up 18% from 2022 to 2025 (Mintel data).
Now everyone’s rationing dye, cutting open tubes, mixing old and new developer (which three colorists told me is a disaster—hello, pumpkin-orange roots). Rita Hazan grumbles about formula headaches and pricier ingredients, but is there even a price ceiling? Anna Zhou (all business, never smiles) says DIY sales only dropped when kits cost more than a basic salon touch-up. She’s seeing more “fix it” appointments because boxed kits don’t match.
Honestly, the “learning curve” for drugstore kits hasn’t changed. It’s just way more crowded now.
Influence of Social Media Trends
TikTok? Whole other universe. There’s a new “life-changing” spray or powder every week. “24-hour root refreshers,” IG-famous palettes that claim you’ll never need a salon again. One video—14 million views—launched Color Wow’s root cover-up into the stratosphere. My cousin’s roommate bought three shades because an influencer said to “blend for the gods.” Did she use the right shade? No idea.
Nobody points out how these trends create fake shortages. Suddenly everyone wants one product, shelves empty, prices jump—because, why not? MarketWatch tracked a 30% sales spike for one kit after a YouTube Shorts “moment.” Cosmetologists get stuck fixing botched root jobs inspired by some filter-heavy tutorial. I asked Mark Carter if these “must-have” kits really work. He just laughed: “For one selfie, maybe. For real hair? Nope.”
So, instead of salons setting the tone, influencers are just stirring up chaos—demand swings, prices follow, and half the time the “trend” barely lasts through two shampoos.
Impact of Salon Closures on Root Touch-Up Kit Prices
So, salons slammed their doors and, what, suddenly everyone’s staring at their roots in the bathroom mirror like it’s a crisis? I mean, maybe I’m projecting, but root touch-up kits went from “oh, that’s cute” to “I NEED THIS NOW” overnight. I swear, the only thing moving faster than my gray hairs was the price of these boxes. Colorists freaked out, brands started doing gymnastics, and the sticker shock? Wild. I guess nobody designed the supply chain for a million people panic-buying Clairol at 2 a.m. while doomscrolling.
Surge in At-Home Hair Care
Shelves wiped out, prices bouncing all over the place—like, I literally watched some generic root kit jump from $8.99 to $25 online, just because people got desperate. Instagram colorists moaned about everything being backordered for weeks (Sally Beauty, I’m looking at you). It’s like, did anyone actually expect the supply chain to just, I dunno, stretch because salons closed? No. That’s not how any of this works.
Everyone swapped salon visits for home hacks, and then the shortages just ping-ponged between brands. I saw some NielsenIQ chart—at-home color sales up 30% in spring 2020. But the real fun? Brands sneak on “supply chain fees,” shrink the kits, jack the price. Oh, and when your stylist’s texting you Amazon links instead of appointments? Yeah, something broke.
Reduced Professional Services
Salons couldn’t exactly up their prices when nobody’s in the chair. So, I’m watching pro supplies quietly disappear from wholesalers—PPI Beauty in Chicago? Just straight-up stopped selling Redken Cover Fusion to the public. People who depended on pros? All crowding the DIY aisle. Stylists mutter that wholesale color prices haven’t really changed, but with so few clients, they can’t buy in bulk, so margins get squeezed, choices narrow, and no one’s happy.
Asked my colorist if at-home kits are even worth it. She just shrugged—“Sometimes you’ve got no choice. Just avoid anything that promises ‘salon results for $8.’” Salon closures left everyone scrambling, and now the kits are smaller, pricier, and honestly, not even as good. If I see one more $40 touch-up kit next to a “balayage spray” on clearance, I’m starting a museum of pandemic hair disasters.
