Roots Only, Inc. Named Awardee Of Make Mine A Million $

Oct. 12, 2010 - PRLog -- It took Susan Ladua about five minutes to touch up the roots of her blonde locks, and all she did was run a comb through her hair.  

 The method is a family invention that recently earned national status.

 Founded in 1997, Roots Only in Rancho Cucamonga is an applicator shaped like pick comb that home colorists can screws on to a bottle of hair color.  The teeth of the comb are hollow so the dye can flow through.  That means instead of separating hair into sections for the hair color to get to the roots, you simply run the comb through your hair.  

 “We all know how to comb our hair,” said Ladua, Vice President of Roots Only.  “And this goes right to your scalp.”  

 The company was recently named winner of the Make Mine a Million $ contest held by Count Me In, a nonprofit organization advocating women-owned businesses.  The competition is an effort to inspire one million sold at Wal-Wart Supercenters nationwide for under $5, was the brainchild of Steen, who didn’t want to go to a professional salon when she just needed a touch-up.

 But when she did it herself, it was not only messy and time consuming, she often colored parts of her hair already dyed, thereby damaging her hair.

 After some thought, Steen wondered whether it would be a whole lot easier it the dye solution came out through the teeth of the comb.  

 Steen’s husband agreed to make the first prototype by drilling several small holes through a bottle and inserting WD-40 straws in the holes.  

 After some fine-tuning, the product began being sold at the Rancho Cucamonga Wal-Mart in 2000 and then spread to 36 other Southern California stores.  

 Now it is sold at more than 3800 Wal-Mart stores nationwide.

 Ladua said she’s confident that with the recent recognition by Count Me In her business will expand.  

 It certainly helps that home-color kits are increasingly popular.  “In this economy, people can’t afford to go to the salon anymore,” Ladua said.

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Roots Only is a patented hair color applicator comb that allows solution to travel through its teeth, releasing hair color directly to new growth. It saves time; it takes less than 5 minutes to apply color, and there is no parting/sectioning required.