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Volevo schiarire il ciuffo, eccetto le radici.

Volevo schiarire il ciuffo, eccetto le radici.
I wanted to lighten the side bang, except for the roots.
From Lesson 373:Polite imperfect (volevo, cercavo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Volevo schiarire il ciuffo, eccetto le radici.

Why use the imperfect volevo here instead of the conditional vorrei?
This is the imperfetto attenuativo (mitigating imperfect). While it literally translates to the past tense "I wanted", Italians use it to make a polite request in the present. In everyday spoken Italian, such as at a hair salon, using the imperfect is a very common, slightly less formal alternative to the conditional vorrei (I would like) to soften a demand so you don't sound bossy.
Does il ciuffo specifically mean "bangs"?
In a hair salon context, il ciuffo usually refers to a side-swept bang, a quiff, or the longer section of hair at the front. If you are talking about straight-across, blunt bangs, the word is la frangia. Outside of haircuts, ciuffo just means a tuft or clump of hair, feathers, or grass.
Could I use tranne instead of eccetto?
Yes, absolutely. Eccetto, tranne, and salvo are all interchangeable prepositions meaning "except". Notice that they connect directly to the noun without needing an additional preposition to link them, just like in English: eccetto le radici (except the roots).
Why does a feminine noun like "roots" end in "-i" (le radici)?
The singular form is la radice. Remember that Italian nouns ending in "-e" in the singular can be either masculine or feminine, but they all change to "-i" in the plural. So the feminine la radice perfectly follows the rule by becoming le radici.

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