Hair Highlights
Highlights are one of the most commonly requested services in a salon. They can be painted on free-hand, pulled through a cap, thinly sectioned out or woven into a foil. There are lots of ways to get them but the concept is the same. A true highlight is lighter than your overall hair color. The lightener/bleach (or even a lighter shade hair color than your natural color) mixed with a developer opens the cuticle layer and lifts pigment molecules out of your hair shaft. Once the pigment is removed, your hair appears lighter. A lot of people want to look like they spend a lot of time in the sun, so they ask for subtle highlights. Other people want bold chunky streaks or other more obvious highlights. Make sure you are discussing the amount of lightness you want with your stylist. Bring in a picture to show them exactly what you are thinking and ask them if your hair can handle it, or if it’s a good option for you. Sometimes our clients have unreal expectations and we feel bad that we can’t do what you are asking but we would rather not do it than damage your hair beyond repair.
Once you have gotten your highlights, make sure you have the right products to protect your processed hair. Hair that has been lightened has less structure than it did before and needs conditioning agents added back in. If you are going to spend a lot of money getting highlights, you want to make sure you are protecting your investment. Ask your stylist which brand of products you should use and they will put the right ones in your hands. It’s an investment for them too! The better health your hair is in, the more consistent your highlights will be and the more likely it is that you will keep coming back to them.
Example Pictures of Highlights:
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| This is a great example of how to use face framing highlights to add dimension to a solid base hair color and soften facial areas. The solid black hair color is enhanced with caramel highlights around the bangs and the front tresses. Apply highlights around these areas creates focus towards the facial areas where the highlights are applied. |
This hairstyle combines both highlights and lowlights to create a mixture of different shades. The highlights are applied towards the top while leaving the bottom part of the hair the base color. These highlights can range from slightly lighter than the base hair color to a totally contrasting shade. There are a multitude of color combinations that can be used for highlight and lowlight combinations. |
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| Brunette hair color is great with highlights and there are so many shades of light brown that can be used as well as other lighter shades as well. This formal hairstyle shows off the highlights that are applied only to a few strands to add that extra color. The color combination also helps to bring out her eyes because the lights strips offset the total brown color. |
This hairstyle shows a totally unique way to apply hair color and the front has two different shades that flow back to show of jet black hair. The front highlights are the main focus of the whole hairstyle which is the goal of the application of the color contrast. |
Other Hair Cut, Color & Styling Glossary Terms:
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