There are various techniques for highlighting hair, each offering different advantages. Some methods create dramatic high-contrast effects, while others provide subtle enhancements that work with the color of your natural tresses.
If you prefer subtle highlights that won’t create stripes in your hair, ask your stylist about baby lights – these soft streaks give it an attractive sun-kissed glow.
Foil Highlights
Foil highlights are an age-old technique for adding dimension. Their uniform look allows stylists to precisely control each highlighted strand’s placement using the cap technique. A hair lightener is applied to a foil, and then sections of hair are pulled through alternating holes for maximum impact. Depending on your desired effect, fewer or more strands may be pulled through per hole for subtle or bolder results. Plastic is then folded over these treated strands to avoid contamination of untreated ones by touching other treated ones. Foil highlights can be done in multiple ways, from bricklaying and vertical slices to create an eye-catching balayage-inspired result or a dramatic face-framing look.
Balayage
Balayage is a freehand coloring technique that doesn’t rely on foils like traditional highlights. Instead, your stylist will use a brush to paint individual strands with bleach – less at the roots and more by the tips to mimic how hair naturally lightens in sunlight. Balayage works beautifully on all hair colors. For instance, platinum blonde balayage with a bob provides that classic California girl look while pairing well with wavy locks. Brown balayage can also be an ideal option for brunettes as it produces soft, sun-kissed strands of color that frame your face beautifully. When done correctly, balayage dye jobs look natural without harsh regrowth lines requiring constant touch-ups; though creating this look involves time and patience – the results make it worthwhile!
Foilyage
Foil highlights provide a uniform look across the scalp, giving your hair an instantaneously brighter appearance. In addition, they can help disguise regrowth lines if used to blend them out; however, this technique typically requires frequent touch-ups as new growth emerges. Foilyage utilizes a similar process as balayage, with experienced colorists applying hair coloring in an angled fashion before wrapping sections of hair in aluminum foil to allow more pigment to permeate deeper into your locks, producing stunning nuances and hues. Foilyage has quickly become one of the newest trends, thanks to its combination of elements from balayage and traditional highlights. It provides clients seeking lightness and quicker maintenance, with foil highlights an ideal option.
Color Melting
Color melting is a highlighting technique that utilizes multiple shades of hair dye to produce an unbroken gradient effect. This style is ideal for creating an earthy, natural, sun-kissed look with softened regrowth lines. Color melting offers a subtler alternative to bold transitions created by ombre or strategically placed highlights in balayage, offering a soft blending effect between dark and light hair that seamlessly fades into its natural shade. This technique blurs the line between dark and light locks so they look beautiful without looking unnatural, providing natural-looking highlights in an ageless style. As part of this technique, your stylist will start by applying a base color to your hair and gradually add layers of darker hues at the roots, followed by lighter ones midway down, before ending with one final more golden hue at the ends of your locks.
Semi-Permanent Highlights
If you want to highlight your hair without the time for constant touch-ups, semi-permanent highlights might be your solution. This hair-highlighting method uses clear hair glosses instead of lighteners, making them less damaging to your tresses. Select a dye one to two shades lighter than your base color to achieve natural-looking highlights. Furthermore, consider your skin tone and undertone so that the highlights match seamlessly. Full highlights involve all hair sections; this method works best if you desire a bright look. However, for something less noticeable, try asking your stylist about baby lights; tiny bits of highlight are carefully distributed throughout your strands for a sun-kissed effect.
