Hair For You

The idea is that our hair gets darker as we age. Also, as we age, our skin naturally loses pigment, which can make darker hair colors look unflattering and severe. Seems like our bodies are just working against ourselves, doesn’t it? Solution? Highlights, of course! Adding warmer highlights to your hair can take years off your face. You can even go so far as to say that your hair when you were young, say 4 or 5 years old, would be your most natural, flattering sun-kissed hair color. Highlighting, rather than just changing your base color, would be the best way to achieve the look you are going for: as young as possible, without looking like you are trying too hard. Also, highlighting is much easier to maintain and you won’t need to rush to the salon every 4 weeks or less for a root touch-up. Some people may even be able to go as far as 4 months with highlights, depending on how light their highlights are compared to their natural color.

Highlights can give hair dimension, definition and add a relaxed, sun-kissed look to your hair. If done correctly, they can even take years off of your face. However, achieving natural-looking highlights can be tricky and can easily turn out streaky and fake. Fortunately, most people already have natural highlights in their hair and there are ways to bring your highlights out more if you are not willing to take the risk. If you want a dramatic change, a stylist and processed highlights would be the best way to go, but these tips can help you bring out a subtle difference. The best way to do this is keeping your hair as healthy and lustrous as you can by taking care of your hair and making sure it is properly moisturized. Using a deep conditioner will help infuse body and shine, if you are not sure what kind of deep conditioner to use for your hair type, consult with your stylist. Regularly getting your hair trimmed is very important because split ends can give your hair a dull, matte appearance. Heat can seriously dry out your hair and will create the same effect, blow-drying and flat-ironing should be done as rarely as possible. When you must blow-dry or otherwise style with heat, make sure to use a thermal protector and leave-in conditioner to protect your hair. Not only do you need to keep your hair healthy on the surface, but you also need vitamins and minerals that will stimulate blood flow to your roots. For example, B complex vitamins regulate the amount of oil produced in the hair to moisturize evenly. Although I’m sure you have heard of spritzing a little lemon on your hair to help bring out highlights, doing so can dry out your hair and defeat the purpose of “natural” highlights.

Foiling is the most commonly used method of highlighting. It is useful for getting closest to the roots and keeps processing solution from seeping to unwanted strands of hair by using professional-quality tinfoil to surround processing hair. This is the best technique to use for tri-color services, which include lowlights, highlights and a base color, as all the colors can be kept separate.

Chunking is best if you’re looking for bold highlights or lowlights. Your stylist will take larger sections of hair and color process them according to the look you want. Some more daring individuals may use chunking as a way of infusing bright, unexpected shades to their hair, while others may like the look of chunking, but will want a tone closer to their natural tone for a less drastic change. The chunking technique is very versatile and can be used for any look you would like anywhere on the scale of natural to downright shocking.

Painting is just as it sounds. A brush or comb is used to literally paint bleach or color mixture onto the hair strands. This technique creates a very natural, sun-kissed look to your hair. Because the bleach is not contained in foil or plastic while processing, it is necessary to use a larger amount to get the desired effect, which can burn the hair, so proper upkeep is a must.

Baliage is a form of painting with little limitation, creating a more multitonal and multidimensional look. In most cases, the processed pieces are wrapped in plastic wrap, so this technique is less damaging than just painting and creates a more dramatic effect by keeping the processing solution from escaping to unwanted surrounding strands of hair.

Tipping is a method that highlights a section of the bottom of your strands of hair. A variety of lengths and colors can be used, so, like chunking, tipping can be used for any look from natural to daring. This method works best on straight or slightly wavy hair and is very low maintenance.

Highlights are strands of hair that have been lightened 2 or more shades lighter than the rest of your hair and are used to accentuate different elements of your hair, such as shape and style, while also complementing your skin tone. They are meant to add dimension to your color, creating a more natural look. Likewise, highlights can also be used to create a more “funky” look, by processing thicker chunks of hair. You and your Stylist can decide which look is best for you. Before you speak to your Stylist, decide what aspect of your hair you want to improve most with your highlights. For example, if you feel your hair lacks volume and body, your Stylist can place the highlights strategically parallel to the ground to create the appearance of a fuller look. Also, if you feel your hair is looking dull and lacks shine, your Stylist can place highlights to create the look of lustrous, healthy hair. There is also the option of using a lowlight, which can be beneficial in adding to the effect you are going for.