Highlights

A classic highlight look giving texture and enhancing curl from Hair Machine, Adelaide South Australia.

Hair by Paula Kelly @ Sublime Hairdressing QLD. Blonde and caramel high and low lights would be used to create a look like this. The placement and thickness of the pieces of colour would also contribute to the finished effect. It is the ability of the hairdresser to blend different colours and textures to create a look that we cannot achieve ourselves at home.

Formation en coiffure

Courtesy Anthony Nader, Raw Hair Sydney.

Teindre vos cheveux

Above and below are from Cataldo's, Canberra ACT.

Thicker pieces and more contrasting colours are used to create effects like these.

The Lowdown on Highlights!

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For more use this link.

Highlights are by far the most the most popular colour choice but are so often simply perceived as just being 'blonde/white streaks'.

A creative, imaginative and well trained hairdresser can come up with several options to suit your needs but there is not always one of those on hand. So you may have to rely on your layman's knowledge of what is possible which limits what you are able to ask and the problem is the hairdresser may think that all you want are basic blonde streaks if that is all you ask for!

As always with VirtualHairCare we try to give you the knowledge to be able to get exactly what works for you the first time round, so here goes your crash course in understanding 'highlighting'.

The Basics

They make your hair lighter.
You would only normally be colouring a percentage of your hair. This means a less obvious regrowth and less frequent update visits.
They are permanent (will grow out rather than fade out).
If you don't get too many or go too extreme with your colour choice you can let them grow out easily if you change your mind.
They are normally done with foils these days but a few salons do still use the 'cap' method to give you a cheaper option. The cap method is not suitable for multiple colours or long hair.
They can even simply be painted on to the surface of your hair if your haircut is suitable and fairly short.
They do not have to be blonde but can be any colour that is lighter than your natural hair.
They are a great way to add interest, complement and enhance our face and achieve a change without cutting all your hair off or committing yourself to 6 weekly touch-ups.

The Options with Foil Highlighting:

Depending on your haircut, and what you want to achieve, you may never need to get a so called ‘full head’. Full head, when hairdressers talk about high and low lights does not mean doing all of your hair one colour but rather where on the head the lights are scattered. Differing haircut shapes require lights to be place in different areas of the head for effect or simply due to cost and time constraints you may only want to have a limited amount of lights. Your options usually are:

Full - scattered lights throughout the whole scalp area. Most hairdressers would take 1hr 15min to 1hr 30min for this type of application then you have to add on processing time and rinsing follwed by the cut and style. All together you should really allow 3hrs in the salon.

Half - lights scattered over the crown and everything forwards of the ears. This is usually all that is needed if you have a bob shape. Allow 2hrs 30min total salon time with cut.

Crown and parting - lights placed only where it shows usually this is done to extend the time between full and half head applications. Allow 1hr 30min salon time with cut.

The more highlights you get the more expensive it gets and the more time it takes.

Some salons will charge by the foil packet so you can literally decide how much you want to spend. Personally, I don't think this is a great option as it limits creativity and can work out more expensive in certain cases.

Feature Pieces:

'Feature foils' (which can highlight a certain feature of hair like the fringe) can simply be placed where needed. For example, in the fringe and along your parting can be a good option as the hairdresser gets to put in only as many as are required and you can ask for a price up front so you know what you are spending.

Make sure the hairdresser notes how you wear your hair especially if it is long and you tie it up or back in a ponytail. Certain parts of your hair become more important in these instances and may require a different application.

Textured Pieces also known as Slices:

“Texture”, a much used word in hairdressing, a bit like ‘product’, but what does it really mean? Texture in hairdressing-speak is about giving the hair a more choppy, broken unstructured look to it. This doesn’t mean your hair has to look messy we are just not talking smooth and sleek. When colouring or highlighting to give the hair texture, the pieces of lightened hair would be scattered and often each piece would be of a different colour and thickness to give the hair more “texture”. This would always be done to suit the cut or style so if you are going for the ‘big haircut change’ at the same time it is a good idea to get the cut first. This is not the normal way a salon would book a cut and colour service, so it may need to be discussed when booking.

Tips:

Don't get too many highlights if your natural colour is quite light as your hair will generally get lighter over the summer and you can end up too blonde and looking like you need your regrowth doing.
Don't pick too light a colour for your highlights if you are naturally dark. It can look fake and even yellow.
Highlights don't have to mean bleach in your hair. Permanent tint can be used which is far less drying although you can't always get the lightest colours this way.
For a subtle result never go more that 2 shades lighter than you are naturally.

On the day

Armed with all these new facts you should now be able to walk into the salon and understand what is being discussed. You should also be able to pick the real professional from the dodgy operator. Don't make the mistake of telling them exactly what to do, use your knowledge to spark a more creative solution to your colour needs.

At the end of the day it is only really possible to come up with the right answer when armed with all the facts and all the facts have to take into account things like the condition of your hair and lifestyle suitability which the hairdresser should be judging for you. Limits to what can be done need to be clearly explained and before any work begins you should have a clear picture of what the finished result will be. Good luck with getting your best colour ever!

Images de coiffures