All about highlighting: pros and cons, fashionable types, before and after photos and hair care tips

Your hair can benefit greatly from highlights, which give it more body, luster, and glitz. Highlights are a flexible way to draw attention to your natural beauty, whether you want to try something different or brighten up your appearance. But with so many choices at your disposal, it’s critical to consider the advantages and disadvantages to determine which is best for you.

We’ll examine the various highlighting methods in this guide, from traditional foils to cutting-edge balayage, and assist you in determining which might work best for your personal style. We’ll also show you some gorgeous before and after pictures so you can see how highlights can change your appearance.

In addition to these observations, we’ll include maintenance advice that’s vital to keep highlighted hair looking great. This post will give you all the information you need to make an informed choice and maintain the best-looking hair, regardless of how experienced you are with highlights.

Aspect	Details
Pros	Highlights add dimension and depth to hair, create a sun-kissed look, and can enhance your natural color. They also allow for less maintenance compared to full-color treatments.
Cons	Highlighting can cause hair damage due to the bleaching process. It may also require regular touch-ups to maintain the desired look and can be more expensive than regular coloring.
Fashionable Types	Popular highlighting techniques include balayage (freehand painting for a natural look), ombre (a gradient effect), and foil highlights (classic and precise). Each technique offers a different style and level of contrast.
Before and After Photos	Before photos typically show a natural or base color, while after photos reveal the added dimension and brightness from the highlights. These photos help visualize the transformation and effect of highlighting.
Hair Care Tips	Use sulfate-free shampoos to protect the color, condition regularly to maintain moisture, and avoid excessive heat styling to prevent damage. Regular trims and deep conditioning treatments can also help keep highlighted hair healthy.

By giving your hair more body and shine, highlights can completely change the way you look, but it’s vital to consider the advantages and disadvantages. Everything you need to know about highlighting is covered in this article, including the newest trends, advantages and disadvantages of various methods, and crucial hair maintenance advice to keep your highlights looking great. In addition, we’ll have some gorgeous before and after pictures to motivate you to visit the salon again.

What is it?

The process of coloring specific strands with dyes or lighteners and adding different accessories is called highlighting. That is, when colored hair is combined with the primary color of the curls. This technique gives the hair more visual volume while producing a chic and elegant look.

The following are some benefits of highlighting:

• suitable for all ages;
• can be done on any length of curls;
• a more gentle way to transform yourself;
• does not require regular coloring (once every two months);
• visually adds volume and makes you look younger.

The following are some drawbacks of this coloring technique:

• there are contraindications;
• difficult to do on your own;
• takes a lot of time;
• additional care is required afterwards;
• quite an expensive procedure.

Who suits it?

Almost all girls and women can benefit from highlighting, but it must be done while keeping in mind each person’s unique traits and preferences. For representatives with light brown curls or blond hair, selective coloring works best. If you use the proper shade, the strands will shimmer and shine in the sunlight.

Prior to highlighting, dark, red, or black hair needs extra lightening, which negatively impacts the structure of the hair. However, this is a fantastic method to lighten and revitalize your appearance or remove black. If hair starts to turn slightly gray, it can be readily covered up by dying a few chosen strands.

Crucial! To get the best results and choose the appropriate shade, have your highlights done by a professional.

For selective lightening, length and haircut are irrelevant, but not if the length is less than 3 cm. All you have to do is select the appropriate highlighting style and technique. Smooth color transitions, such as ombre or balayage, work best on longer hair types. On short hair, veiling or Californian highlighting will look great.

Features of dyeing curls of different colors and structures

It is best to have a professional do dyeing if it is being done for the first time. Depending on the type and color of the hair, he can select the appropriate shade and get the desired outcome.

Light

Light hair owners are free to select any shade; what matters is that it complements both the complexion and the curls.

Therefore, girls with perfect skin tones should wear pink strands; otherwise, redness and problem areas will stand out. It will look best to highlight in shades of caramel, ash, pearl, gold, or white. A particularly intriguing feature is the dark coloring of some curls.

Dark

It is necessary to pre-lighten dark hair before doing any highlighting. Selective strand coloring in a shade close to the natural color works well for dark hair. The balayage technique’s highlights will look stunning. You can use hues like currant, caramel, honey, bronze, or coffee.

Gray

You must use vibrant colors or hues that are similar to the curls’ natural color to cover up the recently discovered gray hair. Ash or gray tones can be used for highlighting silver strands.

Take note! Experts advise against this procedure for people whose hair is gray in more than half of their head.

Blonde

You can dye certain light brown hair strands in shades of wheat, golden, or honey. Darker hues, like chocolate, caramel, or even purple, will look good.

Ash

Ash locks should be highlighted using cool-toned paints.

Red

You can use colors like burgundy, light brown, red, orange, or chestnut to highlight this type of hair.

Men

The shade chosen for men also takes into account the color of their natural hair. Shades that are near the primary hair are often used.

Wavy

When choosing a shade for wavy hair, you should consider the primary color of the curls. Highlighted strands of honey, caramel, and gold will look nice.

Modern types of staining

Depending on the color and length of your hair, a range of selective coloring options will help you select the best type.

1. Classic highlighting is suitable for hair of any length and involves coloring individual strands from the roots to the ends.
2. Zonal type is done to highlight bangs or lower curls.
3. American highlighting will look best on dark hair. It is done using 2-4 shades to achieve a natural result.
4. Brazilian coloring is intended for light brown hair of various lengths. The roots are made darker than the lightened ends, which allows you to achieve a color overflow.
5. Balayage is a popular type, which involves applying paint to the ends of wide strands. Suitable for both medium and long hair.
6. Bronzing is suitable for light and dark brown hair, the length of which is more than 10 cm. Shine and visual volume are achieved due to the alternation of light and dark strands.
7. Venetian look coloring individual strands creates the effect of sun-bleached hair and is suitable for dark hair.
8. Ombre is done by darkening the roots and lightening the ends on dark hair, and vice versa – on light hair.
9. Colored highlighting will look good on hair of any length and in any technique. You just need to choose the right shade for the main color and image.

Photos before and after

The images below show the hair’s appearance both before and after the highlighting treatment.

How to do?

There are various methods for highlighting:

1. Using foil, which is placed under the curls, and then after covering with a coloring agent, folded in half. Suitable for long and medium hair, but can also be used on short hair.
2. Using a cap, highlighting is done on short or medium curls.
3. A special comb is distributed using combing movements through the hair of any length and color.

Only a few weeks or, better yet, a month after fully coloring your hair can you highlight individual strands because your hair needs time to recover. Your curls can regain their structure with this break; all you need to do is take good care of them by using masks to hydrate and nourish them.

Depending on the kind of selective dyeing product you used, you can remove it by washing it off or painting it over. Just keep in mind that moving abruptly away from the lighter strands can cause serious damage to your hair. Coloring highlighted hair to resemble your natural curl color is a good idea. Light brown, blond, or dark shades are your options.

Crucial! When doing a full color, you should exercise caution so as not to aggravate your already damaged hair.

Since it’s hard to predict how highlighting will turn out, not every master will do it after henna. It’s possible to color some strands, but getting the right shade isn’t guaranteed. If you choose to highlight strands after henna, be aware that the dye may not take at all or may only show up in certain areas and unevenly. Shades of green, blue, purple, or yellow might also show up.

Experts advise either shaving off henna-dyed hair or waiting a few months for the dye to stop reacting.

Ombre coloring is another option for certain strands. Your hair will look amazing and natural if the highlights in it are smoothly blended into the lighter ends.

How to care for highlighted curls?

Hair requires more cautious maintenance after selective lightening or coloring. Purchasing shampoo, conditioner, and balm with color-preserving properties is preferable. For a few weeks following the procedure, it is advised to keep curls out of the direct sun.

Swimming pools and solariums are not necessary. To repair damaged hair, you will need to do moisturizing and nourishing masks on a regular basis. Weakened strands will be healed by following all of these recommendations.

We advise watching this video to learn how to take care of highlighted hair:

Can everyone do it and who is contraindicated for the procedure?

• You can"t highlight your locks immediately after a recent dyeing. It is advisable to wait a few months.
• If you had a perm, then you also don"t need to dye individual strands, as the result may be unpredictable.
• During pregnancy and breastfeeding, you may get completely different shades than expected or the dyes may not work at all. This is due to hormonal changes in the body. Therefore, it is better to refrain from dyeing during these periods, especially since it is harmful due to the composition and unpleasant smell of some dyes.
• There is no exact answer as to whether you can do highlighting during your period, as everything is individual. But you need to remember that in most cases the color is poorly taken, an unpleasant dirty or green shade may appear, and the paint can quickly wash off.

Take note! Color a few strands during these times to get a precise idea of the coloring product’s behavior.

A great way to give your hair dimension and vibrancy is to highlight it. It provides a variety of options, ranging from delicate streaks of sunlight to striking contrasts. You can accentuate your natural color and update your appearance by selecting the appropriate technique and shade.

But it’s crucial to weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Highlights can add brightness and a contemporary edge to your look, but they may need frequent upkeep and, if done incorrectly, can occasionally cause hair damage. To get the best outcomes, it’s important to balance these variables.

Any style, whether it be the more modern balayage or the more traditional foil highlights, has its own appeal and suitability based on your hair type and personal preferences. Examining before and after pictures will assist you in selecting the most flattering look.

Remember to take good care of your highlighted hair in order to maintain its best appearance. To keep hair healthy and shiny, use color-safe shampoos and conditioners and think about getting regular conditioning treatments. If you take the proper approach, you can have stunning, eye-catching highlights that go well with your style.

Video on the topic

Regrown Highlights Before After

Hair highlighting, still fashionable

Highlighting will never go out of fashion