How to Highlight Hair at Home - Highlighting Tips & Hacks
- Written by Lordhair Team
- Jul 16, 2019
- |
- 8 min read
Highlighting hair can be a time consuming task and also challenging for people doing it for the first time. If you get it done from a stylist, it can cost you hundreds of dollars. This is why people highlight their hair at home. Also, why spend so much money on visiting salons when you can highlight your hair at home!
In this blog, Lordhair will share 10 hair highlighting tips that will help you highlight your hair like a pro and that too at home. Read on to master hair highlighting!
Buying a quality hair color
Top hair stylists recommend always using quality hair color to highlight hair. Before buying, make sure that it’s a product of professional hair product line and its pack is not tampered. After running these checks, you can purchase the product to highlight your hair at home.
Pro tip: Choose at least 2 shades lighter highlight than your skin tone. It’ll highlight your hair and will also blend with your skin tone.
Know your hair base
Choose a kit that's labelled for your starting point rather than your desired highlight color," says Kyle White, a colorist at Oscar Blandi in New York City. When you are selecting a hair highlight colour, don’t choose the one that you want the most. Strange! It might look like this initially but everything that suits our eyes might not be as beautiful as we want them to be. If you want to learn how to highlight hair at home, don’t ignore this tip at all.
Perform the strand test
There are 2 basic tests which almost every hair colour must pass. Before highlighting your hair at home, you must check below two details:
- Is your hair colour skin friendly?
- Is the colour looking great?
For testing your hair colour’s quality, apply it to your hair’s underside and see the results. For making sure it’s skin friendly, read colouring instructions and process recommended by the hair colors.
Shampooing like a pro
Ready to highlight your hair for the first time? Shampoo your hair 2-3 days before you will be highlighting your hair at home. Try to avoid clarifying shampoo. This will give you clean hair to work with, but without removing protective skin oils too close to the actual product application. Avoid washing your hair on the day of highlighting your hair, as this can leave your scalp vulnerable to the chemicals in the highlighting product.
Not able to decide a hair colour yet? Take a look at men’s trending hair colour ideas guide.
Gather your tools & supplies
Buy close fitting latex gloves to protect your hands. Grab one-fourth-inch and one-half-inch acrylic brushes from an art supply store and look for the foils which are salon-like. Don’t use a plastic cap! It can result in uneven hair tone. It is always better to be prepared with pro tools when you are about to do a professional’s work at home, like hair highlighting. Add this tip in your ‘how to highlight your hair at home’ checklist.
Mind your hair length
Longer hair does better with streaking than shorter hair. They can be highlighted at home using finger streaking method. But don’t be sad if you have short hair! Short ones also look phenomenal after hair highlights. Shorter hair can be worked with a hook that comes with commercial highlighting products that also include a cap. Pull through small sections in the cap using your hook, and you are ready to start with highlighting your hair at home.
Apply streaks the right way
Keep your hair dry and apply the mixture on to one-inch sections in the front, keeping the streak cream about few centimetres from your scalp. As you move towards the centre of your head, gradually thin out the sections to half an inch. Once you reach to under layers and back, apply the color to quarter-inch pieces. Remember, don't be too precise about application. The coolest highlights aren't always evenly spaced or perfectly symmetrical.
Moisturize your hair
Remember the strand test? Now, leave the colour solution on your scalp till it dries off. Once the colour has settled, give your hair a round of shampoo. Most hair colours use ammonia which lets moisture escape from your scalp. Condition your hair with a color protection conditioner. Here’s a hair conditioning tip, leave it on for at least five minutes.
Follow our how to color your hair at home tips and hacks guide to get best highlights at home, at very low costs.
Get the toning right
According to some hair experts, toning your hair helps enhance the color of the highlight. If your hair turns a bit red after highlighting, look for a green shade to make it more neutral brown. If your blonde highlights are too icy, a gold toner will help add some warmth to your hair. If you want shiny hair, a glossy kit can be applied to your highlighted hair.
Care about your hair
Remember to take extra care of your highlighted hair. Once you highlight your hair at home, the aftercare steps in. Don’t use harsh chemicals on your scalp. Wash your hair with a gentle shampoo and moisture retaining conditioner. If you are planning to colour your hair at home, be prepared with every hair care product that will be needed before, during and after the highlighting is done. It will help you get amazing highlights that will last long.
We hope that now you have found an answer to how to highlight hair at home. Our hair highlighting tips will help both men and women streak their hair like a pro.
Highlights look amazing but hair colouring can be a tedious task. There is also a probability of getting scalp allergy and chemical reactions if you don’t do it right. For those who have already lost their hair, highlighting is just a dream that seems distant. Thankfully, times have changed. If you have hair loss issues or sensitive scalp, using a hair system is a great option!
With modern hair systems, you can get hair highlights without actually colouring your receding hair. If you get bored soon, you may remove the hair system and carry on with your natural hair. Even if you have hair loss issues, it is quite affordable to replace it with a new hair system.
Browse our entire range of hair systems for men and women here!
Ready to buy your first hair system? Order directly through our website and get your hair system shipped at lightning speed. If you have any queries related to men and women hair systems, leave us a message at support@lordhair.com Our hair experts will answer your doubts.