In the beauty and hair care industry, hair highlights play a major role. Being one of the most popular hairstyles, highlights are loved and embraced by many. Hair highlights are fun, trendy, and stylish, and they add vibrancy to your look. In fact, who doesn’t like locks of different colours on their head? However, at times, getting hair highlights in Singapore can be a little expensive, exceeding your expected budget limit. Sometimes you might not feel like booking a hair appointment at a salon to get your highlights done as well. In both instances, you can take the daring decision of doing your hair colour highlights at home with the minimum risks if you have the right knowledge. In this article, you are going to learn how to get your highlights done at home step-by-step in the safest manner without damaging your beautiful hair.
Step 1- Consult with a colourist.
The first step that you need to follow when getting DIY highlights is consulting with a professional colourist. If you are colouring your hair for the first time, you might not have sound knowledge about the procedure. Need not say, hair colouring is a tricky process that often ends up with unexpected results unless you are experienced. Consulting with a colourist will not only help you understand the procedure better but also select the best colour combination that compliments your look.
Step 2- Get your colour kit.
Once you have consulted with a professional, the next thing you need to do is to choose your colour kit. Your colour kit depends on your current base colour and its level. Hair colour highlights have two types. If your hair is light enough, you only have to apply the colour and rinse it off. But, if your hair is too dark to highlight, your procedure will include a lightening step using bleach. When getting highlights, you can either go with a single colour or you can choose multiple colours that complement each other. Choosing hair colour brands has to be done with care and you should always go for a top-notch brand if you want better results.
Step 3- Gather your materials.
Your next step is gathering the necessary materials. To get your DIY systematically with no mistakes, you need to have the following tools, equipment, and hair products ready before you begin the process.
A colour brush
A mixing bowl (If you use more than one colour, mix them in separate bowls)
Bleach
Peroxide
Aluminium foil
A rat-tail comb
Latex gloves
A colour cape
Step 4- Perform a strand test.
The best way to avoid mistakes is to perform a strand test before applying the products all over. This way you will get to know how your hair reacts to the products and how the colour turns out to be. When doing a strand test, you need to take a lock of hair that is not quite visible to the outside and do the entire colouring procedure with it. For promising results, always be accurate with the colour and product proportioning.
Step 5- Section your hair.
If the strand test turns out to be a success, you are good to go on with highlighting your hair. Before applying bleach or the colour (depending on the method you choose), you need to section your hair carefully. You may use a rat-tail comb and hair clips to do this.
Step 6- Apply the products.
This is the step that you need to follow with maximum care. If your hair is dark, you will need to apply bleach first. However, you need to slice your hair into super thin sections and start with the roots. When bleaching, you need to carefully wrap the strands in foil and block them from touching the rest of your hair. You may use a paintbrush to apply the bleach. However, be sure to rinse your strands on time to avoid frying your hair. Once the bleaching is done, you need to use a toner to neutralize the intense yellow shade that usually appears after bleaching.
Afterward, you need to apply the choice of your colour to get your highlights done. You may do the shading as you wish using a colour brush. However, ensure that you mix the colours properly and apply them evenly, if you are expecting a stunning result.
Step 7- Deep condition.
Bleaching and hair colouring is fun, but they can weaken and damage your hair during the process. To avoid the harsh effect of the hair products, you may deep condition your hair with a mild hair conditioner once your colouring procedure is over. This will smoothen your hair and add its volume and moisture back.
Step 8- Blow dry and give it a style.
As the final step of your hair highlighting procedure, you may blow dry your hair and style it as you wish to see how successful your efforts have been. It is no secret that hair highlights look better on wavy hair, so you may use a style with styling tools and cross-check the quality and the consistency of your DIY highlights. However, if things don’t turn out as expected, you will need to go back to square one: consulting with a professional to rectify the mistakes.