1. Foil Highlights
Foil highlights are very popular because a wide variety of unique looks can be created using this highlighting method. Just a few foil highlights can be placed around your face to brighten up your overall look. You can have your entire head of hair covered in foil highlights, or you can opt to have just a few foils placed in the top layer of your hair. Foil highlights can be as thin or as thick as you would like to create a range of looks from very natural to very bold.
To perform foil highlighting, your stylist will use either the weaving or slicing technique — or a combination of both. Slicing typically produces chunkier highlights, while weaving produces a more natural look.
2. Balayage
Another popular highlighting technique is balayage. This technique originated in France, but it has been popular in the United States for many years now. This highlighting technique produces a very natural, sun-kissed look. However, more extreme styles can also be created with it.
To perform balayage, your hairstylist will simply separate a strand of hair and place a special hair-coloring board behind it. Next, they will cover the strand with hair color by using a brush. Then, cotton is typically placed behind the strand of hair to keep the hair color on it from bleeding onto your darker hair. Your stylist will repeat this process on as many strands of hair as you would like.
While balayage can be performed on straight hair with great success, it is especially suitable for wavy or curly hair. Your hairstylist can follow the natural curve or curl of your hair while "painting" your strands, which leads to a naturally sun-kissed look.
3. Ombre and Sombre
Ombre hair color is a great option if you want to lighten up your darker hair a bit but don't want to have to worry about touching up your roots very often. To create an ombre look, your hairstylist will lighten only a few inches of the ends of your hair, while leaving the roots and middle section of your strands untouched.
While ombre hair color has been popular for quite a few years now, a newer spin on the look is called sombre color. While ombre hair color involves a relatively dramatic transition from dark roots to lighter hair ends, sombre color is more subtle.
The sombre look is created by leaving your hair roots untouched and weaving several shades of hair color throughout the length of your hair to create a gradual transition from darker roots to lighter ends. Both ombre and sombre highlights can be created by using highlighting foils or balayage.
4. Babylights
If you would love to brighten your hair color a bit but would like the most natural look possible, then babylights may be perfect for you. The babylights highlighting technique is a spinoff of the traditional foil highlighting technique.
However, the strands placed in the highlighting foils when performing the babylights technique are super-fine, and the very fine highlights are spaced apart widely. Typically, there are more highlights placed on the crown and ends of the hair when the babylights technique is performed. The final result is meant to mimic the appearance of a young child's natural highlights that often disappear as they grow older.
If you would like to try hair highlights, then contact
Shears Etc.
to book an appointment with an expert colorist who can help you decide which highlighting technique will help you achieve your desired look.
