Can You Wear Hair Extensions with Highlights?

Highlights are stunning all year round. You can show that you’re ready for summer with a sun-kissed look and then switch to darker colors or even lowlights when the weather turns cool. What you may not know, though, is you can have highlights with hair extensions. These give you depth, length, and volume all in one.

Highlights Color Choices

The best way to choose highlighted extensions is to match the base color of the extensions to the tone of your natural hair. If you already have highlights, try to match the highlight color as closely as possible, too. In either case, you have several options to choose from.

Honey/Beach Blonde

For ultimate blonde highlights, choose Honey/Beach Blonde. These extensions combine a natural blonde base of dirty blonde hair with a lighter sandy-blonde for ashy-beige highlights.

Sun-Kissed highlights

Sun-Kissed highlights have an ash-brown base (a cool, light brown) with sandy-beige highlights.

Snickers Highlights

Snickers extensions feature a rich-brown base and dirty blonde highlights; Snickers extensions are ideal for those with dark-brown hair looking to add golden blonde tones to their hair.

Top Deck Choc Highlights

If you have lighter brown hair, choose Top Deck Choc. These highlights have a chestnut-brown base combined with platinum blonde highlights, which give the extensions an ashy shade.

Creating Your Own Highlighted Combination

If you want to use a specific combination of hair colors, create your own highlights by installing two tones of different hair extensions. If your hair is naturally thick or medium volume, choose a small set of each extension type and install all the wefts. However, if your hair is naturally thin or fine, you’ll need to install just half of each set.

You’ll need to ask your hairstylist to create this look for you; even if you’re choosing a type of hair extension you can usually install yourself, such as clip-ins. Your hairdresser will be able to layer the extensions strategically to create a natural look that makes it impossible to see that you’re using extensions.

It’s important to choose human hair for your highlights, as this has a natural variety of tones and blends well. In addition, although it is possible to dye high-quality extensions, it’s always best to choose extensions in the color you want from the start. Don’t worry about needing to buy double the number of hair extensions you need — you’ll always be able to use the other half once your first extensions come to the end of their life.

Balayage Hair Extensions

Another way to add highlights to your hair is to use balayage hair extensions. These are different from traditional highlights: instead of adding subtle streaks to your hair, the tone changes midway down the hair. This creates an ombre effect, with the hair gradually becoming lighter. Whereas traditional highlights add another dimension to your hair, balayage highlights help your hair to appear naturally sun-kissed. They’re an excellent choice if your hair doesn’t already have highlights.

You can find balayage extensions in the following color combinations:

• Rum and Raisin — Hair starts as natural black and lightens to a dark mocha brown.
• Burnt Toffee — A dramatic look that changes from natural black to dirty blonde.
• Chocolate Swirl — If you have dark-brown hair, choose these balayage extensions to lighten your hair to a chestnut brown.
• Cocoa Toffee — A more striking dark-brown hair that fades into dirty blonde.
• Chestnut/Dirty Blonde — Those with light-brown hair can subtly choose balayage extensions to transition to a natural blonde.
• Cheesecake — Finally, if you’re already blonde, you can choose balayage highlights that start at a natural blonde tone and lighten to a sandy-beige blonde.

The best way to understand what kind of effect you’ll receive is from balayage extensions to look at some balayage hair extensions before and after photos.

How to Care for Highlighted Extensions

Care for your highlighted extensions in the same way as you care for regular extensions. This means using a specialized brush and washing the extensions as infrequently as possible, only using a shampoo designed for hair extensions. Make sure any products you apply to your extensions are free from alcohol and sulfates. When you take proper care of your extensions, the color will remain true, the highlights will not fade, and the hair will not become dry.

You can find all the above color combinations of highlighted hair extensions in the ZALA online store. Check out our blonde hair extensions before-and-after pictures to see some amazing transformations.