Hair Colours: All About Highlights

Just the other day, we were discussing how to color hair extensions on our own and we thought, what else can we do with hair extensions that doesn't require completely changing its hair color?

After a moment of things, we got it: hair coloring styles and techniques! And for the first of this series of blog posts, we're going to talk about the simplest, most basic coloring style there is: highlights.

What are highlights?

In simple words, these are pieces of hair that are a different color, typically lighter, from the rest of your hair. They are called 'highlights' since they are literally the highlight of your hairstyle, thanks to their unusual color.

The opposite of this, for lighter-haired folks, is called 'lowlights', and they generally work the same. By definition, they're pieces of hair that are darker than your own hair. Lowlights also tend to be the first thing anyone notices if your natural hair color is light, as they stand out from the rest of your hair.

Can I have highlights even if I'm blonde?

Absolutely anyone can wear highlights if they want to, regardless of their hair color. It is, however, important to note that the colors available to you may vary depending on your current hair color, as not all shades are compatible with each other.

For example, if you have black hair, a dark brown streak, while technically lighter than your own hair, will not be very noticeable. It also won't look as nice, as rather than looking like it was done on purpose, dark brown streaks on black will just look like your hair wasn't dyed properly.

And of course, if you're blonde, you should go for something lighter, like platinum blonde or sandy blonde. If you want just something to make your style 'pop', you might also want to consider lowlights instead.

What are some good color combinations for highlights?

Here at ZALA, we promote creativity and personal style, so we definitely advocate experimenting to see what works best for you.

That said, there are a couple of tried and tested combinations that you may want to get inspiration from, especially if you want to get ombre or balayage looks.

Do you need to dye your hair to get highlights?

The thing about highlights is, you don't actually need to dye your hair to achieve highlights. A coloring style that doesn't require actual coloring. Funny, isn't it?

But you know, it does make a lot of sense. Many times, we use highlights simply as a temporary means to add some 'oomph' to our hair.

If you want to just look nice for a night of partying, for example, you can add a single streak of color to your hair just to make it 'pop'. You can then remove it in the morning if your work doesn't allow unnatural hair colors, easy.

How to dye highlights at home?

If you really want to dye highlights at home, it's fairly easy. Not as easy as dying your entire hair or hair extensions, of course, but it's easy enough.

All you have to do is to part your hair into small sections. Begin from the roots of the section that you want to color and work your way from there. If you want to color many sections, you can do so. If you want just one, that's fine as well. Whatever style you want is up to you.

The only thing you have to keep in mind is to have a specific style pinned down before starting. You wouldn't want to look at your work halfway and think, "Oh no!"

Did you like this article? We'll be doing more articles related to hair colors soon, so stay tuned to our ZALA blog!