How to Highlight Your Hair Safely

People highlight there hair, well just for the sake of a change. Whether the change is slight or drastic, color is a way of updating a look. Here is a step by step guide to highlighting your hair yourself. If you are not confident in the ability to highlight your own hair, please seek a professional. Always seek a professional on this and any other chemical service applications to the hair.

Before You Highlight

- Make sure you are positive about the color. Do a strand test to see if this color is right for your hair and complexion. Once you go forward, its hard to turn back.

- Consider a professional. Are you the type of person who starts something but gets lazy in the middle of the process or can’t seem to finish it? Then applying highlights to your own hair is probably not for you.

Preparing to Highlight

- Gather these tools: Towel, plastic bowl, latex gloves, hair dye, conditioner, and a wide tooth comb

- When buying your highlighting kit, stick to reputable name brands.

-A few days before you highlight your hair, wash and clarify your hair. This will remove any other hair gunk you have in your hair and make it completely clean.

-Do not wash your hair a day before a highlighting job. Your natural oils will help protect your hair from chemical damage caused by this highlighting process.

- Brush your hair carefully to remove any tangles, which can make it difficult to highlight the hair.

On To Highlighting ( this method is without the cap method which shorter hair people would need to use)

- Go over the instructions that came with your highlighting kit

-Dress in clothes you don’t mind staining and wear a towel around your neck

-Part your hair in your usual style

-Mix the ingredients in your highlighting kit to a consistency suggested in your kit

-Starting from the back of your hair, apply the product to the parts you want to highlight with a painting brush

-For a subtle effect, apply in thin streaks. For thicker highlights simply apply it thickly.

- Periodically check your highlights

-Leave on for the amount of time stated on your highlighting kit

-Once finished rinse throughout the whole hair and apply a conditioner to keep the hair from drying out. Conditioning the hair also helps to set in the color.

Using a Pull Through Cap

- This cap is covered with holes and you can get it at any beauty supply store

-Put the cap on and use a hook that comes with the cap to pull out strands of hair that you would like highlighted. You don’t have to use all the holes in the cap to highlight your hair. Do as you desire. The cap will protect the parts of your hair that you do not want highlighted.

-While wearing gloves, apply your highlights to the strands of the hair you pulled out from the cap

-Leave on for the amount of time suggested in the kit

- Rinse out and apply a conditioner to your hair

After Highlighting

-Detangle your hair using a wide tooth comb and dry your hair

-Stay away from all chemical treatments for several weeks

-Keep hair moisturized, as chemical treatments tend to dry out the hair