What You Should Know About Getting Highlights!

In the world of fashion, hair, make-up and beauty, most of us follow trends blindly without considering what really suits us individually. This can lead to several hit-and-miss experiments that may produce worse results.

Now, let’s focus on one of these categories – the hair.

There are various ways to beautify the hair, and one of these methods is ‘highlighting’. This term simply means changing your natural hair colour using lighteners or colouring products. We can clearly see the glamorous side of hair highlighting that is portrayed when we look into the media channels like television, billboards and magazines. But, many of us don’t have the basic knowledge to achieve equally stunning highlighting results and that’s where this post comes in!

How Close to the Scalp Should Highlights Be?

Generally, when hairdressers put in highlights, they don’t put it too close to the scalp. This is because the hair colouring product usually contains Para-phenylenediamine (PPD), an ingredient found in hair dye. This may cause reactions such as itching, flaking, stinging or redness in sensitive scalps. Hairdressers usually leave a little space between the scalp and the hair dye. For example, e-meche packets (alternative to foil) come with a line that guides you on how high you should apply the dye.

Don’t Pick the Wrong Shade!

Before getting highlights, ask your hairdresser for advice on the shade that matches your natural hair colour and skin tone. Choosing the wrong shade can lead to very awkward results.

Don’t Go Overboard With Colours

If you aren’t aiming to look like a Japanese manga character, then mind the colours you put into your hair. Choose only colours that compliment your natural hair shade to prevent the different colours from clashing and becoming an embarrassing mess.

Use the Right Shampoo and Conditioner

After getting highlights, you need to be sure that you can maintain them. This means that you may have to change the type of shampoo and conditioner you use to brands that are more suitable for coloured hair. This is important so that you don’t mistakenly change the colour of your highlights or wash them out and in the process, flush all that hard work down the shower drain.

Protect Your Hair From Heat

Excessive exposure to heat can ruin the hair and give it a dull, flat look that is highly unflattering. Protect your hair and highlights by avoiding heat where possible. If your scalp needs to breathe, don’t keep it covered under a hat- let in some fresh air. If you are outside and it’s sunny, get a hat to protect your hair, especially for those with light hair.

Regular Trips to the Salon

After getting your highlights, you need to check with your hairdresser to know when next to get your roots done. This will help you to maintain your stylish new hairdo.

Now that you have the basic knowledge of what highlighting is all about, you can choose to book an appointment with your hairstylist to give your hair that fabulous new look!