A world of inspiration is created by putting on highlights on your hair. Additionally, to give your mane dimension, it gives you a stylish appearance. When highlights are properly applied, their aim is to reflect light than the other parts of your hair, giving it a shiny, healthy appearance. People can be very particular about where they get their highlights done. Some individuals spend hundreds of dollars at a posh salon just to touch up their highlights. But you can do it yourself if you have good control and a talent for hair colouring. The idea of giving themselves highlights will also generally tend to intimidate these people. There are numerous topics to learn about, such as how to section your hair using thin strips of foil. Thankfully, there are different alternatives to the foiling technique that will result in you having gorgeous highlights. How to highlight hair at home without foil will be covered in this article.
To highlight hair, Stylists use foil
The process of lightening up some of your hair’s colour to add dimension and depth to your mane is known as hair highlighting. Because of the lighter tresses, this can make your hair look stylish and elegant instead of flat and one-dimensional in shade. The foiling technique is just one of the most popular ways of getting highlights on your hair. Your hair will be sectioned, dyed, and then wrapped in individual foil strips during this procedure. Organizing your hair sections as you work on them is made simpler by doing this. Along with that, the foil speeds up the dyeing process more effectively. The bleach and dye can penetrate your hair’s strands more quickly because the metal foils can trap heat in the hair. Additionally, the foil strips help in separating and protecting the remainder of your hair, which you want to keep its natural colour, from any contact with the chemicals. To achieve highlights from root to tip, foils are traditionally applied close to the scalp. You are less likely to accidentally spread the bleach onto your hairline because the foil covers and protects the sections of your hair.
If you’re new to highlighting at home, our article will certainly be of great assistance. Ladies who don’t mind having a high-maintenance hair colouring procedure should opt for foils highlighting. Foil highlights begin at the roots, so when they have grown out, they become very obvious. Hence root touch-ups will therefore need to be performed regularly. Foiling can be a hassle for some people, though. When you do at-home highlighting, this is particularly true. You have to learn and master this additional step. Your highlights won’t turn out the way you intended them to if you mess them up. Therefore, some people attempt to do their highlights without foil which tends to be easier.
How To Do Hair Highlights At Home Without Foil
The use of a highlighting cap is a well-liked substitute to using foils when doing highlights. For beginners who require additional assistance organizing the hair into sections, this is a fantastic option. A plastic cap with numerous tiny holes throughout is called a highlighting cap. It only requires you to put the cap over your head, use a hook to pull out sections of hair from the holes of the cap, and then concentrate your bleaching and dying on those sections of hair taken out from the holes. You can choose how thick you want the sections of your hair to be when using a highlighting cap, which is fantastic. Depending on how vivid and dramatic you want your highlights to be, you can pull out smaller hair strands or larger chunks of hair from the holes. This method is great for beginners as it can be difficult to check on the colour of your hair when it is wrapped in foil, using a highlighting cap makes it much simpler to see how well your dye is processed. That makes it a fantastic option for those who are just beginning to highlight their hair. Short and medium-length hair can be difficult to foil, especially if you’re doing the highlights yourself, so using a highlighting cap is very helpful for those with these types of short to medium hair lengths.
The highlighting caps shouldn’t be too difficult to find as they are frequently included in highlighting kits from well-known manufacturers. The most advantageous feature of highlighting caps is their low price. If you choose a highlighting kit that doesn’t have a cap, you can simply purchase one from the beauty section of almost any drugstore or pharmacy. To some people, this is preferable due to its cost effectiveness compared to spending hundreds of dollars to make an appointment at a posh salon.
But be careful! There are also drawbacks to using a highlighting cap. People with thick, curly hair might not find wearing a cap helpful. This is due to the possibility that removing thick, curly hair from the cap may be too challenging. The inability to easily highlight the lower portion of your hair, such as the strands by your nape, is another drawback of using a highlighting cap rather than foils. How To add highlights to your hair by using a highlighting cap may sound simple, right? You should give it a shot! When colouring your hair frequently, you can take your bleach, developer, and toner. But for newcomers, a highlighting kit will be much more practical and simpler to use. Choose a highlighting kit that includes a cap as the first step.
Technically, you could purchase a dye kit and a cap separately, but doing so would cost more money. There are some kits from well-known manufacturers which may include a high-precision highlighting cap that makes it simple to pull through hair and results in even, polished highlights when you’re finished. Besides, some dyes are made in a non-drip cream formula which makes working with it less messy. Additionally, you’ll need a mixing tray, gloves, and a cap to mix your dye. In addition to these, the set comes with a toner to assist you in eradicating brassy tones from your highlights once you’re done. For a healthy-looking mane, it also gives the hair more shine.
Guide to Implementing
Already have a highlighter kit in mind? Thereafter, it’s time to move forward. An instruction manual for applying cap highlights is provided below:
Remove tangles
To remove all of the tangles, brush your hair. Before applying colour, it’s critical to check your hair for knots to avoid having a streaky finish.
Part Your Hair
Place the cap over your head after creating your usual hair parting. If there is a ribbon included with the cap, tie it under your chin to keep it in place.
Pulling hair strands
Pull individual hair strands through the tiny holes in the cap using the included hook. Don’t cause any hair strands breakage while doing this; exercise caution. Make sure you pull out hair in all the cap’s holes if you want a lot of dimensions. Simply remove a few very fine sections for the babylights effect.
Mixing developer and bleach
On a bowl or tray, mix the developer and bleach together. Apply the mixture to the hair strands that are sticking out from the cap with a brush.
Allow it to process
The kit’s packaging specifies how long the mixture should be allowed to work its way through your hair. Periodically check to make sure if the colour has reached the shade you desire. Your hair will begin to lighten during this time.
Rinse the bleach off
Rinsing the bleach away from your hair in the shower. For this, you can use a gentle shampoo and hydrating conditioner. Enjoy your gorgeous new highlights after styling your hair as desired after washing it.
What Other Highlights Can You Use That Don’t Need Foil?
You might also think about getting a balayage if you dislike the overly structured appearance that highlights cap may give you. Balayage is the term “sweep” in French, which describes the technique used to highlight the hair. Thus, the origin of this fashionable highlighting style is from France. The bleach or dye must simply be painted freehand onto your strands. No need to use foils here! The bleach is applied more freely and artistically to the hair’s tips and mid-lengths when doing a balayage.
Regrowth isn’t an issue because of this. Compared to traditional highlights and even an ombre, which looks quite unnaturally gradual, balayage looks more natural because the colour is painted on the hair freely. Streaks, stripes or ribbons are left behind, giving your hair an effortlessly dimensional appearance. If you want natural highlights but don’t like the intense, bright look that foil and cap highlights can give you, this balayage technique is ideal for you.
Why Not Choose A Balayage Instead Of Conventional Highlights?
The lack of maintenance is one of the biggest benefits of choosing a balayage over foil highlights. As a result of the infrequent need for root touch-ups, balayage highlights are renowned for being extremely low-maintenance. There won’t be any harsh demarcation line as there would be with traditional highlights because balayage usually starts in the middle of your hair and isn’t very structured with a systematic patterning. Despite many inches of regrowth, your hair will still look good and natural. You can go up to six months between touch-ups instead of the few weeks required for foil highlights. Besides, technically, you aren’t even required to get root touch-ups unless you want to maintain your balayage for the long run with the same finishing. Balayage is also very customizable, which is another reason to choose one. As compared to root-to-tip foil highlights, you have more artistic control over where the balayage highlights should be applied and begin on your hair length. Additionally, you have the option of framing your face with your balayage in a way that highlights your best facial features.
How to Prepare for a Balayage Session at Home
Women from all over the world spend a lot of money to hire a professional stylist in the hair salon to perform the balayage for them because balayage can be a challenging technique to master at home. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it at all on your own. A balayage effect and finishing are what a lot of simple highlighting kits are aiming to achieve today.
The cost of balayage at home can effectively be a great cost saving to you by several hundred dollars. Additionally, you’ll have the freedom and time to personalize your balayage however you like. A home balayage is a good option, but it’s not an easy option to choose. Before doing it, your hair must still be properly prepared.
Cut Your Hair
Before you plan to do your balayage, you must first get a trim about a week beforehand. Your colour will look much more vibrant if you trim your dry, split ends. After balayage, avoid cutting your hair; this can ruin all of your hard work because it alters how the highlights sit on your hair.
Deep conditioning your Hair
Even if balayage is only intended for highlighting your hair, you’ll probably need to use quite a bit of bleach or dye in your hair. Additionally, these chemicals may damage the hair and cause it to become dry and brittle, as we are all aware. To lessen the hair damage, it would be smart to strengthen your hair before applying highlights. Try to apply a deep conditioning hair mask a few days before you plan your balayage. Just pre-pooing with coconut oil on wash day can easily accomplish this deep conditioning effect. However, nourishing your locks with a protein treatment will also help them to be conditioned and will strengthen your hair in the best way possible.
Stop washing your hair
Your hair will receive a light coating of natural sebum from your scalp, which will serve as additional defence against the harsh chemicals in the hair dye you have chosen for your balayage.
How to Apply a Balayage Yourself at Home
You can do balayage at home because balayage tends to be less meticulous and structured as compared to the foil highlighting method. Choosing a hair highlighting kit designed specifically for the balayage hair finishing is essential. It is also important to make sure the kit comes along with a brush to use to apply the bleach to your hair as well as it is better to have a non-drip formula kit. It will be an advantage to choose a balayage highlighting kit set with extra developers or toners.
Guide to Implementing
Since many stylists invest a lot of time in perfecting the balayage technique of painting highlights on the hair, thus doing your balayage at home can be very intimidating and challenging. We’ve got you, so don’t worry! Step-by-step instructions are provided below on how to perform a balayage at home:
Mixing
Following the guidelines in your kit by mixing your dye and highlighting powder. If using your own bleach and developer makes you more comfortable, you can do that as well. Then, after completing the whole balayage procedure, you can simply tone your hair.
Sectioning your hair
The top and bottom of your hair should be separated by sectioning them. To begin with, concentrate on the lower portion of your hair, and clip up the top half of the hair.
Painting the hair
Firstly, drip the brush into the colour mixture and start from the mid-lengths of your hair and work the way down to the tips. It is acceptable to begin either brushing a few inches from your hair’s roots or start from halfway of your hair length. You have to ensure that the ends of your hair are more heavily dyed. As you apply the hair dye with the brush, start applying on tiny hair strands first and then work your way to bigger hair chunks if you feel you need to cover more portions of hair to achieve a chunky highlighting effect. To distribute the highlights more evenly, be sure to paint part of the hair underneath.
Blend it in
Apply the dye in various places of the hair to get a balayage that blends well and harmoniously with your hair’s natural or base colour. In some areas of your hair, run your brush higher up, and in other areas, run it closer to the middle of the hair length. The aim is for the balayage ribbons or streak patterns to be as natural as possible instead of too systematic. Your base shade and highlights will be beautifully blended and complemented as a result. Next is to unclip the top section of your hair and repeat the same application procedure. Since this top section of your hair is more visible and noticeable to all eyes, you should be more careful about where you paint this area.
Conditioner and Shampoo
Strictly follow the recommended time indicated in the highlighting kit box for allowing the colour to sit in your hair. Shampoo should then be used to wash and rinse everything, and a nourishing conditioner should be used after that.
If you use bleach, toner should come next.
In order to achieve the colour you desire for your balayage, if you are using straight-up bleach, then it is needed to use toner after the bleach to take the brassiness out of the hair. Use a purple shampoo to achieve an ashy tone, or you can choose to use a professional gloss or toner to confidently achieve the same result. Take a shower, then step out and style your hair as you like. Admire your stunning new balayage as you look at your own self into the mirror.
How Frequently Should Hair Be Highlighted To Prevent Damage?
Technically, you don’t need to touch up your roots if you perform your balayage application starting from the middle of your hair length unless you prefer to have your highlights further upward. However, it’s a different story if you have performed your balayage highlights from the roots down. Some people wait until they can see about an inch of root regrowth before touching up their roots. Some people meticulously schedule their root touch-ups each month. However, how well your hair can hold and withstand bleach and dye will ultimately determine how often you should touch up your balayage highlights. Hair damage may result from the hair highlights application, even just once. Your hair may become even more brittle if you keep doing it more times. Check the health of your hair before applying another round of highlights. Wait a few weeks or even months before having another balayage application if it’s excruciatingly dry and brittle. However, if you are discussing a specific time frame for root touch-ups, around 6 to 8 weeks should be sufficient. This conservative time frame should be able to give your previously highlighted hair strands some time to recover and repair to become healthy again.
How soon after having highlights should I wash my hair?
It’s best to wait two to three days before shampooing your hair after any balayage application. Your desired balayage tone and shade will last longer if you do this. Your hair’s cuticles are opened widely when you bleach it or colour it, allowing the natural pigments to come to the surface. Those cuticles will still be swollen and open in the days after your balayage highlights with bleaching treatment. Thus during the shampooing process, it will be incredibly easy for the toner and hair dye to be washed out or removed from your hair. By giving your cuticles enough time to close, you can avoid damaging your hair by waiting 72 hours before washing it. Hence, you will be more assured that your colour is then securely sealed in your strands when that occurs. When you can finally wash your hair, always look for shampoo and conditioner that are formulated for hair that has undergone chemical treatment. To prevent stripping off your new colour and tone, sulfate-free products are always preferred. Chemicals known as parabens can also remove the colour and tone of your highlights.
Conclusion
Besides going to the hair salons, now you should know that there are alternatives if you’ve been wondering how to highlight hair at home without the requirement of using foils. You can apply your highlights at home without worrying about foils, whether you choose the very straightforward cap highlighting method or painting the colour on the locks with your freehand using the more challenging balayage technique. You will still have stunning, highlighted locks as long as you adhere to the above instructions and safety precautions. To ensure that you can maintain your highlights for as long as possible, it’s also crucial to keep in mind our advice on how and when to wash your highlighted hair. To get started, gather your bowls and brushes. Soon, even though you have performed your highlights at the comfort of your home, they will look just like you have left the hair salon. And the best part is that you didn’t need to employ the challenging foiling highlights methods!
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