How to Do Pro Highlights

A hair highlighting cap is a good at home alternative to salon foil highlights.

Whether you have dark hair or blonde hair, highlights will give your hair a subtle lift of color that will brighten your face and add depth to your otherwise flat hair color. Having foil highlights at a salon is quite pricey, especially if you have longer hair. Fortunately, you can save yourself a few bucks by doing your own highlights at home using a highlighting cap. Highlighting caps are a great tool because they tell you exactly where to put the highlights for a professional look.

Things You'll Need

• Old towel or plastic cape
• Comb
• Highlighting cap and hook
• Peroxide and developer
• Hair tint brush
• Shampoo
• Conditioner

Instructions

1. Cover your shoulders with an old towel or put on a plastic cape. When you highlight your hair you are stripping the pigment from the hair follicle—if the peroxide comes in contact with your clothes it could ruin them.

2. Part the hair as you normally would and brush it out flat on either side of your head. Take the plastic highlighting cap and pull it straight down on top of your head and secure it underneath your chin.

3. Use the hook provided with the highlighting cap to poke a hole in the top of the cap, as marked. Use the hook end to pull up a small section of hair through the hole. The amount of hair you pull through the hole depends on how thick you want your highlights to be. Continue this process until all the holes in the cap have been poked through and the hair is sticking out the holes.

4. Mix the peroxide and developer in a plastic mixing bowl as per the manufacturer’s instructions. You must always use a plastic bowl when mixing hair dye because metal bowls can sometimes create an unwanted chemical reaction.

5. Use a hair tint brush to apply the lightener to the hair. Start at the roots and work your way down the hair—the ends of the hair lighten faster than the roots and should be done last.

6. Leave the hair to sit and process for the time recommended by the bleach manufacturer. When the time is up, remove the cap and wash the hair in a sink. Use shampoo to remove the lightener and conditioner to make the hair silky and smooth. Blow-dry the hair to see the finished results.

References

• Beauty Stop Online: How to Do Your Own Highlights
• Elle Girl: Lauren Conrad Dip Dyes Her Hair (+ How to Get the Look); Jacyln Palazzolo