How to Highlight Hair

A trip to the beauty salon for highlights can cost several hundred dollars. That's quite a chunk of change for a few streaks in your hair, especially when you can do it yourself at home for much cheaper. All you need is a little bit of understanding about how highlights work and a brave soul. In about an hour, you can have a head full of beautiful streaks. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Gloves
• Towel or rag
• Hair color kit
• Plastic mixing bowl
• Highlighting cap or hair clips
• Highlighting brush
• Timer
• Helper (optional)

1. Gather together your materials and find a quiet place to get started. If you're doing your own highlights, set up in a bathroom so that you can see your progress in a mirror. If you have the help of a friend, you can go just about anywhere. Put on your rubber gloves and drape a towel around your shoulders, or put on a t-shirt that you don't mind getting ruined.
2. Mix together the developer and highlighting powder in your plastic mixing bowl according to the directions on the package. The mixture should be the consistency of a thin paste.
3. Put on the highlighting cap from your kit, or segment out the strands you want to highlight and secure them with clips.
4. Use your brush to apply the highlighting mixture wherever you want highlights to appear. You can choose to do larger chunks or thin strands depending on your personal preference. Make sure to apply the mixture from the root to tip, covering the strand of hair thoroughly.
5. Set your timer for the shortest amount of time indicated on the box and wait. When the time is up, wipe off a bit of the mixture from the first strand you highlighted, checking to see if it's the right color. If it isn't, set the timer for a few more minutes and check again.
6. Rinse out highlighting mixture with warm water. Apply toner to damp hair, and set the timer again according to the toner instructions.
7. Rinse again and style as usual.

Tips & Warnings

• Enlist the help of a friend. It will make this job much easier.
• Clean your hair at least 24 hours before starting this process, and don't put any creams or lotions in it prior to the highlight application.
• Highlighting hair is tricky business, so if you're uncomfortable with it, seek the help of a trained professional.
• Never mix your hair dye in a metallic bowl.