Highlighting on dark hair. California technology, with tinted, Venetian, dark, color, American

Modern gentle dyeing techniques allow the owner of dark hair to refresh the image with highlighting. Artificial lightening of individual strands does much less harm than monophonic painting.

Many hairdressers recommend that brunettes who want to get a lighter shade of hair do not take drastic actions, but start with a gradual transition to blond through highlighting.

Who needs highlighting on dark hair

Highlighting on dark hair is not suitable for all clients of beauty salons.

When choosing such a salon service, it is important to consider 3 factors:

• how much the new hairstyle will be in harmony with the skin tone;
• whether the selected option is suitable for eye color;
• whether the state of the hair structure will allow lightening, even if this is a color increase of individual strands of only half a ton.

The variety of tones in the colorist’s palette allows in most cases to choose the shade and composition of the paint that is most suitable for the phenotype of a woman. The exception is brunettes with blue-black hair, dark brown eyes and a dark-skinned type of black or olive skin color.

Highlighting such women will spoil not only the appearance, but also damage the hair structure. Although even in this case, an experienced stylist will be able to experiment not with classic lightening, but with the addition of individual colored strands to the canvas – red, purple, blue or green.

Owners of dark curls are best suited for pigments adjacent to natural ones:

• brown;
• chocolate;
• beige;
• caramel;
• sometimes ashen.

Blue and gray eyes require the use of cold and light colors with the neutralization of yellowness. Green-eyed brunettes are recommended to add brightness to the image with the help of color highlighting with “warm” pigment – red, copper, honey, golden.

And for brown eyes, a winning tandem will be its own natural color, which the hairdresser will raise by no more than two tones.

If the client’s hair structure is severely damaged, an experienced colorist will first recommend a set of restoration procedures before direct dyeing. This must be done, because otherwise there is a high probability of “killing” the hair with lightening without the possibility of any further resuscitation.

Optimal curl length

There are no restrictions or specific recommendations on the length of curls for highlighting on hair with dark shades. It is necessary to rely on fashion trends and taste preferences of the visitor to the beauty salon herself.

But nevertheless, several important nuances should be taken into account:

• Since any lightening involves certain damage to the structure and etching of the native pigment, it is easier and safer to use this technique on short hair.
• The longer and wider the area of the canvas of the strands for painting, the more difficult it is to achieve a uniform shade.
• With the right selection of equipment and coloring composition, highlighting will look most advantageous at a length from the shoulders and below the shoulder blades. Such “strokes” resemble solar glare on the canvas of a skilled artist, so the overall picture should not be overloaded.

With a length to the waist and below, this situation is likely: when highlighting will bother a long-haired girl, it will be problematic to paint over and align the color to make it uniform.

On short hair, you can create a very unusual pattern if you highlight on the diagonal or “zebra”. Then, combing the hairstyle on different sides, dark natural and lightened stripes will alternate and add up in completely unpredictable combinations.

Types of techniques, their features and differences

Highlighting on dark hair can be performed in 3 different techniques. Each has its own characteristics, differences and variations. Therefore, a total of ways to artificially lighten and tint strands using highlighting techniques can be counted more than 20.

3 highlighting techniques:

1. Strands are painted outdoors	It allows you to touch on very small surfaces (only bangs or locks near the face), and quite extensive (up to 70% of the length of the hair). In time, the procedure can take on average from 20 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the level of oxidizing agent. The gradation goes from 1% oxidant for hair to increasing – usually 1.5% -3% -6% -9% -12%. The higher the percentage, the faster atomic oxygen burns and discoloration occurs. If tinting or painting is additionally expected after clarification, then the total procedure time will be increased by approximately another hour.
2. Highlighting on foil	Strips of hairdressing foil heat the strand wrapped by them, speeding up the clarification process by 1.5 – 2 times compared to bleaching in the open air. It must be remembered that excessive thermal effects can adversely affect the structure. Therefore, during the procedure, you should always carefully monitor the clock and do not overexpose the foil on curls for more than a certain time. This technique allows you to create interesting hairstyle patterns, affect individual areas and easily isolate the desired strands even on very thick and long hair.
3. Using caps	This species is less popular than the two above. It is practically not used for highlighting by professional hairdressers, but it is in demand for the highlighting procedure at home. Holes are made in the cap with the required frequency and diameter. Through them, with a special hook, strands are pulled out, onto which a bleaching composition is applied. This technique is more suitable for short hair, since it is problematic to thread long curls through narrow holes. A huge minus of this technique is that after the dyeing procedure is completed, hair with weaker bulbs is often “removed” with a hat.

How to choose a paint

It is not difficult for a professional colorist hairdresser to choose the right color composition for highlighting. The necessary color and tone level will be selected. But for the independent conduct of such a procedure, you must carefully understand the composition of the paint, in order to eventually get the right shade.

It is also necessary to take into account the initial color of the strands on which it is planned to apply paint.

Professional tools at home are not so easy to handle. You need to be able to competently mix the components, observe the grammar and know the proportion. Therefore, it is recommended to take ready-made paints specially designed for self-highlighting.

Paint is available in 3 types:

1. A powder mixture or powder for c
   larification is usually used in salons and hairdressers. It is mixed with other components in the right proportion. Because at home, not every brunette can do it herself.
2. Paints with an oily base are also problematic to independently apply to hair without the help of a professional. The slightest crease, and the strand will stain unevenly.
3. The creamy texture of the dye is convenient in the preparation of the composition, is applied evenly to the curl and does not flow. As a rule, there are two tubes in the package – an oxidizing agent and a coloring pigment. Their grammar is already verified. It remains to simply mix 2 components, evenly distribute over the strands, withstand the right time and rinse.

The packaging always indicates the composition. You should carefully read it and choose the most harmless option. Although when lightening dark hair, the percentage of oxidant is usually very high – from 6%. It is worth paying attention to the numbers indicated on the box with the paint. Different manufacturers have different numbers. Usually the first of the numbers from 1 to 10 is the tone level.

The second is the color of the main dye, which prevails. The third and fourth digits are additional shades. Blue or violet pigments must be present in highlighting compositions to neutralize yellowness when discoloration occurs.

Many women choose highlighting as a kind of masking of gray hair on dark hair. This fact should also be taken into account when choosing a paint, because light tinting agents will not be able to paint over gray hair.

Top Dye Brands

A beauty salon and professional colorists prefer to work with a small number of brands – no more than 3-4. The master will without fail learn all the nuances of the products, attend master classes and master the trending dyeing techniques.

Professional paint can only be purchased from an authorized representative, it can not be found in the usual beauty market. Therefore, it makes no sense to consider such brands for the pros, because the stylist will certainly offer his clients the best option from his arsenal.

It’s possible to buy a tool for self-coloring at an affordable cost in specialized stores of hair cosmetics. The ingredients of the coloring composition, detailed instructions, a pair of gloves and the necessary highlighting tools (hat, hook) should be included in the package.

There are 4 best in quality and at the same time affordable brand of paints:

I. Palette by Schwarzkopf	Paint for highlighting this brand has the most powerful composition, which will definitely be able to lighten and color even very hard dark curls. For weakened hair with damage to the structure, its use is not recommended.
II. Estel professional	The composition includes, as indicated on the package, natural substances that provide gentle coloring. The palette of shades for highlighting is diverse, which means that brunettes can find the right tone.
III. Garnier	The paint composition also has a natural component in the form of oils for gentle clarification. A special set consisting of a coloring pigment, a balm and even a hat for highlighting strands is enclosed in the package.
IV. L’Oreal Revlonissimo NMT Super Blondes	A special product line for highlighting includes 7 beautiful shades. The coloring composition perfectly copes even with gray hair on dark hair. A pleasant and completely unsharp smell is an advantage of this brand.

Step-by-step classic highlighting on dark strands

Highlighting on dark hair in the classic version is the bleaching of individual small strands by 1-3 tones. The total area of clarification should not be more than 35-40% of the total mass of hair.

The strands are selected evenly at approximately the same distance from each other in frequency. In order to have the maximum natural effect, the strand should not be taken wider than 1/32 – 1/32 inch.

Painting techniques may vary slightly. The classic version involves the use of hats or foil.

With a cap, the application process is faster:

• locks are threaded into the finished holes;
• applied with a brush composition for clarification;
• the paint is aged on the hair the time specified in the instructions;
• the cap is carefully removed and the bleaching composition is washed off;
• if necessary, additional tinting is carried out.

The longer the process of applying paint with foil, but the girl herself will see the result of staining faster:

• approximately the required number of foil tapes of the required length is prepared;

  

• staining usually begins from the forehead, passing to the occipital part, and then highlighting takes place on the lateral zones above the ears;
• using a comb, small strands are separated, a foil is placed under each and the composition is applied;
• it is recommended to indent from the roots by 0. 2 – 0’4 inch to minimize harm to the hair;
• the dyed strand is packed on top with the second part of the foil tape;
• when the indicated time is over, the foil is removed and the hair is washed
• then you can also tint curls.

Highlighting without devices in the open air in the classic version is impossible to do. The strands that you plan to lighten will be in contact with those that should remain dark. To achieve the clarity of light stripes will not work with this technique.

Area highlighting

Highlighting on dark hair can not decorate the entire head of a brunette, but affect a certain area on the hair – about 10%. The most common options are lightening strands near the face and / or only the upper part. The lower layer can be tinted with a gentle paint or leave it natural.

Using this technique, long-haired girls like to change the image so that the structure of the main area of the hair is not damaged. You can highlight hair both in an open way and with the help of foil.

Venice highlighting

It is the owners of luxurious dark hair that stylists recommend dyeing using the Venetian highlighting technique. Several similar shades are selected, which are slightly lighter than the natural color.

The strands are painted without the use of foil or thermal paper – the technique of applying with smooth transitions and drying the paint in the open air is used. It should create the effect of burnt hair, playfully glare in the sun. There are no clear stripes, therefore, after regrowth of the roots, one can stain the root zone using the same technique.

Bronzing

Color solutions when booking dark curls can combine chocolate, brown, coffee, light brown and golden beige tones all at once with light highlights of the blond. This is a tandem of highlighting and coloring.

With this technology, more than 50% of the total hair area can be dyed. Changing the palette can occur not only along the length, but also smoothly deepen in the direction from the ends to the roots.

Ombre

With the help of Ombre staining, the effect of regrown burnt hair is achieved. For dark-haired girls, this solution is a real find, because healthy hair roots can even remain natural.

Stretching the color goes from the dark top to the lighter tips. If you want glare along the length, and not just an even smooth transition, you can use several similar shades on the brighter sections of the hairstyle.

Dark highlights on black hair

An interesting option would be to add playfulness to black and very dark hair with the help of subtle glare. Choose cognac, coffee or ashy shades. Dramatically with such a coloring, the image of the brunette will not change, but the hairstyle will visually look more voluminous.

This technique involves the most gentle option for coloring hair, in no case do not need to achieve the effect of “platinum blonde”. Hair should look and be healthy.

Tinting

Toning dark hair is suitable for those girls who doubt the choice of a new image and care about the quality of the hair canvas.

Ammonia-free, unstable dyes help refresh the image by changing the shade by no more than 1-1.5 tones. Glare will be close to the natural range. Unlike persistent paints, tinting is easily washed off. Paint gray hair in this way does not work.

Color tinting

Classical or close to natural highlighting to some clients of hairdressers seems too trivial. An alternative would be color coloring.

Dyeing techniques are used similar, but the whole point is in choosing the color – the strands acquire juicy and bright shades. The trend is purple, pink, turquoise shades.

American highlighting

For American highlighting, the colorist selects 3-4 colors and applies them to the hair according to a specific pattern. Unlike color coloring, paint shades are selected in strict combination with each other. Hairstyle should not look pretentious. With this technique, up to 90% of the hair can be dyed.

Blonding

Those brunettes who want to get as close as possible to the blonde-haired type of women decide on blonding. The technology is that part of the hair is wound on special cords with a blond.

Between the strands, cotton wool with lightening preparations can be laid. Since the locks are singled out in a chaotic manner, the result is a very natural result, even on dark hair.

California highlighting

California highlighting is done in the fresh air, without foil and caps, using exclusively natural shades. The combination of a stretch of color along the length and a tandem of several natural tones creates the effect of strongly burnt hair on dark curls. Preference is given to a fairly light and warm palette.

Partial highlighting with bangs

Light bangs in contrast with dark hair make the image more youthful and fresh. The stripes should not be large, otherwise a wig effect will be created. With the help of partial highlighting, you can achieve a smooth transition from bleached bangs and strands framing the oval of the face to the natural base color of the hair on the back of the head.

Hair care after dyeing

Any bleaching makes the hair structure porous and brittle. Natural dark pigment is etched, so for a healthy mirror shine it is necessary to replace it with the selected shade.

But any dye will be quickly washed out of the cortex, if you do not choose the right care after painting:

• at a minimum, it is necessary to purchase shampoo and balm for colored or highlighted hair;
• nourishing and moisturizing masks should be applied at least once a week;
• since the hair after bleaching is overdried, the frequent use of a hair dryer, electric hair curlers and curling irons will be detrimental;
• if artificial drying of wet hair is nevertheless used, it is necessary to apply heat-protective styling products;
• indelible sprays and serums when going outside – are mandatory (preferably with protection from UV rays);
• with perms and long-term styling recommended to wait;
• if highlighting is frequent and bright, then to neutralize yellowness there is a need to wash your hair once a week with shampoo with blue, violet or ashy pigment.

To restore hair, including after highlighting, professionals are advised to regularly apply liquid hydrolyzed keratin to wet hair. It is also useful to do salon care procedures, including oil wraps.

The mo
dern beauty industry allows you to choose the most gentle means and technologies for highlighting. Thanks to this, even dark-haired girls can safely change their image without fear for the condition of their beautiful curls.

Video about highlighting on dark hair

How to make highlighting at home: