Are you thinking of enhancing or updating your hairstyle? Consider adding some highlights and lowlights to your hair color. Though this is not as dramatic a change as all-over hair color, professional highlights offer a refreshing, multi-dimensional look. Whether you’re a platinum blonde or have dark locks, there’s a combination of highlights and lowlights that can take your hair from drab to fab.
What Tones Should I Use?
Professional colorists are well-versed in analyzing skin tone and base color. With the help of a highly-trained professional, you’ll get the tones that are best-suited to complement your natural coloring.
Remember the color wheel from art class all those years ago? Some colors naturally enhance others, helping them “pop.” If your natural tone is cool, your stylist will likely advise you to choose highlights and lowlights that are also cool; if your tone is warm, your best bet is warm highlights.
Seem tricky? Leave it to us! By working with color experts, you can confidently update your look and get the “wow” factor of highlights.
Why are Highlights and Lowlights So Popular?
The difference between “flat” color and multi-dimensional color is like the difference between hearing a single note on one instrument, versus listening to an entire symphonic orchestra. Multi-dimensional color provides a range of natural-looking tones and light that gives your hair a whole lot of “va-va-voom.”
Not only is your hair more attractive and nuanced, but your skin will glow as well! The light and depth of highlights and lowlights can make your hair visually interesting and help it look healthy and full. Leave flat and boring behind. With highlights and lowlights, you can shine!
How Do I Get the Right Look for My Hair Color?
Here’s where a top-notch stylist with years of training comes into play. Working from your base color, your stylist will help you choose slightly lighter shades for your highlights, and shades a step or two darker for your lowlights. By treating individual strands of hair, your stylist works as an artist to build a subtle yet noticeable contrast of color and tone.
Even if you are a platinum blonde, your stylist can work in subtle coloring differences to give your hair depth and interest.
If you have brown hair and a warm skin tone, you might benefit from golden or honey highlights. Not only will these highlights give your hair a pop of interest, but they’ll light up your face as well. As one woman said after getting her highlights, “I feel brighter! Now I think I’ll smile more.”
You also have options for the amount and placement of your highlights. While some prefer face-framing highlights, others enjoy an all-over blend of color. One of the advantages to highlights and lowlights is that you can also vary the amount you have put in throughout the year, giving you a natural, sun-kissed look in any season.
How Do I Take Care of Highlights?
Choosing a top-notch stylist is your first move. The next is ensuring their hair care products are the highest quality. Wella products, for example, are made by experts in hair care and use gentle, fortifying ingredients that keep your hair in the best possible condition. Every person’s hair is different, and the Wella color lineup has a product for every need.
Additionally, our top-of-the-line styling products from Oribe, Kerastase, and Kevin Murphy keep hair follicles strong and highlights shining. With highlights, you already have the look of luxury; investing in expert hair care products ensures you enjoy your healthy shine along with long-lasting results.
Highlights at Deseo Salon & BlowDry in Denver
If you are ready to enhance your look with highlights and lowlights, please visit us at Deseo Salon & BlowDry. We offer a wide range of luxury hair care services, and we are ready to serve you! Our hair care professionals are the best in the business, and your complete satisfaction is our priority. Book now!
Frequently Asked Questions: Highlights and Lowlights for Multi-Dimensional Hair Color
What makes hair with highlights and lowlights look more dimensional than flat color?
Flat or single-process color applies one uniform shade to all the hair, which can look one-dimensional and lack the depth that natural hair has. Combining highlights (lighter tones) and lowlights (deeper tones) creates variation across the hair that mimics the way light interacts with natural, uncolored hair. The contrast between tones adds visual depth, makes hair look fuller, and creates a luminosity that flat color simply can’t replicate, similar to comparing a single musical note to a full orchestra.
How do colorists choose the right highlight and lowlight tones for your skin color?
Choosing the right tones for highlights and lowlights requires matching them to both your natural base color and your skin undertone. A colorist uses the color wheel principles, cool tones complement cool skin, warm tones complement warm skin, to select shades that make your hair and skin glow rather than clash. For example, someone with warm skin and brown hair might be steered toward golden or honey highlights that light up the face and add warmth, while a cool-toned brunette might receive ashier highlights.
Can blonde hair benefit from highlights and lowlights, or is it only for brunettes?
Any hair color, including platinum blonde, benefits from highlights and lowlights. For blonde hair, a colorist works in subtle variations of lighter and slightly deeper tones to add dimension and interest that might otherwise be absent in uniformly light hair. These tonal shifts give the hair depth and make it look more natural, healthy, and full, since even natural blonde hair has a range of tones rather than a single flat shade.
What’s the difference between face-framing highlights and all-over highlights?
Face-framing highlights concentrate lighter pieces around the hairline and face, typically the front sections on either side of the face, to brighten complexion and draw attention to facial features. They’re a more subtle, targeted option that adds impact without changing much of the overall hair color. All-over highlights blend lighter tones throughout the entire head for a more thorough brightening effect. Your stylist can recommend the right placement based on your goals, maintenance preference, and face shape.
How do highlights and lowlights change with the seasons?
One of the advantages of highlights and lowlights is their natural versatility across seasons. In spring and summer, more highlights can be added to create a sun-kissed, brightened effect that mimics natural lightening from sun exposure. In fall and winter, deeper lowlights can be introduced to add richness and warmth as part of a seasonal color shift. Varying the balance throughout the year keeps hair looking current and seasonally appropriate without requiring a complete color overhaul at each visit.
What products help maintain highlights and lowlights at home?
Maintaining the vibrancy and health of highlighted hair requires professional-grade products. Wella’s color lineup is highlighted in the article as a gentle, fortifying option designed to keep chemically processed hair in top condition. Products from Oribe, Kérastase, and Kevin Murphy further protect the hair, keep follicles strong, and maintain color shine between appointments. Using a dedicated color-protecting shampoo and conditioner is one of the most impactful steps you can take to extend the life of your highlights.
Where in Denver can you get professional highlights and lowlights done by an expert colorist?
Deseo Salon & BlowDry in Denver offers professional highlights and lowlights services performed by expert colorists trained in skin-tone analysis and multi-dimensional color techniques. Whether you’re looking for subtle face-framing highlights, a full all-over blend, or a dramatic seasonal color shift, their team can create a customized result that flatters your specific coloring. Located in Denver’s Highlands neighborhood, Deseo serves clients from across the Denver metro area.
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