How To Master Different Color Highlights For Curly Hair

Would it be out of place to call you, the Curly-haired vixens, the special ones? Probably no. Everyone knows how much effort you put to keep making your wavy curly hair look interminably attractive. And if there is a woman who is not a fan of diligent hair-grooming, she surely cannot rock an invitingly gorgeous curl.
 

But then, how do you go about highlighting your curly black or brown hair? At least for some moments, you would want to change your hair outlook and color and highlights for curly wavy hair can be a bit more challenging than the contemporary straight hair. Hence, color highlights for curly hair have its own science and art.
 

Perhaps, an appropriate starting point to understanding the art of color highlights for curly hair is to itemize the different types of color highlights that are available with the strength and weaknesses of each of them. The pictures of each of these highlight types should also help to distinguish them. Hence, we shall be supplying the pictures too. Ready? Off we start!

Foil highlights have to do with using foils to classify your hair strands into which would be highlighted and which wouldn't be. So, let's say you don't want to do complete highlights for your black or brown curly hair, foil highlights are a good option to consider. It leaves behind those strands of your wavy curls that you still want to retain their natural color.
 

Once you are done with the foil separation, the rest procedure would be to apply the lightener to those hair portions you have separated for color highlights. And suppose your intention is to add lowlights to your curly hair too, this approach can also be used.
 

However, experience has shown that whether lowlights or highlights the foil approach does not seem to work well with curly hair. That's because curly hair is by nature fragile and bouncy and a mix-up always happens during the highlighting process.

If you have been thinking or wishing or being able to do your hair highlights at home, this is the type that offers you some hope. It is exactly what its name says - you are painting your hair. You only need a hair-painting brush or combs (if your hair is thin) and you are set.
 

About two methods of hair painting are actually available and the first is the Balayage technique. It offers a super-clean painting of an already-styled hair without any error. More so, you get an outcome that is natural and cool, something you cannot get with the foil method. For your curly black or brown curly hair, this technique is highly recommended.
 

The second painting technique is known as the Leopard hair print or Leopard hair highlights in some quarters. What you are doing, in this case, is to create highlights on your hair using the pattern of a leopard. This may, however, involve initial bleaching of some spots of your hair before the coloring is done.

This hair highlighting method is most suitable for people whose hairs are short. It involves using one's free hand to lighten or highlight the hair's tips and may be done at home also if you have everything it takes. This technique may also be good for curly hair if you only wish to highlight the tips only.

Hair highlights done the chunking way are usually very bold, large, and thick. That is if you want an appreciably bold color on your hair so as to arrive at a unique contrast. You aren't going to get the usual fine texture and thin highlights as obtainable in the other hair highlights techniques.

Okay. Now, we have no issue agreeing that curly hair highlights and even lowlights can be very challenging compared to straight hair. As such, it isn't that advisable to attempt doing it by yourself. You definitely need a professional stylist to get that done for you. Here are a few you might need some curly hair highlights.
 

1. If your curly hair is blonde, sometimes, as a result of over-processing, it can appear to be frizzy, lifeless, and even dry. As such, you may have to give your blonde curly hair with lowlights that is rich and perhaps a few highlights too. It would help to bring back your curly blonde to life.
 

2. Whether you have a curly brown or a blonde curly, once you are a lover of warm tones, what you would notice is that with time, your curly brown or blonde curly begins to look brassy. When that happens, what do you do? Of course, you go for highlights.
 

3. Again, if the roots of your curly brown hair are dark, previous highlights often lose their boldness and lights with the passage of time and as such, to counteract the fades, face-framing highlights can be a rescuer for your curly hair.
 

4. Too much exposure of curly hair to the UV ray of the sun often leaves the highlights on it brassy too. As such, you would often find yourself needing a mix of highlights and lowlights to restore depth and coolness to your curly hair.

Yes, you should not do your curly hair highlights by yourself but you need some information to know what to request from your hairstylist.
 

1. For your curly hair, it is better you stick with the Balayage hair painting technique. It seems to be the best bet for wavy and curly hair as you get to treat each section of your hair individually without having to worry about your black curly hair appearing chunky or striped.
 

This technique equally overrules the usual polka dots that attest other methods of hair highlighting techniques. However, best shine is achieved with this approach when different shades of lowlights and highlights are mixed
 

2. Another very important tip to ensure you brown curly or black curly hair highlights comes out well is to twist your curls into braids; it's pretty simple to do so even if your curly hair is wavy. Insist that your colorist twist it into braids first.
 

It is done by dividing your dry curly hair into sizeable portions and then making it into different braids. Usually, what determines how many braids is appropriate is how thick your curly hair is. The thicker, the more braids you would need to arrive at.
 

Each braid is now individually attended to with the blended highlights. That is, each brand is painted separately. The result of this approach is hair highlights looking natural and sun-kissed. Already, because your wavy or curly hair has been twisted, the color is properly and naturally distributed.
 

3. Sometimes, before even attempting any of the above highlighting tips, you may have to treat your brown or black curly hair first. Yes, you might not need more than a gloss treatment. Explore the option if the usual challenge you have with your curly hair is that it is normally brittle, dry, or even damaged. Instead of coloring it, glossing can be a brilliant alternative.
 

Although not permanent as in hair coloring, hair gloss is capable of restoring your hair's beauty, hydration, texture, and general luster. Similarly, if your hair isn't damaged but you only have the dryness and brassy issue, you can opt for hair glaze. The glaze is composed of hair pigments that improve the tone of your curly hair.

Curly hair highlights are better done by professionals because of the unique nature of curls. In most cases, the texture and nature of your curly hair would determine which approach would be best. And you hardly can determine which approach might be best for your curly hair alone by yourself without the aid of experts.
 

Again, most hair paintings are permanent, and if something should go wrong while trying to color it yourself, you might have to reach for the scissors. Of course, no one wants that. However, the information relayed in this piece with the pictures should, among other things, help you make an informed decision as to what to request for when you approach your hairstylist for highlights.