Highlights and the Process of Going Blonde

Written by Jessica De Somma, Hair Stylist, Yoga Teacher, and Ayurvedic Life Counselor

When getting highlights, there are a lot of factors to think about. How light do you want to go, what tone, the thickness, how much dimension, and how much root do you want to show?

When considering how light you want your highlights, it is important to think about what is doable and healthy for your hair. Typically, if you have previous dye in your hair especially box dye, the most lift possible is usually about 2-4 levels (closer to 2 levels with box dye). If you have virgin hair, the lift can be up to 7 levels lighter if you are lucky! The picture above shows the levels of brightness in the hair and the natural underlying warm pigment that shows when you lighten to that level.

Once you decide out how light you want your highlights, pick out what tone you like. Do you prefer ash, neutral, or warm? Below shows the same level of brightness but has 3 different tones. Ashy tones always appear darker since they dont catch the sunlight like warm tones do.

Ashy level 9

Neutral level 9

Warm level 9

How close to the scalp do you like your highlights? Most traditional highlights over the years are very close to the scalp. Having highlights right on the scalp helps to blend and camouflage gray but can be heavier maintenance. Highlights on the scalp can be faster to do but unless they are very fine (babylights) you would need to come in about every 6 weeks. The most average placement I see is having a couple fine highlights close to the scalp around the face but the rest is about 4 inches away from the scalp to create an easy grow out. Maintenance time for a rooted highlight can be pushed close to 6 months with only toners in between.

Common placement of highlights for a rooted balayage highlight

As for highlight thickness, I usually prefer thin highlights (babylights) when they are close to the scalp for a softer grow out. I like thick balayage highlights only when they are away from the scalp which tends to create a softer look like someone spent too much time in the sun.

Babylights

It is also important to think about how much dimension you would like to see. Do you want to be solid blonde on the ends like an ombre or have more dimension with a highlight/lowlight? For maximum dimension and to really see the highlights pop, lowlights are sometimes necessary.