Feb 3, 2010

Hair & Hair Color Challenges

HCC Email/Question # 7
Question; Are there any hair color techniques that are great for curly hair? I have brown curly hair and for years I get highlights and the results are either not enough done or too much were put in. What I am looking for are sun kissed highlights on my hair , any suggestions would be great.
Ps. To give you an idea of what I want I have attached 2 pictures
Thank You
Amber



Thank you for the visuals it helps when I am trying to help figure out what one is looking for. There are hair coloring techniques especially created for curly or wave hair , I know I have a few in my bag of tricks. One of the challenges in my industry with coloring curly hair is that it is colored exactly like we would straight hair and to me this has always been wrong. The density is thicker, the way to grows out of the head and sits on the scalp is different so there for the best way I have found to color curly/wavy hair is by actually working with the curl or wavy in its natural state meaning simply picking up pieces. Majority of the time when I am highlighting curly hair I either do 2 back to back foils ( a term meaning 2 foils without any hair lift in between ) or a technique called Balayage , a free hand painting of pieces of hair.

There are more techniques out there and you need to talk to your stylist or colorist on what kind of options there are for your particular hair type. The visuals you sent seem to be more of a natural look with lighter ends so I would (keep in mind I have not seen your own hair) do some Balayage and then take a few pieces randomly throughout the hair and back-comb applying the lighter color on the ends , the back-combing prevents no lines , so once the hair that is back-combed meets the lighter pieces the results are like if you spent time on the beach. The most important point is you need to either talk to your stylist give him these suggestions or perhaps find a new one that understands that coloring curly hair is an art and not a straight forward foil highlight .

19 comments:

  1. Great post and the way you have described coloring curly hair,

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  2. when i hi-lite curly hair it always to me looks stripie, however the clients love them i'm going to try a few different way's now

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  3. it sounds like amber likes the almost grow-out highlight look, I would also do a few melting colors lighter on the ends to give her that effect

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  4. these are the post i love to read the most, very educational

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  5. I have curly hair and get highlights, I love them but hate them when my hair is blow dryed straight, something hairdressers should consider when coloring curly hair how can it look great both way's

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  6. this is whhat happens to me, clients will bring in a picture of wavey hair and their own hair is tight curls, which one is it people??????

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  7. Good point chicago lady , but the hair should look great either way

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  8. spot on HCC , great post!

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  9. seems pretty straight forward, and the advice is awesome

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  10. i am not a fan of curly hair with highlights , i feel curly hair looks better with all over color or glosses

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  11. love these posts,, full of info

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  12. can i just come and work with you ;=]

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  13. she likes both of those visuals she sent you but one is wavey one is curly, would'nt that make a difference in the approach?

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  14. i think she's using the visuals as just colour descriptions , love these post so much ty

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  15. love the post love the advice love you HCC!!!!!!!!

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  16. Amber look for a new stylist that is keeping themselfs up to date on new way's of coloring hair

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  17. this is easy to achieve, i agree with Silvia, find a new hairdresser

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  18. great post and suggestions as always -]

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  19. I have sen you do this technique and I think it's genius! You may have done this on me when I had a perm...loved it!!!

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