With a sea of options in the market, what highlights do you go for? Can I pull off a DIY at home? What color works best for a holiday and work? Wait. Before you make a decision, we suggest you read this first. To make things easier for you, we reached out to hair expert Teresa Chen to help breakdown four of the most commonly asked questions by our readers who wish to dye their hair. Here’s everything you need to know.
Beauty Book: I want to color my hair but I’m not sure whether it will look good. What are my options?
Chen: If you’re not sure of the color that will look good on you, I suggest you go for a semi-permanent formula. These shades fade slightly each time you shampoo and completely wash out in about 28 washes, leaving no roots. This is a good choice for women who want to enhance their natural color or experiment with a new shade. However, these work only for those wanting to go darker since they don’t contain ammonia to lighten your locks
Beauty Book: I want to try out highlights at home. How do I go about it?
Chen: Highlights are a great option for women who don’t want to commit to a new global color and don’t want to color their strands every month. They are also hassle-free because they are spread out over your head, and grow out without showing a distinct line of demarcation at the roots. Try and get highlights done at a salon by a professional because home kits don’t work very effectively on dark hair. It requires a higher level of lightening for your highlights to be more visible.
Beauty Book: I want to get highlights but am not sure what colors to go for. How do I go about this?
Chen: If you’re getting highlights, look deeply into your eyes standing close up to the mirror and try and figure out the color that’s reflected back. While eyes alone can guide your streaks, your skin color should always dictate your overall color. In my experience, dark haired women should go with chocolate or espresso tints. For medium wheatish and yellow skin tones, ash brown, golden brown, chestnut and mahogany would look absolutely stunning.
Beauty Book: I am a young professional and am going away on holiday. I want to color my strands but am not sure the same will be appreciated at work.
Chen: I would recommend highlighting the tips of your hair with a funky color. Enjoy this look for your holiday. If you feel conscious about walking into work after, you have nothing to worry about. Since you’ve only colored yout tips, you can easily snip off the ends when you go back to work. So that way, you can have your fun and look professional as well.
Nykaa recommends: L'Oreal Paris Excellence Fashion Highlights Hair Color, Streax Ultralights Highlighting Kit, L'Oreal Paris Excellence Fashion Highlights - Honey Blonde (Pack Of 2), L'Oreal Paris Excellence Fashion Highlights - Caramel Brown (Pack Of 2)