Soft Looking Highlights in Abingdon
Soft blended highlights are the combination of right colour choices, expert foil placement and careful attention to detail from your stylist. The end result? A natural, sun-kissed highlights without unnatural contrasts or overly dramatic colour changes. For women in Oxfordshire considering highlights, softer and well blended highlights can greatly enhance your hair and your overall natural look.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at what highlights are, what options there are for application and why getting the highlight placement right counts for everything and how and how techniques like babylights and airtouch can create that soft, well blended finish.
For more information about our highlight options, visit our highlights service page. Finally, if you’re new to the salon and not sure how to get the most value from your next appointment, need a consultation or would value a conversation before booking, call or send a WhatsApp message on 01235 534705.
Soft Highlights FAQ’s
What are soft, well blended highlights?
Fundamentally highlights are sections of hair that are lightened to create dimension and contrast. Whether highlights are soft or whether they look very unnatural, the premise of what highlights are doesn’t change. Highlights can range in their colours, placement, appearance and the overall look that you are going for. So, light, dark, or a mixture, they’re all a form of highlights! The best Stylists will work with you to establish what you need, can benefit from and just as importantly which shades and application methods you can benefit from most.
Well blended highlights take advantage of techniques such as babylights and Airtouch alongside sensible colour choices which compliment your skin tone, natural hair colour and any preferences that you have for colour. If you are looking for something that can work with grey hair, this blog may help.
What makes highlights appear softer and more blended?
Take a sample of 100 clients with highlights and most will be different. The first rule of colour is that no colour is created equally, meaning the starting conditions are always different. Stylists can be inspired to create something based upon an image, however what might work for one client may not necessarily work for you!
The key to soft, blended highlights lies in the choice of colours, the thickness of the sections, and the application technique. For reference, these elements are broken down below:
Colour choice: The secret to a natural-looking blends is in the choice of colours that are compatible with your based colour (your existing hair colour) and skin colour. For example:
- Contrast: The best colour choices are those which are within reach of your current hair colour. For example, if your hair is black, white blonde won’t offer a soft finish (even with great foil placement). Whereas caramel on brunette hair or honey on blonde hair, create a more cohesive look than stark contrasts.
- Multi-Tonal Approach: Using more than one shade helps mimic the natural variation of tones in your hair, making the highlights appear softer and more seamless.
Smaller sections: Thick, chunky highlights often create a bold and high-contrast appearance, which can look less natural, whereas smaller and delicate sections offer a much softer result:
- Babylights: These are fine and much more delicate highlighted sections of hair. You will find increasingly that babylights are much more commonplace than more traditional ‘chunkier’ highlights.
- Spacing: When highlighting hair, your Stylist will foil sections of hair. The space between each foil determines the blend to avoid visible gaps, ensuring a smooth transition between the highlighted sections and your base colour. For an overall whiter look utilising smaller sections, here’s how you can achieve a white blonde.
What is Airtouch and how does it work?
Airtouch is not commonly referenced in salons, however the end-result is often preferred to achieve the maximum end-result. Airtouch can be used most effectively alongside babylights, utilising a hair dryer to ‘push out’ shorter and finer strands of hair. This process ensures that only the longer, more uniform strands are lightened, resulting in an ultra-soft and seamless blend.
Why choose Airtouch?
- The blend alongside the right choice of colours and babylights achieves the maximum and softest blend possible.
- In most cases, highlights grow out softly, maximising time between each appointment.
- It’s ideal for achieving a soft, sun-kissed effect.
Airtouch is by far the most effective technique, however appointments are longer and less cost-effective.
Babylights vs. traditional highlights. What’s the difference?
Both represent popular highlighting techniques, however the key differences lie in their appearance and application of what a Stylist hopes to achieve with your hair:
Babylights:
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- Babylights highlight the smallest sections of hair for a natural look.
- They’re the obvious choice for a softer look.
- Often require more time to apply due to the precision involved.
Traditional highlights:
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- Thicker sections of hair are lightened, creating more contrast.
- Ideal for bolder styles or clients looking for more noticeable highlights.
If you’re still unsure, here’s a blog which further outlines the differences between highlights and babylights.
Conclusion
Soft blended highlights are the most popular choice of highlights. They blend better than any other and represent the softest choice of any hair colour service. What’s more, with the support of your Stylist to find colours that work for you, you can maximise your highlights much more effectively.
Ready to transform your look? Book your appointment at Wisteria Avenue today and let us help you shine this festive season. For in-salon consultations and to speak with one of our curly hair stylists, call or send a WhatsApp message on 01235 534705.
