Hair Care

These Are the Most Flattering Highlights for Your Hair Color

From highlights to lowlights, find out which shades complement your hair color

by Sharon J. Yi, Allie Flinn

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But First, Haircare If you're going to drop $$$ on your hair color, you should make sure you know how to properly care for it (consider it getting the best return on your investment). Ashley Streicher, Advisory Stylist for Strivectin Hair, says one of the most important rules is to wait 48 hours to wash your hair.

"Your hair is ultra clean from being chemically processed and then thoroughly washed," she says. "Waiting gives your scalp and follicles enough time to fully close and lock in the color and start nourishing your scalp on its own." Be sure to wash your hair with a shampoo formulated for colored hair (she recommends StriVectin Color Care Shampoo, $23).

L'Oréal Paris celebrity stylist Kari Hill adds, "Anything that swells the cuticle -- like hot water or hair masks -- can let color molecules escape." To prevent that, shampoo with cooler water and only leave on deep conditioners for a few minutes.

You should also keep your hair out of the sun as much as possible (Streicher recommends a hat) and products that protect your hair from UV rays (Hill recommends the L'Oréal Paris Advanced Haircare Color Vibrancy line).

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Older comments

Nice tips

by EricaC123 Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 02:24PM Report as inappropriate

Thanks for the tips.

by Monique3 Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 09:14AM Report as inappropriate

very interesting!

by Chris213 Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 07:00AM Report as inappropriate

Reese's hair looks gorgeous.

by robyne00 Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 06:26PM Report as inappropriate

This aryicle is great.

by lharrell80 Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at 11:36AM Report as inappropriate

Thanks for all the tips. Getting ready to have my hair colored and I never knew that in was especially unhealthy to use heat products to style colored hair! Duh, makes perfect sense!

by justteri Friday, August 17, 2012 at 06:20PM Report as inappropriate

Thank you for including something about black hair. Any hairdresser I went to for highlights used blonde colors. Now I know what to tell them to do. Also, it is critical to use color safe/retention products. I have never tried Shielo, but I am going to now. Great advice!

by Cheryl5752 Friday, August 17, 2012 at 12:40PM Report as inappropriate

I on;y liked Jessica Alba's hair, but it looks more like ombre, not highlights...

by venenumletalis Friday, August 17, 2012 at 11:30AM Report as inappropriate

They didn't put anything for red hair. There is a definite difference between red and auburn, and they just totally skipped red out. I'm disappointed.

by GingerDrink Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 07:29PM Report as inappropriate

Great article! Nice tips for those of us who may be a bit challenged with color selection!

by CCochran Friday, June 15, 2012 at 09:26AM Report as inappropriate