Highlighting hair at home is easiest if you have blonde to medium brown hair, O'Connor says. If your hair is darker, make sure the box you choose shows your specific natural shade, if not, proceed with caution or opt to see a stylist instead.
In addition to buying a lightening or highlighting kit, plan to purchase a semi-permanent toner too or opt for a highlighting kit that has the toner built right in like Revlon Frost and Glow, $6.99, a TotalBeauty.com reader fave. It will take the guesswork out of what shade to apply on top of your highlights.
Before you start painting on highlights, O'Connor recommends applying a skin protector like Aquaphor Healing Ointment, $7.49, around your hairline and on your ears to protect them from the bleach you'll be applying to your hair.
If you have short hair or medium-length fine hair, you can attempt to use a cap. They are best for adding highlights all over though, so if that's not the look you're going for, or if your hair is thick or long, you should plan to either use a highlighting kit that comes with a special highlighting tool or if the tools seem too tricky, use a brush or finger paint (while wearing gloves) the streaks on, which O'Conner believes is the easiest way to apply highlights to your own hair.
Highlights can add dimension to hair and give it a gorgeous sun-kissed effect when done correctly, but a few missteps can make you look skunk-like or worse. Thanks to experts Rona O'Conner, celebrity colorist and co-owner of the Lukaro salon in Beverly Hills, Calif. and Marcy Cona, Clairol Global Creative Director of Color and Style we got the scoop on how to successfully highlight hair at home — read on to see their tips.
