"Focus your second highlighting experience on your root area, or new strands to highlight. Try to avoid applying your highlights on top of each other, as you will lose the balance and dimension of your highlights," Cona says.
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Treat Your Strands to Keep Them Shiny
To keep your color looking shiny and vibrant after you highlight, follow up your color treatment with a clear gloss (try Clairol Shine Happy Clear Shine Treatment, $7.99). It will help lock in your color and make your hair better reflect light, O'Connor says.
If highlighting your hair is something you're new at and still working to conquer, see a professional colorist every six months or so to help balance your color and make any fixes necessary, O'Connor suggests. They will help keep your color on track so you can easily maintain it at home.
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Fix Highlights That Turn Out Badly
If your highlights are lighter than you wanted them ... apply a toner or colored gloss on top of your highlights to tone them down. Choose a semi or demi-permanent color (try Wella Demi Permanent Hair Color, $6.79) and apply it directly to the highlighted areas. Follow the time guidelines provided on the box, but again, check the color as it processes to make sure it's what you want.
If your highlights aren't light enough... wait two days and then re-do them. To ensure you don't go too light, only re-highlight 1/2 of the sections you lightened previously.
If you're highlights look orange... it's likely the product you used isn't potent enough to lighten your hair (or you didn't leave the bleach on long enough). Instead of taking matters into your own hands, call your stylist (or a color company's help line) and tell them what you used and what the problem is. They will be able to help you with your specific issue.
Generally the easiest way to fix color you don't like is to find a semi or demi-permanent hair color, like Clairol Natural Instincts, $6.99, that matches your natural base color exactly, O'Connor says. Color all of your hair to help it all blend together. Then wait a month before you do any more color, or see a professional.
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Get Creative If You're Experienced
If you've been highlighting or coloring your hair for a while and you want to warm up or slightly tweak your overall color, try this: After adding highlights, when hair has been washed and dried, put your favorite all-over hair color on top. The highlights will peek through but your base color will get a nice boost.
Image via Imaxtree
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.
