Application techniques

Application techniques

Hair with blonde highlights

Hair color was traditionally applied to the hair as one overall color. The modern trend is to use several colors to produce streaks or gradations, either on top of the natural color or on top of a single base color. These are referred to as:

• Highlighting, where sections of hair are treated with lighteners, usually to create blond streaks.
• Lowlighting, where sections of hair are treated with darker hair color.

These can be applied by the following methods:

• Foiling, where pieces of foil or plastic film are used to separate off the hair to be colored; especially when applying more than one color.
• Cap, when a plastic cap is placed tight on the head and strands are pulled through with a hook.
• Balayage, where hair color is painted directly onto sections of the hair with no foils used to keep the color contained.

All application techniques can be used with any type of color. For highlights, the hair will usually have to be bleached before coloring.