You’re a tad bored of your hair colour, but you still believe that people who dye their hair a completely different colour are bonkers! Sure, Rihanna can pull off any hair colour out there, but most of us tend to be more hesitant when it comes to tampering with our natural hair shade.

If that’s your case, you’ve come to the right place! Allow us to explain all you need to know about making subtle changes to your hair colour without having to commit to a complete dye job.

Let’s start with the basics; what’s the difference between highlights and lowlights and which should you go for?

Highlights:

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Adding highlights to your hair simply means picking a few strands and dying them at least two shades lighter than the rest of your hair. The highlighted strands can either be thick or thin depending on the look you’re going for.

The trick here is to pick a shade for your highlights that will compliment your skin tone and hair colour- aka blonde highlights are not always the answer (the ‘oxygeeeeeiiin’ look we see all too often around here). Whereas blonde highlights look great on some people, others should, for example, stick to light brown ones.

If you find yourself on the verge of going more than three shades lighter than your hair colour, ABORT MISSION. We’re serious; you do not want to go there. Highlights should never look too-in-your-face or ridiculously unnatural. They should give your hair a slight glow and lift its colour.

Lowlights:

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On the other hand, you can always go for lowlights, which you can think of as reverse-highlights. What this means is that instead of going a few shades lighter than your hair colour, you can go a couple of shades darker. This will help bring out your natural hair colour more.

The trick here is to not have really thick strands lowlighted as that would look way too chunky and, again, unnatural. You want your lowlights dispersed for that effortless look.

What if you want something a bit more innovative than good old highlights and lowlights?

A Mixture of Highlights and Lowlights:

The saying goes ‘go big or go home’, right? So, one can always get both highlights and lowlights done simultaneously. This can actually work wonders for your hair as they will both help each other blend in more with your natural colour. Just stick to the two-to-three shades lighter or darker rule and you should be fine.

Balayage:

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This look can be referred to as the ‘effortless Ombre’ for those who admire the Ombre look, but still want to sport a more natural hair colour. Balayage is basically dyeing the lower end of your hair a few shades lighter than the upper half of your hair and blending the lighter colour into the darker one without using any foil- that’s right; it’s painted and blended instantly so the colours melt into each other.

Another aspect differentiating Balayage from Ombre is that only sections of the lower half of the hair are dyed, so the colour is more weaved into your natural hair colour.

To wrap up, it’s always fun to experiment a little with your hair colour and if you’re not ready for a full-on dye job, any of the above colouring treatments can probably work for you. Just remember to always have a talk with a professional before diving headfirst into any hair treatment and stick to what would look flattering on you- blindly following a trend is not always the best idea!