Help me help my friend put highlights in her hair!
July 11, 2013 11:06 AM Subscribe
My friend has asked me to help put a few highlights in her hair. I have experience doing my own hair so normally I wouldn't need help, but I'm a white girl and my friend has natural African American hair.
My friend who has natural AA hair has asked me to help her color it. I am a white girl but I have experience lightening my own hair.
We aren't going to be doing any bleaching or lightening of her own natural dark color, just putting some pretty shades over it.
We are going to get one of those caps with the holes and pull little pieces of her hair through. She wants to choose two or three different permanent color shades (red, brown, golden perhaps?) and we will paint those colors on the hair we pulled through.
She wants to do it so that when her hair catches the light you will see pretty highlights throughout it.
I think it will be lovely but I wanted some more information if nobody minds!
1) Does our plan sound about right? Can anybody who is experienced putting highlights in natural hair gives us some feedback?
2)What brand(s) of hair color should we look for?
3)Anything else you think we should know or tips to help us out!
Thanks!
My friend who has natural AA hair has asked me to help her color it. I am a white girl but I have experience lightening my own hair.
We aren't going to be doing any bleaching or lightening of her own natural dark color, just putting some pretty shades over it.
We are going to get one of those caps with the holes and pull little pieces of her hair through. She wants to choose two or three different permanent color shades (red, brown, golden perhaps?) and we will paint those colors on the hair we pulled through.
She wants to do it so that when her hair catches the light you will see pretty highlights throughout it.
I think it will be lovely but I wanted some more information if nobody minds!
1) Does our plan sound about right? Can anybody who is experienced putting highlights in natural hair gives us some feedback?
2)What brand(s) of hair color should we look for?
3)Anything else you think we should know or tips to help us out!
Thanks!
If she doesn't want bleaching/lightening of her hair, make sure you get deposit color that's marked as temporary. It will create a subtle shade difference, but won't permanently change the color of her hair. The frosting cap is a good way to get an even distribution of color-treated hair.
posted by quince at 11:25 AM on July 11, 2013
posted by quince at 11:25 AM on July 11, 2013
It's not exactly highlights, but depending on the color she's looking for, she might want to look into henna - on dark hair it can give a subtle red highlight (it is a lot redder on lighter hair!) I'm white, but as I did research on using henna on my hair, I found a lot of natural hair forums where people use henna on their hair and have been really happy with the results. I first started researching on this site, which is very informative (but not that well organized, FYI) - but I just buy my henna at an Indian grocery store, which is way cheaper.
posted by Neely O'Hara at 11:53 AM on July 11, 2013
posted by Neely O'Hara at 11:53 AM on July 11, 2013
Some actual African-American women would know better but I, as a curly-haired white girl, have a bitch of time getting my hair pulled through those damn little holes in the frosting cap. Either my curls get hopelessly snagged under the cap and I can't pull anything through or a whole big chuck of curl comes through. If her hair's curly (you said natural so I'm guessing she doesn't have it straightened), you might want to think about that.
posted by Weeping_angel at 1:02 PM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Weeping_angel at 1:02 PM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
i am not african american, but as a white person with nearly stick straight hair, i used to have a bitch of a time with those stupid caps. i cannot even imagine doing it with african american hair. i envision lots of breakage and sadness. i would just hand pick pieces of hair paint the dye on and then roll it up in saran wrap. CAPS ARE EVIL.
but here's the other thing. african american hair is super different than caucasian hair. it's much drier and more brittle and takes dyes in different ways than caucasian hair. i'm not saying don't try it because what the hell, but be cautious and definitely browse some black hair forums.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:50 PM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
but here's the other thing. african american hair is super different than caucasian hair. it's much drier and more brittle and takes dyes in different ways than caucasian hair. i'm not saying don't try it because what the hell, but be cautious and definitely browse some black hair forums.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:50 PM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]
I have very thick and curly white girl hair and I can't abide the highlighting caps. My hair just gets way too tangled, and I think your friends might, too, as Weeping_angel said.
When I used to highlight my hair, I would use a mousse or creme-type dye and put my hair up in a bunch of little buns with clips. I'd take down one bun at a time and pull out individual tendrils of hair and use my gloved fingers to rub the mousse in. (I started off using the mascara wand applicator that usually comes in highlighting kits but it just got really tangled.) The thicker, stickier dye won't come off on the rest of the hair if you're careful, but you can also easily buy foils when you buy dye, or just use bits of saran.
There is usually a section in the hair dye aisle that is "ethnic hair care." There will be dyes formulated for natural hair--if she likes any of the colours, that's a good place to start. For the major brands, anyone with coarse hair will probably have leave the dye sitting for the maximum time to see good results. For that, I always think L'oreal is the least damaging to my hair.
And CONDITION when you are done. African-american hair is more prone to dryness than caucausian hair, so as dry as your hair gets post-colour, imagine hers being about ten times worse. I would do a deep conditioning masque right after rinsing, probably with coconut or olive oil.
posted by assenav at 8:18 PM on July 12, 2013
When I used to highlight my hair, I would use a mousse or creme-type dye and put my hair up in a bunch of little buns with clips. I'd take down one bun at a time and pull out individual tendrils of hair and use my gloved fingers to rub the mousse in. (I started off using the mascara wand applicator that usually comes in highlighting kits but it just got really tangled.) The thicker, stickier dye won't come off on the rest of the hair if you're careful, but you can also easily buy foils when you buy dye, or just use bits of saran.
There is usually a section in the hair dye aisle that is "ethnic hair care." There will be dyes formulated for natural hair--if she likes any of the colours, that's a good place to start. For the major brands, anyone with coarse hair will probably have leave the dye sitting for the maximum time to see good results. For that, I always think L'oreal is the least damaging to my hair.
And CONDITION when you are done. African-american hair is more prone to dryness than caucausian hair, so as dry as your hair gets post-colour, imagine hers being about ten times worse. I would do a deep conditioning masque right after rinsing, probably with coconut or olive oil.
posted by assenav at 8:18 PM on July 12, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
The good part about the frosting cap is that none of the hair color will touch her scalp, so there's a minimal chance of having an allergic reaction.
I'd recommend using colors specificaly for AA hair, Dark and Lovely for example.
If her hair is dark (as my hair is) you're not going to get any color changes without bleach/lightening. It just won't happen. You might get some color deposit, with intense reds or purples, but that's about it.
I'd pick 2 or 3 colors in the same family (light golden brown, medium golden brown) and then alternate them through her hair.
Sebastian Cellophanes are all over washes for hair that deposit color onto the shaft. You don't use these in a "frosting" situation though. They're meant to be used all over, and will intensify color and create shine.
I used these when I was young, and didn't have gray hair. I liked Eggplant (purply!) and Root Beer. Very pretty.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:15 AM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]