DIY Hair Highlights: A Professional Guide for Brighter, Natural-Looking Results

Lynda Churilla

Your Goal: Brighter Highlights

DIY Trick: Don't go overboard. The smaller the chunks of hair you highlight, the more diffuse the finished look will be. Kelly Van Gogh, a celebrity colorist based in Miami, suggests sections of about 10 hairs spaced at least a half inch apart. A kit that makes sun-smooched streaks a cinch: L'Oreal Paris Touch-On Highlights ($12.99, drugstores), which comes with a brush that fits on your finger and glides the product through strands.

Your Hair Color Tool Kit

Use a magic wand. Most at-home kits come with a small comb to run the highlighting formula through your roots. If the comb is uncomfortable or hard to manage, swap it out for a clean mascara wand (available at beauty supply stores). Or use a small makeup brush for a painted-on effect that's more forgiving when your hair begins to grow out.

Get Hair in Shape

Get conditioned. Your color will go on more evenly and be less likely to penetrate too quickly if your hair is hydrated and healthy. Try a moisturizing hair mask, such as Pantene Pro V Restoratives Time Renewal Replenishing Mask ($4.99, drugstores), the day before you color to get strands in tip-top shape.

Test Run

Do a test run. Start by coloring a small piece of your bottom layer of hair. You'll be able to see how the highlight develops before tackling the more visible areas. Use clips, like Color Trak Duckbill Clips ($4.59, sallybeauty.com), to pin up sections so that you can maneuver the strands strategically.

Reader Review

Tester: Kali Hudgins, Winterville, North Carolina

Tested: L'Oreal Paris Touch-On Highlights in Iced Champagne ($12.99, drugstores)

Real-life lesson: "My highlights are so even and natural looking that everyone thinks I went to a colorist. Pick a kit that's only one or two shades lighter than your real shade for the best results."

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, March 2010.