at home highlighters - Beauty & Cosmetics Message Board

mnmama · 11-08-2007, 11:26 AM

I want to highlight my hair but not spend a ton of money, do the at home highlighters give good results? What brands are best?

hillaryb · 11-08-2007, 01:02 PM

Believe it or not, Revlon Frost and Glow has been pretty universally praised for good results. It comes with a cap and hook, and you pull small pieces of hair through the cap. This process is tricky and time-consuming, but you can get the hang of it. It is important to not go back in and pull more hair through the hole if you don't get enough the first time. this will stretch the hole and cause blotchy roots.

I havent' used these products. I have dark brown hair and I get partial foils and the salon. Not too pricey, and much less risky. If you have naturally light hair, your chances of a good result are better than if you are naturally dark brunette. You also have to make sure you leave the bleach on long enough, or results will be orange, not blonde. I know alot about the bleaching process, but it is complicated and that is what keeps me from trying to do my hair myself. Best to pull hair through every other hole to avoid an all-over color change. Hope that helps a bit.

rudiraven · 11-08-2007, 02:25 PM

I used Revlon "Frost & Glow" for years and always had great results. Follow the directions and as the other poster said, don't pull too much through the holes. I always had my husband or a friend help me with the back of my head. A few tips from my experience. After you put the bleach solution on and put on the plastic cap, wrap your head in aluminum foil. It looks crazy but it keeps the heat in and your hair "develops" faster. (A beautician told me that secret) After your hair has lightened to the desired shade (I always let mine get about the color of spaghetti noodles

) and you remove the cap I alway put a non-peroxide toner on my hair. It takes the brassiness away. The toners come in all different shades of blonde, your choice. It might be easier to find everything you need at one of the beauty supply stores than at a big box store. Hope this helped.

tUrRrRa · 11-11-2007, 10:53 AM

My hair develops very quickly, so unfortunately I can't use the cap. I use it once and had a very bad experience! Also, it works better for short-medium hair and is not very comfortable with long hair, like myself. I also ended up having a little bit of roots at the top (where the cap was) and felt like the highlights did not show up enough for me! What a bummer! I think if I had short hair it would have worked better and would have been much quicker. The color did come out correctly, but I'm not sure what brand it was.... I think something from Sally's.

The only other kid besides a cap (which was some professional products) was the Loreal Feria highlighting kit. If you are looking to go BLONDER, I don't recommend highlighting at home. I used one that was supposed to give me golden highlights and if anything it made my whole hair a little bit redder, but I didn't even see highlights. If you don't use bleach on dark hair, it probably won't come out blonde and will be more gold or orange. I've also heard bad things about Sun-In and that it really damages your hair.

MoonLight0 · 11-11-2007, 10:29 PM

Whatever you do, don't use the Herbal Essence one. My friend and I both tried it a few years ago and it was horrible.
It wouldn't work on roots, so we had like an inch or two of roots, but the rest was bleached... and it wasn't even the right shade of blonde, it was kinda orange-y.
We both absolutely hated it and ended up having to redye our hair right away. Never again. If I ever decide to put high lights in my hair again, I'll definitely go get it done at a salon.