Lowlights

[northshore]

Had colour consultation at hairdressers today - it all turned into white noise but I did remember her saying 3 things - roots/foils/lowlights.
My dark brown hair is too dark after years of home dye so I want a lighter effect - suggestion was lowlights - goldenish/copperish streaks? - but what happens when my grey roots start showing through on the top of my head - will they have to be dyed dark brown, and will more lowlights have to be put in on the top of my head? Or don't lowlights go in at the top? Aaarghhh.
How does it all work? So confused
Thank you if anyone is patient enough to explain how it works.

Are you sure it wasn't highlights? Highlights lighten and lowlights darken. Unless they were going to do a mix of both

I alternate getting full head and half head highlights with a few lowlights put on the top. My hair used to be dark but is now mostly blonde

I thought she said lowlights but I got really confused! what does half head mean - which half of your head?

Half head is all the hair on the top down to about ear level (well the roots will be ear level). The underneath section would not get highlighted.

T-bar is the top section around the parting and full head is all the hair done.

what does half head mean - which half of your head?

northshore omg I thin I love you for this comment

Honestly I left the hairdressers feeling like a right dunce
Could not keep track of what she said
But my main question is (I think) - when your grey roots start appearing - do you have to have the base colour done again, and then do you have to have the highlights or lowlights done again on the top?
So massive annoying high maintenance?

Are you getting a colour as well as highlights? I don't so it's just the highlights that blend in the grey plus darker roots

Plus when you get the roots redone they don't put the bleach fully down the hair shaft or the ends would go really pale compared to the rest of the hair

Quite honestly I've no idea what the plan is any more!
Don't want a colour. But got grey roots. Wanted coppery goldy swishy streaky bits. In my dreams I think.

Mine was last done on 4th September and I'm going to get mine redone tomorrow. Think I had a half head last time so probably full head this time but as i said it will be concentrated on the roots and I don't get a tint (colour) on the rest of the hair

Maybe will use bleach for highlights and then a toner to give the copper/ gold colour

I’d like to understand this too. Have brown hair but with greys appearing. I hate seeing the grey roots so have had brown root tint for a while now and in he summer had a half head of highlights. I can’t d highlights regularly so in the winter I just have brown root tint but I have never been entirely happy with it. I wanted it to match my natural brown hair colour but they don’t seem to be able to do this and its always more of a reddy brown. So when it starts to griow out I have grey/dark roots, then orangey brown and then blonder towards the ends where the highlights still are.
I’m not happy with it but I never understand what they’re going on about in the hairdressers and am so busy that i havenmt had time to look into it further.
I especially hate it when they get all the colour charts out and expect you to be able to visualise what your hair will look like by looking at one coloures strand in a book!

Sorry for all my typos, was rushing!

I have mousy brown hair naturally. I have a full head of highlights with a tint just on my roots for greys. Result is medium brown hair with light brown highlights

Maloofhof that's the sort of thing I want, I think. But my roots are really grey so what do you do about that? At moment I do home dye about every 4 weeks and now I have built up this horrible head of dark dark hair.
I don't even understand the basics - what's a tint - just a plain colour?
Don't highlights go up as far as roots ?
Honey1975 I sympathise. I've not felt so bewildered for a long time.

They may need to strip it if you have a lot of built up colour. I always boxed dyed my hair with medium-dark browns. When I first went to the salon they did the same as they do now, highlights then a brown colour tint in between the foils for the grey. She said a tint wasn't necessary as they'd not show as much with highlights but I wanted to make sure. It took a few visits for it to be exactly what I wanted but I was pleased with the result from the first visit

My first time I just got t-bar to see how I liked it and then next time got a full head. I don't get a tint on the hair between the foils

Sorry, meant to say she also uses a toner on the highlights

God I totally relate to this post.

Over the years I've thrown so much money at my hair and have never ever been happy with the colour.

I have dark brown hair and a lot of grey and no matter what they do it just seems to go warm and orangey.

And it's not like I'm going to cheap places either. When I lived in Sydney I even went to the chap who did Nicole Kidman/Kylie and Kate Middleton's hair! Paid a fortune, spent a whole day there and the result was meh.

Maybe my hair is just shit.

@northshore highlights do go all the way to the roots. They will take strands of hair from the roots to the tip and apply the colour and wrap it in foil for a while.

The half head relates to the fact that they will do the half of your head that is seen - so the top. They don't bother to highlight all the hair underneath. Sometimes they may do the odd strand underneath if you tell them you wear your hair up a lot.

When the highlights grow out and grey starts to reappear at the roots you can have it done again.

Highlights are colours lighter than your hair. Lowlights mean darker than your natural colour.

I hope that answers all of your questions.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP but I’m finding this very useful as you sound in a similar position to me.
dementedpixie do you find it’s enough having the highlights to cover the grey? I’m now thinking do I need a tint or should I just have highlights? I suppose i just feel that with the tint the greys are completely hidden whereas with highlights are they not still visible but just blended in?
How offen do you get your highlights done?

I’m finding it all very high maintenance and expensive and time consuming! And I’m not even happy with the end result!

Have raked out an old picture from 2 years ago and then today. I'm a bit lax about going regularly to get highlights done so they haven't been done since September so my roots are terrible. Going today if you want an updated picture afterwards

Excuse the pictures as I'm still in my dressing gown with no make up on

The colour change has all been done with highlights btw

Wow that’s so different, thank you for sharing dementedpixie. So was the brown colour your natural colour? Did you start off by having a full head of highlights and what do you have now, still a full head each time or less? What kind of blonde did you ask for, is it more than one blonde colour? Sorry for all the questions but I think this might be the route I should take.

I don’t think your roots look bad at all whereas mine look hideous against my tint which gets more orangey by the day!
Would love to see another picture later if that’s ok.