Highlights on the Upper East Side

What highlights are, and why clients still love them

Highlights are sections of hair lightened inside foil packets. The foil holds heat and keeps the lightener contained, so your colorist can control exactly how bright each piece gets and exactly where it sits. The result is defined, even brightness from root to end.

Balayage gets a lot of attention, but highlights remain one of the most requested color services on the Upper East Side for good reason:

• More brightness. Foils allow more lift than open-air painting, which matters if you want a clearly blonde result.
• More control at the root. Brightness can start right at the scalp, so the color looks fresh and polished from every angle.
• Precision. Fine, even placement creates a seamless, sophisticated look that suits a sleek blowout.
• Predictability. Because placement is consistent, your next appointment can repeat the result closely, especially with your formula on record.

If you prefer softer grow-out and a more lived-in look, our balayage page explains how the two compare.

Types of highlights we offer

Full highlights

Foils placed throughout the whole head for all-over brightness. Best if you want a clearly lighter overall look or you are going from a darker base to blonde over time.

Partial highlights

Foils placed on the top and around the face, where light naturally falls and where people see your hair most. A good way to refresh brightness between full appointments, or to keep a lighter touch.

Face-framing highlights

A few brighter pieces around the hairline and part. They lift your complexion, make color look fresh, and are an easy first step if you are new to highlights.

Babylights

Very fine, delicate highlights that mimic the natural brightness of a child's hair. The result is soft and blended, and regrowth is less noticeable.

Lowlights

Deeper pieces woven in to add richness and depth. Lowlights are useful when highlights have built up and hair looks too light or flat, and they help soften gray as it grows in.

Highlights and lowlights together

The most dimensional option: brightness from highlights, depth from lowlights. This combination often looks the most natural, especially on brunettes and bronde shades.

Is highlights the right choice for you?

Highlights are a great fit if you:

• Want noticeable brightness, not just a subtle glow
• Wear your hair sleek, straight or blown out, where even placement shows best
• Prefer a polished, groomed look over a lived-in one
• Come in regularly and like your color to look fresh at the root
• Want to blend early gray with brightness

Balayage may suit you better if you want the longest possible time between appointments and do not mind a darker root. Not sure? Your colorist will look at your hair, your photos and your routine at the consultation and recommend the right technique.

What happens at your appointment

1. The consultation

Every appointment starts with a real conversation. Your colorist will ask about your color history, including box dye, keratin or smoothing treatments and previous highlights, and look at your hair in natural light. Bring photos of looks you love, and any you do not.

2. The plan

Your colorist decides on placement, foil size, how many foils, lightener strength and processing time. If you want a big change, such as going from dark brunette to blonde, they will tell you honestly whether it should happen over more than one visit.

3. Placement

Foils are placed section by section, following your part and cut. Your colorist may use different techniques in different areas: finer weaves around the face, bolder pieces underneath, lowlights where you need depth.

4. Processing and protection

The lightener processes inside the foils until each section reaches the right level. Bond-building treatment can be added to help protect the hair during lightening.

5. Toning

Lightened hair always has some warmth. A toner or gloss neutralizes unwanted yellow or orange and sets the final shade: icy, beige, golden, honey or anywhere in between.

6. Finish

A blowout so you see the true result, and a recorded formula so your next visit starts where this one ended.

Highlights and lowlights usually take about two to three and a half hours, depending on your hair's length, thickness and the look you want.

Choosing your shade

The right highlight shade depends on your skin tone, your natural color and your eye color as much as on the photo you bring.

• Cool and icy blondes suit fair skin with pink or cool undertones.
• Beige and neutral blondes flatter almost everyone and grow out softly.
• Golden and honey tones warm up olive and medium skin and look beautiful on brunettes.
• Caramel and toffee highlights add dimension to brown hair without going blonde.
• Bronde blends brown and blonde for low-maintenance brightness.

Your colorist will help you choose a tone that looks natural on you in daylight, not just under salon lights.

Highlights on dark hair

Dark brown and black hair can be highlighted beautifully, but it takes planning. Dark hair has a lot of warm pigment, so it passes through red and orange stages as it lightens. Your colorist may:

• Aim for caramel, honey or chestnut highlights that look rich rather than brassy
• Lighten gradually over two or more visits if you want to go blonde
• Use bond-building treatment to protect the hair
• Tone carefully so warmth looks intentional, not accidental

Highlights and gray hair

Highlights are one of the best tools for blending gray. Fine highlights placed through the hair make new gray growth far less obvious, so you can go longer between appointments than with solid coverage. Lowlights keep depth so the result does not look washed out. If gray is your main concern, see our gray blending page.

How to keep highlights bright

• Use a color-safe, sulfate-free shampoo and wash with lukewarm water.
• Use a purple shampoo once a week, not every wash, to keep blonde cool.
• Book a gloss every six to eight weeks to refresh tone and shine between highlight appointments.
• Use heat protection every time you blow-dry or use hot tools.
• Protect from sun and chlorine with a hat and a leave-in conditioner, and rinse after swimming.
• Use a weekly conditioning mask to keep lightened hair soft.

How often to book

• Full highlights: typically every 8 to 12 weeks
• Partial or face-framing highlights: in between full appointments to keep the front fresh
• Gloss: every 6 to 8 weeks

Your colorist will suggest a schedule that fits your hair, your budget and how fresh you like your roots.

Common highlight problems, and how we avoid them

Stripy, chunky results. Usually caused by foils that are too thick or placed too evenly far apart. We weave and slice sections to the right size for your hair and the look you want, so brightness blends.

Brassiness. Happens when lightening stops too early or toner fades. We lift to the right level, tone carefully, and recommend a gloss schedule to keep it clean.

Banding. Overlapping fresh lightener onto previously lightened hair creates stripes and damage. Your colorist applies new color only to regrowth where possible, and records placement for next time.

Overly bright results. Too many highlights over time can leave hair flat and one-tone. Lowlights bring back depth when that happens.

Dryness and breakage. We assess condition first and add bond-building treatment where it helps.

Preparing for your appointment

• Arrive with dry hair. Clean or second-day hair is both fine unless your colorist asks otherwise.
• Bring photos of the brightness and tone you want, and any you do not.
• Write down your color history, including box dye and smoothing treatments, ideally going back two years.
• Wear a top with a collar or neckline that will not get in the way.
• Allow enough time. Full highlights can take a few hours.

Highlights through the seasons

Spring: many clients go a little brighter as the light changes. Start bigger changes now so you have time to adjust tone.

Summer: sun and chlorine warm highlights quickly. Book a gloss mid-season and protect your hair outdoors.

Fall: a good time to add lowlights for richer, warmer dimension after a summer of sun.

Winter: dry indoor heat can make highlights look dull. Regular glosses and weekly masks keep them luminous.

Questions to ask your colorist

1. Full, partial or face-framing highlights: which suits my goal?
2. Should we add lowlights for depth?
3. What tone will look best with my skin?
4. Can I reach my goal in one visit, or should we plan two?
5. How often will I need to come back?
6. What should I use at home to keep the tone clean?

Why book highlights at The Salon Project

• Specialist colorists. Our colorists focus on color, not split between cutting and coloring.
• Consultation first. Every appointment begins with a real conversation.
• Placement built around your cut. Foils follow how you part and wear your hair, so the brightness shows where you want it.
• Bond protection during lightening where it helps.
• Recorded formulas. Each visit builds on the last.
• Convenient location. Inside the Warren Tricomi salon at 969 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor, a short walk from the 77th Street station on the 6 train, with early 8 a.m. appointments Tuesday through Thursday.

Want color and a cut in one visit? Choose both services when you book, and we will schedule your colorist and stylist back to back. Explore all our color services.

Book your highlights

Book online and 10% comes off every service automatically. Calling to book? Mention code WARREN for 10% off.