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Chances are, you've seen lowlights on your favorite celebrity or scrolling through Instagram. They're everywhere and seemingly nowhere all at once, the oft-overlooked step sister to sunny highlights and beach-ready waves. Turns out, they're really important and have a lot to do with keeping your hair color looking great.
Before we delve into the many merits of lowlights, we set out to answer some essential questions like, what exactly are lowlights and what do they do? We reached out to some lowlight experts to get all the intel so you (er—me!) never look clueless at a salon appointment ever again.
"Lowlights are the darker color either weaved/painted in or preserved while going lighter simulating or going deeper than the base color of the silhouette," Matt Rez at MèCHE Salon says. Lowlights are often mistaken or referred to as a “darker highlight” which Rez is quick to point out they are not and should not be referred to as such.
Dirty blonde or blonde hair, as well as medium brown hair all, require a lowlight to be added in or preserved while coloring—this is "in order to have separation of color vertically along the hair to keep contrast and from hair looking muddy," Rez says.
Lorri Goddard who has worked with a bevy of stars like Reese Witherspoon and Emilia Clarke prefers to do low-lights either wrapped in foil or hand-painted slightly between key highlights. She calls it a “foilyage” technique and says that adding specific low-lights helps make highlights pop.
“Adding strategic pieces of low lights truly enhances one’s natural skin and eye colors,” Goddard says.
Though it’s important to note that the best technique for you does depend on your individual hair texture. Straight, fine hair allows for much more threaded pieces, Goodard says, making the flow of depth look more natural. While curlier hair works differently.
"The more textured and or curled the hair, the more piece-y the lowlights should be, Rez says, noting that he spaces out weaves and does chunkier lowlights so that when hair is naturally styled, “lowlights shadow along the lengths without being too blended and drowned out by wavier textures."
Rez uses a demi-permanent hair color when depositing a lowlight, and opts for the most neutral tone. "I want the depth of the base color to carry through,” he says, often looking to the client’s natural tone (Which often ranges in the neutral to neutral-cool category).
Lowlights actually bring down the depth of the base so when new roots come in, color is more broken up and regrowth is less eye-catching, Rez says. Plus, lowlights fade like any color does, which is why it’s best to keep them neutral or neutral-cool as those colors tend to fade more on tone.
Learn even more essential facts, and see them in action below. We've got all the hair inspiration you need. Keep on scrolling for the best low-light photos we’re totally texting our hairstylist.
Blonde Hair With Lowlights
Choosing a Shade: Rez says it’s best to keep the base and lowlights on the neutral/neutral-cool side. Incorporate a warmer midlight to keep hair from looking disconnected and muddy, and opt for a neutral to warm tone with the highlights, he says. "This way the all over appearance of the silhouette is neutral and will flatter most skin tones, as skin is multi-tonal usually."
Maintenance Level: When done correctly, lowlights are not a high-maintenance choice and Goddard says they can even help add longevity to any color.
Similar Shades: Dirty Blonde, Ash Blonde, Medium Blonde.
Price: Lowlights start at $150 depending on the salon.
Dimensional Hair
This style often incorporates a darker dimensional tone to the hair, and it's where Rez actually came up with the concept of a midlight technique.
The midlight technique uses a color that's darker than the highlight and lighter than the lowlight/base color. It's typically used to clear up the bridge between highlights and lowlights.
Blended Blonde and Brown
Kryssi at IGK Salon created this great medium toned bronde shade. This style looks almost ash brown, and you can see how the lowlights add such great dimension.
Golden Curls
Jasmine Sanders has the prettiest curls and here, you can see how her lowlights add extra depth and blend into her hair naturally.
Hillary Duff's Perfect Blonde
Here, Duff show off the perfect lowlights. While her hair looks amazing here, and Nikki Lee at Nine Zero One Salon did an amazing job creating a natural color, Goddard warns that if you're working with parched or over-bleached hair, adding low-lights can pull an awful hollow tone. She recommends speaking to your colorist about a custom combination as that's the best way to figure out what works for you.
Balanced Tones
Skin tones are never the same throughout anyone’s complexion so it's important to create a well balanced all over appearance. Blending warm, cool, and neutral tones are the best way to go.
Try glossing the highlights, which Rez says helps to complement the primary skin tone of a client's hair.
Also, "glossing the highlights to complement the primary skin tone of a client's hair is always a good idea," he says. Just make sure lowlights are neutral.