Highlights Vs. All-Over Color

You know you want to change up your hair. You’re bored of the same color and want to add something else. But should you just get highlights in Annapolis or do you go for all-over color? Ruby Salon weighs the pros and cons of each so you know which treatment is right for you.

Highlights

If you love your base hair color, highlights may be the best option for you. A shade or two lighter (or darker for lowlights) than your normal hair, these add depth and dimension to your color. It’s particularly helpful for hair that’s all one length, with no layers. It adds a dimension that’s not there when there are no layers.

However, highlights aren’t the greatest for gray coverage. They’re only put in particular places. If you’re doing something like a bayalage, color is painted through the lower parts of your hair so it looks sunkissed. You can get highlights all throughout your hair, or just in the front or back. It may cover some of your grays, but not all. However, it does give you a lot of options if you’re not sure exactly what you want

All-Over Color

If you want a complete change, all-over color is the way to go, especially if you’re very unhappy with your base color. This is also the best option if you have a lot of gray hair that you want to cover up. You don’t get this kind of coverage with highlights. If you have a funky haircut, this may also be the way to go. It can look too complicated if you put highlights on top of a trendy new do.

The biggest annoyance with all-over color is how often you’ll need to get it touched up. Your roots are going to need to be touched up every few weeks. This isn’t something you’ll really have to worry about with highlights, particularly if you get them only in the bottom portion of your hair. All-over color can also look very flat if it’s the wrong color, on an unflattering style, or doesn’t match your skin tone well.

Price and harshness are two other things to think about for highlights and all-over color. All-over color is usually cheaper than highlights because it takes less time and work. Highlights also are more likely to damage your hair. Many of the formulas for highlights contain bleach, which dries out your hair.

The Best of Both Worlds

There is a way to kind of have both options. Maybe you want to really change up your base color or cover a lot of grays. But you also want the dimension and variation that highlights offer. While this may take a decent amount of time, you’ll get the completely new look that you want.