Highlighting your hair at home can be a great way to save money over going to the salon. However, you have to know how to do it correctly, or you could end up not getting the style you’re looking for or even damaging your hair. Read on to learn how to highlight dark hair at home.

Which products do you need?

49.60% of All Things Hair readers said that they are afraid to bleach their own hair at home. That’s understandable, considering that you can damage your hair and scalp if you do the procedure wrong. However, there are steps you can take to make sure you’re protecting your hair and bleaching it the correct way. 

The first step is to make sure you’re getting the correct product. Lightening dark hair with blond highlights takes liquid peroxide and bleach powder. Use 30 volume peroxide so that you don’t run the risk of damaging your hair and burning your scalp. You could find 40 volume, but many people find that too harsh. It’s better to use 30 volume over several applications with time between each. 

If you’re very new to this or worried about mixing your own products, there are also highlighting kits on the market that might suit you better. These come with all the chemicals you need; you just have to follow the instructions on the packet. Make sure to pay close attention to which base or starting colors each kit is recommended for. Many kits have charts on the side that tell you how the product looks on different shades of starting color.       

Tips for how to highlight your hair

The best way to make sure you’re getting this right is to always start with a strand test, ideally where it’s not too noticeable! That will tell you how long the product needs to sit on your hair to get the desired result. Always follow the instructions that come with the product you buy. If in doubt, head to a beauty store and ask the staff for pointers. 

Bleach is caustic, so make sure you’re wearing gloves and clothes you don’t mind wrecking while highlighting your dark hair. It can also help to protect your face around the edge of your hairline and your ears with petroleum jelly. 

The best way to highlight your hair is to use a small toothbrush or tiny color brush to get the most targeted highlighting effect. Make sure you have a way to separate the bleach from the rest of your hair or you’ll risk bleaching parts you don’t want. It’s common to place the parts you are dying on top of layers of tinfoil to keep them separated. However, tinfoil can speed up the bleach process, so you may want to place the strands you intend to bleach on thin cotton layers instead.    

You may want to go for a lightly highlighted effect at first to see how your hair is taking the bleach. By going slowly and following the instructions, you can get a subtle highlighted look at home, even starting with very dark hair.