Transform your naturally deep brown or black locks by adding dimension and softening your colour with highlights.

Highlights add light-catching dimension to the hair and are less damaging than an overall lightening process.

Highlights can be applied over natural colour or permanent colour using a two-step lightening process. Our Highlights Kit includes everything you need to easily achieve highlights at home.

After an initial lightening process using foils, apply a toner or semi-permanent colour to deposit tone over your lightened sections. Toners are cool based colours blended with a 5 vol developer.

You can tone your highlights to mute warmth, leaving a tonally balanced finish. Light or mid-brown highlights will add softness and natural finish which will soften your overall look. Softer brown highlights on a darkest brown or black base leave a beautiful, lit-from-within glow, and add softness and shine while being very low maintenance.

Don’t be limited by classically toned highlights. Consider adding a more vibrant tones such as caramel, golden, copper or mahogany tones for a beautiful contrast and flattering finish over your darker base.

If you wanted a warmer colour finish, blend 5 vol developer with a copper or mahogany colour to create a semi-permanent finish over highlights.

Medium Brown to Dark Blonde highlights:

We recommend using our Highlights Kit to lighten by 4-6 levels. This can take a black/dark brown base colour to a medium brown or dark blonde colour.

Don’t underestimate the impact that softer brown highlights can have on a darker base. This colour effect is easy to achieve and maintain and adds a light-catching softness and brightness to darker colours. Keep them tonally balanced with cool-based softer highlights if you prefer to see no warmth in your colour finish.

Dark Blonde highlights create a stunning contrast on a darker brunette base. An ombre or balayage application can work especially well when embracing a significant colour contrast and requires less upkeep too as you can stretch out intervals between touch-ups.

A subtle shift in your look may be all you need to transform your look. Adding cool medium brown highlights will draw light to a darker base colour, leaving a sunkissed look. A beautiful finish does not have to be extreme. Adding softer light brown ash babylights can break up your colour and refresh your look. Placing softer highlights around the face will frame and flatter your face with just a colour change of a few levels.

Blending lighter or medium brown balayage highlights in a dark brown shade will work brilliantly to add volume and understated dimension to the darkest brown hair.

Highlights with Colour:

Highlights can be a fantastic way to experiment with colour.

Colouring highlights with a brighter colour blended with our 5 vol developer will create a semi-permanent colour finish on your highlights. Think vibrant mahogany or copper accents which shine vibrantly against a darker base.

Highlights Kit

Our Highlights Kit can be customised to give you any finish you want – classic lighter brown or blonde highlights, or highlights with a rich, warmer finish.

Our Highlights Kit include everything you need to create highlights, including:

• lightening kit to lighten your strands
• toner or semi-permanent Colour Kit to deposit tone or colour on your lightened sections
• easy to follow illustrated instructions

You will also need our Highlights Accessories Bundle, which includes a reusable pintail comb, 4 alligator clips and a box of professional foils.

Our colourists can help you find the right toner or semi to use after you lighten, and answer any questions to help with the foil application process.

I love my colour! It was exactly what my hairdresser was doing and cost an arm and a leg. Thank you so much The Shade! It is beautiful and easy to apply.

Cristal Michelmore

Love your product! My hair feels so soft and beautiful all the time now and it’s so easy to use. Highly recommend!

Edwa Scott

I’m so happy with my result, the colour is beautiful and my hair feels amazing!

Sarah Green