20 Exciting Ways to Get Highlights on Natural Black Hair
There is nothing as dazzling as having natural hair highlighted. Adding some beautiful color to natural afro hair instantly highlights its beauty; in fact, it is a fantastic way to elevate your look. In this article, we take you on a guide to getting highlights on your natural hair. We go through various techniques for getting highlights and then showcase 20 inspirational ideas for you to try out. Let’s get started, shall we?
How to Highlight Natural Hair
Here are some of our favorite methods to get highlights for natural hair:
- Foil highlights: The colorist places your natural hair in foils and paints in the highlights. This is a very accurate method, and you come away with an exact, beautiful finish.
- Balayage: Fun fact, “balayage” means “to sweep” or “to paint” in French. So, using balayage technique, a colorist doesn’t place your natural hair in foils, rather performing a free hand painting job to give the hair a natural, sun-kissed look.
- Flamboyage: A marriage of foil highlights and balayage, the flamboyage method offers a natural look that also sports random but exquisite patches of color.
- Ombre: For a soft gradient from darker roots to lighter tips, the ombre technique is it. A similar technique called Sombre has a more gradual and more subtle transition.
- Underlights: One minute, you see it, and the next, you don’t. Underlights are applied underneath the top layer of hair, offering a peek-a-boo effect.
- Ribbon highlights: This method, also known as Pintura highlights, follows the curl pattern of curly or wavy hair and has more intense color application than balayage to create a beautiful, dimensional color.
The best strategy here is to guide your stylist regarding the result you want to get but leave the choice of a technique to them. They will do a strand test and carefully assess the health of your hair, its dye history, and your maintenance expectations to come up with the best method for curly hair highlights.
Let’s take a deeper dive into Afro hair highlight ideas that will help you find the hairstyles you want to try and explain what you want to your stylist.
1. From Dark to Vibrant
This is a beautiful tapered cut that goes from dark roots to vibrant color at the tips. Perfect for fashionistas with short, curly hair. We especially love the golden-brown highlights.
2. Twist Out Meets Highlights
This hair has been highlighted to perfection and the model’s beauty is brought out in a twist out style. Brown highlights are natural looking, complement radiant ebony skin and bring a sparkle to brown eyes.
3. Auburn to Blonde Fade
Blonde highlights look so good on melanin skin of all shades. The color starts off brown at the roots, segues into lighter brown and then into light blonde at the end. We’ll take a plate of that, thank you!
4. Dazzling Crown of Bronze Highlights
Is it copper? Is it auburn? Wait, it might very well be gold. These bouncy curls feature a stunning intermix of red brown shades and form a dazzling crown on top of the model’s hair, perfect for a day at the office and drinks event afterward.
5. Chocolate Tips
Twists and highlights form the perfect combo. Placed on longer coils on top, highlights enhance the contrast with a black taper fade in this short natural hairstyle. Such haircuts draw attention to the wearers’ face structures.
6. Subtle Perfection
This hairstyle is literal perfection. The stylist has gone for subtle highlights, as only the tips of the hair are highlighted in a rich caramel blonde, forming a vibrant and beautiful contrast against the naturally dark hair.
7. Silver Ribbon Highlights
This model’s gray-brown and silver highlights are done in a ribbon highlights style. The highlights follow her natural curl pattern to create a beautiful, multi-dimensional look that frames her beautiful face. She looks mysterious, don’t you think?
8. Bold and Exciting
Copper highlights, yes please. Go for this bold, exciting look with your curly hair. It’s classy, elegant yet understated and perfect for both work and leisure.
9. Honey Blonde
If you are looking to get an understated highlight style, keep scrolling. This is a bold look that features babylights in honey blonde hair color, which is one of the trendiest shades flattering deep skin. If you have short natural hair and are looking to try out blonde, this is a perfect way to show your adventurous side.
10. Go Whimsical
Go for the whimsy with this fun mohawk hairstyle. The highlights have been applied using the balayage method to give the hair a natural, sun-kissed look. The model’s pink hair clip and matching pink earrings bring a playful look you might want to try out yourself. Not a fan of pink? Try out your own favorite color.
11. Magenta Ombre Highlights
Be bold, be exceptional, be edgy, be you! This hairstyle combines a perfect fade cut, a shaved line and magenta highlights that accentuate the edginess of the model.
12. Vibrant Red Curls
This model sure knows how to bring it with her red hair highlights and red glasses frames. No need for any other accessories but her beautiful, radiant smile. Note how Black hair first transitions to mahogany and then vibrant red highlights at the tip. Twist out or finger coils work best for showcasing the color, as it allows bright hues to pop against the dark base.
13. Milk Chocolate Ringlets
Beautiful golden brown curly highlights on beautiful Black hair has to be right up there on anyone’s hair bucket list. If you like to make statements without screaming for attention, here is the way to do it.
14. Dirty Blonde Balayage Highlights
Dirty blonde highlights have never looked this good. They are striking and a whole lot flattering, framing the model’s face beautifully. Perfect for anyone who would like to make a bold, yet classy statement.
15. Rose Red Highlights
Here is another proof red hair shades look awesome on Black women. We love the way color emphasizes the profusion of natural curls and wispy coily bangs.
16. Color Melt Highlights
Beauty, color and curls! Feast your eyes on a professionally executed melt of shades, from black and brown to calamel and butter blonde. The color will look beautiful on both silk press and roller set or twist out curls.
17. Fun Pops of Yellow
The oversized sunglasses, the cool denim, the hand-painted yellow balayage highlights – what’s not to love about this look? Yellow hair color is not an obvious choice when it comes to highlights, but this hairstyle proves it should be!
18. A Burst of Pumpkin Spice
Show off your sassy side with this abundance of natural curls and paprika red balayage. This messy look is anything but messy. Rather, it is professionally arranged to bring out the model’s hair texture, enhanced with the trending pumpkin spice shade.
19. Catchy Detail
There are many beautiful details that can step up your wash and go, curly bangs, highlights and taper undercut design among them. But why not dare to combine them in one head-turning look? Here, salted caramel highlights are placed at the very tips of the hair, giving several dazzling specks of color against a predominantly black background. Catchy and low maintenance!
20. Auburn Natural Hair Highlights
While not as “in your face” as blonde and vivid highlights, these are tasteful, regal and nuanced. You can deifnetely spot a soft transition from the deeper to brighter hue, concentrated on the tips, resulting is a very natural look and promising a seamless regrowth.
Highlights are a beautiful way to enhance natural Black hair. Incorporating subtle or bold splashes of color brings vibrancy and definition to the curls. So go ahead and book your appointment to get your highlights. From the 20 ideas we have given above, you can’t go wrong.
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