Thinking of changing the color of your hair? There are so many different ways to add color to your hair that could be worth exploring. Most of these hair color techniques have fancy names. These terms can be useful to know when visiting a salon so that you can get exactly the right color style you’re looking for. Below is a glossary of some of the main hair color techniques along with descriptions of what they involve.

Highlights

Highlights are one of the most well known hair color techniques. Adding highlights involves adding lighter colored strands to the hair across the scalp. This can be done subtly (such as taking dark brown base color and adding a few lighter brown strands) or you can opt for a more dramatic contrast (such as adding bleach blonde or light green strands to black hair).

‘Foiling’ is the most traditional way to add highlights - it involves brushing small sections with bleach and wrapping them in foil. 

Lowlights

Lowlights are similar to highlights. However, instead of applying lighter strands, this technique involves applying darker strands throughout the hair. This typically involves taking the base color of your hair and going slightly darker in a few areas, although as with highlights you can opt for more dramatic contrasts such as adding black or blue lowlights to blonde hair.

Lowlights also traditionally use a foiling technique, however there is no need to bleach the hair, which can make it less damaging.

Ombre

An ombre (pronounced om-bray) consists of a gradual fade between two colors. For example, if you have dark brown hair, a blonde ombre would involve gradually lightening all your hair from the roots to the tips. Ombres can also be done with synthetic colors like reds or blues for a more daring look.

Ombres are typically carried out in sections starting from the roots to the tips. Creating a seamless fade between the two colors can be quite tricky - you’ll likely want to visit a professional hair salon opposed to attempting it yourself at home. 

Ombre highlights

Instead of applying an ombre effect to your entire hair, it’s possible to add small ombre highlights throughout the hair for a less dramatic look. 

Depending on where you want the highlights, this could be more time-consuming to carry out  than a regular ombre because different parts of the hair may have to be focused on individually. However, it may be possible to add an ombre effect to a few different strands at the same time. 

Sombre

A sombre (pronounced som-bray) is a combination of the words ‘subtle’ and ‘ombre’. It is essentially an ombre effect, but instead of there being a huge color change between the roots and tips, the hair only changes one or two tones (such as dark brown to slightly lighter brown). The result can look a little more natural. 

Like an ombre, you’re best using a professional stylist to carry out this color technique. 

Dip-dye

Looking for a two tone hairstyle that you can carry out at home? Dip-dyeing involves dying the ends of your hair a completely different color. Unlike an ombre there is no gradual fade, but instead a sharp color change. Dip-dyeing can be a great way to experiment with more daring colors like blues, reds and greens. If you don’t like the color or need to switch to a more formal hairstyle, you always have the option  to cut off the colored ends.

So just how do you dip-dye hair? Contrary to the name, it doesn’t involve dipping your hair into anything. Start by putting your hair in a ponytail, placing the hairband where you would like the new color to start. Then, over a bath or sink, thoroughly saturate the end of your hair in your desired color dye. Braiding your hair can help to achieve a more blended look. This guide to dip-dyeing hair offers a more detailed explanation on how to carry out this technique.

Balayage

Balayage is a highlight technique for coloring sections of hair. However, instead of using foil, it involves painting highlights throughout the hair with a brush (the French word ‘balayage’ literally means ‘to paint’ or ‘to sweep’). 

When applying a balayage, a stylist will usually start about halfway down the hair, starting with light strokes and then adding more dense highlights towards the tips. There is an art to this style, which is why it’s worth paying a stylist. 

Reverse balayage

A reverse balayage is exactly the same as a balayage, but involves applying lowlights throughout the hair instead. For example, it could involve adding some strands of brown to blonde hair. The lowlights are similarly applied in a painted fashion. 

Like a balayage, this is not a hair technique that you can DIY and you probably want to pay a professional to do it for you. 

Ecaille

An ecaille is also known as ‘tortoiseshell hair’ and is a type of balayage. It involves painting highlights in several different tones - traditionally golden brown, caramel and honey tones. This can create a very natural and sophisticated look.

As this is quite a niche hair color technique, you’ll want to use a specialist stylist who is familiar with it so that you don’t end up with a regular balayage. 

Half-half

As the name suggests, this technique involves literally dying one half of your hair one color and one half another color (think Cruella DeVille). It’s definitely a statement look, and there is not much you can do to make it subtle aside from choosing a slightly different tone to your natural hair on one side. Most people who opt for a half-half, choose two very bold contrasting colors on each side such as blue and pink or red and black.

A good half-half hairstyle comes down to getting the split right. It’s possible to do a slightly uneven split to help create a fade between the two colors, or you can stick to a dramatic split. Be prepared to keep your hair parted down the middle to maintain this look.