Discover the subtle art of babylights, a hair coloring technique that offers a natural, sun-kissed look. Learn the differences between babylights, highlights, and lowlights.

From balayage to babylights, there are a multitude of trendy terms that all essentially mean bleaching pieces of your hair. But what’s the difference? Babylights are simply a category of highlights that use a more subtle technique with smaller sections of hair. Want to try them? Read on for everything you need to know about this hair coloring technique.

Babylights mimic a more natural, sun-kissed effect than traditional highlights. They’re created using very small sections of the hair, just a few strands at a time, and using bleach or other lightening products to create dimension in the hair. They’re great for those who want a low-maintenance look as they grow out softer, with a less harsh line of demarcation.

Babylights are a type of highlights and the major difference is that babylights use less hair to create a more subtle effect. Both babylights and highlights involve lightening pieces of the hair to create more dimension. Highlights can range from subtle (like babylights) to extremely dramatic (like chunky highlights). Chunky highlights are much less natural than babylights and use larger sections of hair that are then bleached. Babylights are typically applied in the same way as highlights, often carving out small sections of hair, then painting bleach on the hair and wrapping the sections of hair in foils, protecting the remaining hair from the bleach. You can also do highlights with a tinting cap, although this technique is not as popular in modern salons. Other techniques like balayage are similar to highlights, but typically skip the foils and offer a different, hand-painted effect.

Now that you understand babylights, what's the difference between highlights and lowlights? Instead of lightening the hair with highlights and babylights, lowlights are created by depositing color rather than lifting it. This could be a brown color or even a red shade to create dimension and add contrast to lighter base colors. This adds even more dimension and color than highlights or babylights alone. Lowlights are also a popular choice for someone who has very extremely light blonde hair and wants to add dimension without bleaching hair further.

Even with this subtle highlighting technique, there is still the possibility of damage when bleaching the hair to create babylights. Using bond-building treatments like Pantene Miracle Rescue Intensive Bond Repair Mask to repair your hair is one of the best actions you can take. This intensive formula melts away damage and builds bonds for strength against breakage. In order to keep the color itself looking bright and fresh, using a purple shampoo is the best course of action. Purple hair products like Hair Biology’s Silver & Glowing Shampoo counteract the brassiness and orange tones that might appear on bleached hair. While this shampoo is formulated for gray hair, it helps to correct yellow tones in blonde, highlighted hair as well. It’s also infused with Biotin to keep your hair looking and feeling strong and healthy.

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