What's Inside
Jessica Simpson is a true beauty, and has a new TV show to prove it. Sophisticate’s features her as our April 2010 cover girl.
Only Sophisticate’s features exclusive photo shoots with the latest and greatest cuts. Don’t miss this sneak peek!
Thinking of a switch-up in the mane department? The April 2010 issue of Sophisticate’s has loads of hot hair!
From music to television to movies, we always give you loads of stars in each issue. Click here to see just a few!
Free for you! Find out just a sample of what you can get for free, free, free in the April 2010 issue.
Pretty makeup, cool products, must-have mane goods—all right here, just for you! (Plus more in the April 2010 issue!)
Can you keep up? Sophisticate’s give you an exclusive interview in the April issue. Right here? Cool preview!
HAIR: PAUL FALLTRICK EDUCATIONAL TEAM/PAUL FALLTRICK HAIRDRESSING, UNITED KINGDOM. PHOTO: GLOBAL HAIR & FASHION GROUP.
PHOTO: COURTESY ABC.
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My hair was dark golden brown. I wanted a change so I decided to strip the color out of it. It turned orange so I tried to dye it to light brown and it turned black! So I stripped it again, and tried to dye it,it turned black again. Then I decided to use bleach. I bleached highlights which turned orange then went over those same highlights, which turned yellow. I then decided to just bleach it all over and use a toner. So I did that and its a good blond now except for a few speratic brown spots. This was all in the passed month and my hair is soft. Can I bleach the brown spots out with out my hair falling off?
Hi, Kristy!
Without knowing exactly what was used to strip the haircolor, my first response is to seek a professional for assistance. When so much is done to the hair in such a short period of time, the hair can become very stressed, and it is highly likely that you will do more damage by putting more bleach on the dark spots. I recommend testing a strand on a small section of the hair to determine its strength, as well as the final outcome of the color. If the test strand gives satisfactory results, proceed with the other spots.
Hi, I currently have all-over light blonde highlights, but my natural color is more of a dark blonde. However, my roots tend to grow in very quickly, and am left having to get my roots touched up more often than I would like. I think I am a cool tone, since my eyes are blackish brown, skin tone is fair, I have rosy cheeks, and I tend to burn easily. I was also blonde as a child. I have tried gold-tone highlights, but these were wrong for me as they brought out the red tones in my face. I am thinking of having some darker blonde lowlights added in to help conceal root re-growth. Any suggestions??
Hi, Candace!
For quick re-growth, I recommend bayliage services. This disguises re-growth more than finely woven highlights. When you weave highlights too fine, the re-growth looks the same as single process color, and comes back in like a solid line. Bayliage helps disguise this just a bit because the highlights appear a bit more bold and chunky (not stripy). Definitely experiment with some deeper tones if you have fair or red skin. Going too blonde can wash you out.
I have almost-porcelain pale skin, crystal blue eyes, my hair is a light golden brown, and my face is oval shaped. I want a medium length choppy hair cut with side swept bangs. Everyone keeps telling me to dye my hair dark brown, but I really want some red tones. I want it to look fairly natural and bring out my eyes. What would you recommend?
Claire, Candace:
We’ll check with our experts and be back soon!
Hi, Claire!
I think you would make a fabulous redhead! Ask your colorist for a medium red-brown. Starting with a shade in the auburn family will enhance your skin tone. You can even add a deeper, merlot red in some fine slices to vary it up!
i’m not sure what color highlights would look good in my hair wehter ir being carmel or blonde?? i have med. brown eyes , med. colored skin, & dark brown hair… i have a rather oval / round face and i want to try a bob with it bein slightly beveled in the back and longer in front (not the too long kind) and im not sure how to do the highlights and what color… can you help me?
Hi, Tiffany:
With spring and summer right around the corner, now is a great time to experiment with brightening your look. With your features, I recommend a soft, neutral tone and nothing too “over the top” for now. Start with subtle caramel highlights (nothing too chunky). If you’ve never had highlights before, ask your stylist for just a few highlights in the crown to brighten the face and to see how you like them. On cuts as dramatic as bobs, however, I usually prefer a single process color so that the shape of your cut is more pronounced. Otherwise, the shape can get buried under the color. It can often be too much at once. In the beginning, less is more until you decide that you are comfortable with your new look.
Hi,
I have been trying to find the perfect shade of blonde for my hair but i don’t want to go too light because i have medium brown eyebrows. my skin tone medium fair colour,and my eyes are green. I don’t want a too warm colour either it seems to give my skin an orange shade.
Please help. How often do you have to re-dye your hair cause i get roots pretty quickly?
Hi, Christine!
First of all, “wispies” are actually fine strands of hair that are shaped to create soft, face-framing accents. As the hair grows longer, it can become finer on the ends and create a natural, wispy look. So be careful of growing it out too long. I know you want it down to your elbows but, depending on your hair type, it may look too thin and fine at that length. Then the “wispiness” can appear more thin, fine and fragile than healthy looking hair. Ask your salon professional if your hair would actually be able to grow to that length, then discuss some shaping options to give your hair and style that soft, wispy look. Longer layers and channel cutting can help create those wispy pieces, giving the hair nice natural movement and shape.
I currently have jet/blue black hair and a fair/cool skintone. I want to add some flair to the hair color and add more highlights/underlights of a couple colors like magenta and maybe more blue. My problem is I can’t find any dyes that show up on such dark hair. Any suggestions?
Noelle,
You can always bleach the sections of your hair that you want highlighted and then dye them with whatever highlight or lowlight you prefer. They will then appear much brighter than if you were to just highlight your dark hair.
Good luck!
HI-
I have caramel highlights, my hair is dark brown and color between the foils which is also a dark brown. It’s been almost 3 months since I got the highlights, and I want to touch up my roots. I want to get a darker caramel, medium brown highlight so is the best idea for me to make an appointment for highlights again?
Thanks.
Hi Amy:
We think the best thing would be for you to make an appointment with your regular colorist just for a consultation. It should only take about 15 minutes, and the two of you can decide together what color processes you should pursue and how soon to get the exact shade and highlights you want. Then you can make an appointment for the actual color process. Trust your colorist!
I have mousy brown hair with olive skin tone and hazel eyes and i’ve been going back and forth about getting blonde highlights for quite some time (which i’ve never done before). But everytime I take one of those surveys on which shade is best for you. It says i’m not meant to be blonde, which can’t be true. Everyone can go blonde, right? All I want to know is what shade would best fit me? Thanks for your help.
Tessa:
Happy New Year! We’re not up to 100% during the holidays, so we’ll have an answer shortly. Hope all is well for you and yours in 2010!
Hi Tessa:
The answer is a creamy tone blonde a la Jennifer Lopez or Beyonce. Both have olive skin but look great with highlights. The key is to make sure the base stays a rich, prominent brown and the highlights don’t become ashy as this would contribute to an all-over ashy appearance.
Great blog, thanks. I really like it!
Carl:
X0X0!
i have a very dark brown-almost black. i’ve been thinking about some chocolate highlights but i am not sure about the change. is it too dark? too light? plz help!!!
actually dark brown-almost black HAIR. and my skin tone is between medium and dark!
Ayesha:
Checking with our experts and will be back!
Hello Ayesha:
I would suggest adding halo-highlights. These are highlights with 8-10 foils only around the halo area of the head. They will be soft, natural, and with the right toner will enhance the natural color just a touch, without overdoing it.
Explain to your stylist you only want 8-10 foils if they don’t know what halo highlights are. Different salons call this technique different things but again, you’re just having a few foils applied through the top to brighten and add a little dimension.
It sounds like your hair is a level 1 or 2 (which is quite dark), so ask your stylist to brighten your color just a couple of levels, and not over-do it with a bright blonde, which would be way too light. Color is a fun and magical thing to add to any hair type, so have fun with this and let us know how it turns out.
Ive gotten highlights before. I love them but not as much now. I want to get ride of them but without dying my hair. Do you have any tips?
Hi Lyndsey:
Thank you for writing. Without coloring your hair it may be a long road until it grows out so that it’s all one color. Remember, with highlighting, you have removed your own natural color, so if you want the color put back, you have 2 choices. 1. Color your hair (semi-permanent or add subtle lo-lights if you don’t want permanent color all over)
2. Let it grow out
You can always ask your stylist for a semi-permanent color which may need refreshing every 3-5 weeks, but it is a better way to go back to natural if you don’t want to use permanent color. Either way, and depending on how long you want your hair to be, it will take a little time. Just remember to use quality products on your hair during this time, and ones that will protect against solar damage. The Billy Lowe hair care line, especially the Daily Hydrating shampoo & conditioner will surely set your hair in motion for brilliance.
i recently dyed my hair black and have a pink tone to my skin and brown eyes…i want highlights and am aiming for a plum burgundy color but not sure if it will make my skin look more pink or if it will tame down the color. ne ideas? thanx!
Kristi, Lyndsey:
We’re checking our Expert Panel and will be back soon!
Hi Kristi:
I recommend starting with some clip-in hair pieces that come in all colors and lengths. These are fun ways to add flair to your hair, and test drive some fun options, without making additional permanent changes if you are unsure. Clip the pieces underneath top sections so the connection points don’t show through. This will give you what I call “UNDER-LIGHTS.” This means the colors will peek through from underneath.
Most of all, HAVE FUN with this. Sounds exciting to me!