- If you want to grow out blonde highlights, you have two clear paths: either remove them or disguise them in the rest of your hair.
- If you want to remove the highlights, you can do it immediately by applying a permanent dye or gradually trimming your hair every month by at least one and a half centimeters.
- If you want to disguise your blonde highlights as they grow out, mix the new root growth with the highlights to achieve a false balayage, or apply lowlights.
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Can you let highlights grow out to turn them into ombré?
Before making any decisions, you should distinguish what “growing out blonde highlights” means to you.
Do you know why? Because for me, two completely different emotions can be behind the decision to grow out blonde highlights, of which you may not even be aware.
Let’s take a closer look.
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- Maybe you’re fed up, tired, or overwhelmed with maintaining those blonde highlights. And that emotion, the tiredness, implies taking a more drastic decision: to eliminate blonde highlights altogether. And later I’ll tell you what the options are.
- Maybe you like your blonde highlights, but you want to disguise them , blending them with the rest of your hair. And in this case, the options are less drastic. Because you want to keep your highlights.
So, the question is: what emotion is behind your decision to grow out your blonde highlights? Have you identified it? Then let’s get to work.
If you want to get rid of your blonde highlights, you can either apply a dye or trim your hair every month
Of course, applying a dye will be an immediate solution, while trimming your hair every month will be a gradual solution.
Let’s start with the dye.
Using hair dye to cover blonde highlights
In this case, choosing the right color dye is fundamental. I don’t recommend you go down a lot of numbers.
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In other words, what if your hair is naturally a number 4 brown and your highlights are an 8 or 9 blonde? If you apply the light brown, you’ll be dropping four to five numbers in one application. The problem is that because your hair is bleached, it will have a hard time retaining the color.
I advise choosing an intermediate dye number, such as blonde 7, dark blonde 6, or light brown 5. And when your roots grow out, you can apply a dye the same color as your natural hair.
Trimming your hair every month to phase out blonde highlights
If you choose this option, you will have to be very patient. Because hair grows around one and a half centimeters per month. So it can take several months, more than a year, to get rid of those blonde highlights by trimming your hair every month.
Of course, there is always another option: go for a bob or pixie cut to remove as much hair as possible.
But I’ll be honest. If you don’t go for a pixie or short bob haircut, the transition while growing out your highlights can be awkward as you will have two distinct colors in your hair.
Disguising blonde highlights with other coloring techniques
And in this case, you have two options:
- Mix your root growth with highlights by applying a dye at home.
- Apply lowlights at the salon.
Mixing your root growth with the highlights
The first thing you need to do is let your roots grow three or four centimeters. Once your roots are that long, apply a dye the same color as your natural hair.
- Part your hair, exposing the roots.
- Apply the dye in longer and shorter strokes, some reaching down to the ears and some below.
- Repeat the application throughout your hair.
Your natural color has spread and covered part of your highlights. And the remaining highlights will give light to your hair, like a faux balayage.
Applying lowlights
Lowlights are applied to highlighted hair when you get to a blonde number that is too high. Since you’ve been bleaching different sections of your hair every five to six weeks, chances are that your hair will be too blonde after a few months.
If you apply lowlights, you will achieve a different effect on your hair. You can avoid an even color as you would get if you applied a dye.
But you will have to go to a salon. Your colorist will use a cap to separate many strands of hair. Then they will apply a dye the same color as your roots, leaving some highlights to light up your hair.
This is an excellent option if you want to keep your hair looking bright without going to the salon regularly.
Conclusion
Now you know what to do to let your blonde highlights grow out. The first thing you have to do is decide: either you eliminate the highlights, permanently or gradually. Or you apply a coloring technique to disguise them in the rest of your hair.
