- The first thing you have to do is identify why you feel your highlights are overdone. For example, you probably don’t like the color, or there may be no difference between the highlights and your base color. You may even feel your highlights drier than the rest of your hair.
- Any of those situations will make you feel uneasy about your highlights.
- The good news is that it’s possible to find a solution to overdone highlights. Today, I’m going to tell you about it in detail.
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Did you get highlights and you don’t like them because they’re overdone?
The first thing you have to do is to stay calm.
Calmness is the only place where you can make the best decisions.
If you got your highlights a few days ago, I’d advise you to let the color settle.
That way, you’ll know what the final color of your highlights will be.
Has it been more than a week since you got your highlights?
Then, it’s time to identify why you feel they’re wrong.
You’ll have to look at them under natural light.
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Don’t examine your highlights in a hurry. Take your time to evaluate what you don’t like about your overdone highlights.
To find the best solution, you need to know what you don’t like about them.
- Are they too light or too dark?
- Are they too thin or too thick?
- Is the color too overdone? Do you feel it’s not in harmony with your base color?
What exactly is it that leads you to think that your highlights are overdone? Do you already know?
Then, let's take an in-depth look at how to fix your highlights.
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Too light or dark highlights
If your highlights are too light, they can contrast too much with the color of the rest of your hair.
Don't worry. All you have to do is apply the shade you chose before and repeat the process.
I recommend that you leave it on a little longer. That way, the contrast will be softened and it’ll give you a more natural look.
If your highlights are too dark, you’ll need to repeat the process to lighten them.
In this case, you’ll have to be extremely careful. You must consider that the hair is already treated and you would be applying more product.
The best thing is to nourish and moisturize the hair afterward to avoid damaging it. Your hair’s health should always be a priority.
Too wide or fine highlights
Do your highlights look too wide?
They were probably made with foils. In this case, the solution will take a lot of time and work, but it’ll be better than looking at your hair and disliking it.
You need to take those strands again, at least on the top layers of the head, and color the parts you need.
Remember to use the same color you used before so that there’s no difference between the new and the old parts.
You should also keep in mind that as the hair is bleached, the dye will wash out progressively. By the time your hair is washed out, the highlights will be softer and will blend in with the rest of the hair. Therefore, they won't look overdone and will show a balayage effect.
What if my highlights look too fine?
In this case, the effect you have is as if you had colored all your hair. As highlights are too fine, they blend too much with the rest of the hair and the desired highlights effect is lost. Your hair’s uniformity lightens the whole color without playing with the depth of the dark hair.
A possible solution would be to bring the whole hair to a similar shade and get the highlights again. This time, they have to be a bit thicker. You’ll probably get less highlights but thicker ones. In this case, less is more.
Keep in mind that you’ll be working on chemically treated hair. So, I advise you to intensify the nourishing and moisturizing treatments.
How to fix exaggerated colors in highlights
Too yellow highlights
You look in the mirror and notice that your highlights are egg yellow!
Your first impulse is to cover it all up with dark hair dye and forget about it. Nothing could be worse. Not only will it go from light to dark, causing an adverse effect to the one you were looking for, but it’ll also get lighter again with washes.
You’ll get a mink tone with an extremely artificial appearance. Also, if the color is not well distributed, it’ll be stained.
The right solution to soften the yellow is to tone it with a mauve toner. The tip for this step is to watch the process carefully. The toner acts in a short time. The result? A beautifully buttery color.
Too white highlights
White is the most popular color in salons around the world. However, if it isn’t applied sparingly, it can give hair a graying look.
In this case, the solution is to apply a toner containing more golden shades and less ash shades.
You’ll also need to watch the exposure time on the hair carefully so as not to go overboard with a dull shade. Just a few minutes will be enough to soften the white and get a more natural tone. It should be golden instead of white as gray hair.
Too orange highlights
I think this is the worst nightmare of all women who get highlights: taking off the towel and finding their hair orange. Relax, don't despair.
After a couple of washes, the hair becomes more porous. That’ll be the moment to apply the toner.
For orange-colored hair, you should apply a toner containing ash tones. You should always be careful and watch the process carefully. As soon as it reaches a beige tone, you should wash your hair immediately. Otherwise, it’ll become too brown and lose its shine.
Too greenish highlights
In this case, the overexposure of the ash shade resulted in a strong greenish shade. It’ll look artificial and dull.
To solve this problem, the chosen toner should contain copper or golden hues. You have to control the exposure times. The result will be beige to golden beige highlights, which will give your hair a sophisticated look.
Can you fix highlights that are too dry?
Yes and the solution is not complex. The bleaching process may have been too intense and the hair turned weak, brittle, and porous. You may even notice that it breaks when you comb it.
You’ll have to work on recovering your hair’s hydration. Look for good quality product lines.
Try not to use homemade recipes. Sometimes, what works well for one person, can be more harmful than beneficial in your case.
Instead, look for masks or products that say "for damaged hair," or "for dry hair," "repair," or "moisturizing" on the label.
Highlights that are excessively close together or too far apart
Close together highlights
If your highlights are too close together, too many strands were removed. Therefore, your hair is a light and even color.
If you want the highlights to stand out more, take some strands and choose the distance between strands you want. These strands should be tightened with a band or a piece of aluminum foil. Then, apply a hair dye of the same color as the base color.
Repeat this operation on your hair to get the highlights you want.
Another possible solution is to put the highlighting cap back on and take out a few thick strands. Then, apply the same hair dye as the base color and get dark strands that will be differentiated from the light highlights.
The first option will be more pronounced and the second more subtle. The choice is yours.
Highlights too far apart
If your highlights are too far apart, the stylist took out too few highlights. It makes your hair look a little light, like a half-finished job.
I know you're disappointed, but don't feel bad. Of all the solutions, this is the least risky for your hair.
You’ll have to put the cap back on and pull out more strands without overdoing it. Obviously, the highlights you have already bleached will come out, but you’ll get some lighter and some less light highlights, creating different shades of blonde.
Conclusions
Regardless of the reason, there’s always a solution to fix overdone highlights. The most important thing is to evaluate what you don't like about the highlights before choosing any of these solutions.
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