Chunky Look Highlights

Q: I am a hairdresser in Pennsylvania. I have a question about highlighting. A lot of my younger customers like the "chunky" look highlights done on their hair.

I have found it easier to slice-highlight the top section of the hair (rather than weave it) from the front hairline to the crown, so that when it is parted, it looks very distinct.

My question is for the very front section. Should I slice out that section and blond it, or should I try to chunky-weave that very front section? Thanks a lot for your time.

A: This is really a matter of preference - both yours and that of your client. You need to talk to the client(s) individually and see what they want for their specific look. Some may want to have the entire bangs area blonde, while others may want a look that will be more subtle.

Other factors to consider are the styling of the hair. In hair that is center parted with no fringe differentiation, you may want to simply use a balayage technique or a "chunky" section of highlighted hair at the front hairline along the central parting to give an origin point for the highlights. Then again if the style contains a distinctive bangs section, you may want to weave thinner highlights in the fringe area across the forehead to break up the solid color.

It really does depend on what works best for the client and his/her preferences. My personal choice in most situations is to scale the size of the highlights slightly as you move from the center top to the front and back areas.

The widest chunks would be in the center top, and they would get a little slimmer as you move to the front and back of the head. But you should use the specific techniques that you prefer and that gets the results your client wants.

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See also:

How to color hair

The difference between a balayage and regular highlighting

Hair color techniques with foil highlights and with a balayage