How to highlight dark brown of the African American hair

Dark brown African-American hair can go lighter than jet black hair, but a mega-light job still stresses the hair out. Stressed-out hair can become brittle and break off, leaving you with a totally unflattering look. Protect dark brown African-American hair by choosing highlight colors that are bold and playful, yet dark enough not to cause serious damage later on. You've still got a range of color options to make you sparkle!Texture galore is the best way to describe African-American hair. One of the more common textures is a mass of thick, tightly coiled locks. This hair type can be stretched out into one big halo of an Afro or plaited down onto the head in thick and lush braids. Tightly coiled locks can also be chemically relaxed into an entirely different texture; you can have straight and silky hair that will swing with every step you take.

Determine your skin tone so you can choose a highlight color that flatters you. African-American women have skin with both warm and cool undertones. If you have cool undertones, violet or plum hues will perk you up. If your skin skews warmer, reds and coppers look best. If you have lighter brown skin, you are warm-toned, and if you have richer brown skin, you're cool-toned.Pick out a hair color at the beauty supply shop that lightens your hair no more than four or five levels max and flatters your skin tone. This is the safest method to keep from stressing your hair. Dark black African-American hair is a level one, so dark brown hair would be a level two. Look at the levels on the dye kits and consider no higher than a level seven.

African-American hair is very misunderstood, which can sometimes lead to a lack of proper care for it. Not all African-Americans have coarse or tightly curled locks; some have very fine and silky hair naturally. Others have much more loosely coiled curls than the tighter curls most associated with this hair type. African-American hair is also resilient. While prone to damage from chemicals and heat styling, it can rebound quickly.Since you’re working with a wavier hair texture, you can definitely try out a few natural styles that will bring out your hair’s true beauty. While your hair is wet, apply a bit of styling product made for curly hair to help it hold the style later. Braid or twist your hair into eight-to-10 sections. Braids will produce waves, while twists will create curlier patterns, and the more braids or twists you create, the tighter the patterns will be. Once your hair dries, un-ravel the sections and finger-comb them to reveal a head full of defined waves and curls.

Perform a strand test on the underside of your hair to preview the results. Wet the underside of your locks with a bit of dye. Let the dye develop the recommended wait time, then rinse if off. Evaluate how much you dig the color, then dye for shorter or longer periods of time accordingly. If the color was a bit bold for you, knock five minutes off the dye time to get color that suits you.Make a plan while you're running the strand test. Think about whether you want chunks of color or skinny, subtle highlights.Apply the dye to your locks using the applicator brush or squeeze bottle. Section 1/4 to 1/2 inch of hair or more for fatter highlights and coat it with the dye. Pick up another section of hair and saturate that. Keep going until you've covered all that you want highlighted.