When trying to get your hair a few shades lighter, you often face a difficult choice: highlighting or bleaching. Both methods have their pros and cons and differ in maintenance and final effects. But, do you know exactly what your hair will look like after using a highlight kit or scalp bleach? If not, read this article – we will explain it in detail.
What is a Highlight Kit?
In simple words, a highlight kit is a product designed for highlighting – making certain parts of your hair lighter. This method includes applying the bleaching solution through foil packages, without direct contact with the scalp.
The effect of highlighting is multi-tonal hair, with the lighter strands imitating the effect of sunlight. They can be both subtle, just slightly lighter, or more pronounced. Such hair looks much more natural than the bleached one.
What distinguishes using a highlight kit is that the final outcome is low maintenance. You don’t have to do much, when your natural hair regrows the highlights will just become more visible, but still look great, and the process isn’t so invasive that you’ll need to use conditioners on a regular basis (though we recommend it anyway).
What’s a Scalp Bleach?
This is yet another method of getting your hair lighter. But, there is quite a crucial difference between using a highlight kit and bleaching – the area to which you apply the solution. With scalp bleach, you put it all over your head – the product touches your scalp. This comes with potential issues.
Firstly, bleach is quite harsh on your head – if you have any scalp problems, such as dry scalp or dandruff, it may intensify them. Thus, you shouldn’t use it if you have skin conditions.
Secondly, bleached hair requires much more care. Special shampoos and conditioners are a must. Otherwise, you will struggle with repairing the damage that a bleach could’ve caused.
Finally, there is the case of maintenance. With time, your natural hair will become visible once again and it won’t look as good as when using a highlight kit. Thus, a bleach will require regular touch-ups to preserve fresh looks.
Highlighting vs. Bleaching Compared
Having discussed each of these separately, it’s time for a comparison. Let’s look at the differences:
Area
Highlighting: Particular hair strands; no contact with the scalp.
Bleaching: Whole scalp.
Maintenance
Highlighting: Doesn’t require much.
Bleaching: Regular touch-ups to cover your natural hair color.
Effect
Highlighting: Slight or strong – only on particular hair strands.
Bleaching: Significant – on all your hair.
The Takeaway
So, you know what a highlight kit or a scalp bleach may do to your hair. Which one should you choose? It all depends on the effects that you wish to achieve and the condition that your scalp is in. Remember, if neither of these suits you, you may always try other methods, for instance, balayage or babylights.
Related Post:
