5 Curly Hair Highlights That Won’t Look Streaky

Highlights are an excellent way to add life and excitement back to your tresses. However, finding the right style for your textured locks can be challenging. Traditional foil highlights, while fabulous on straight strands, often appear streaky or unblended on wavy and coily hair. Luckily, curly hair highlights can make those ringlets pop without patchy streaks. Keep scrolling for ideas to bring to your next salon appointment.

The old-school way of doing highlights usually involves teasing or backcombing the hair to achieve a soft, diffused effect, which can sometimes lead to breakage from constant tugging. Airtouch balayage gives a more natural-looking finish sans damage.

This method for achieving curly hair highlights uses cold air from a blow dryer to gently push shorter, newer strands out of the way before applying the lightener. Only the oldest strands will be processed.

Since your hair stylist will have to blow-dry each section of hair, the whole process is much more time-consuming than a regular highlight job. The result, however, is worth the wait. The seamless blending is suitable for anyone who wants to try a vibrant shade but is reluctant to commit to a complete hair color change.

One of the major advantages of ombré is its versatility. It can be customized to your style and personality, whether you prefer a subtle gradient or a more dramatic shift in color. By design, this look heavily relies on a technique called “midlighting,” which involves an all-over base color, a shade that’s two levels lighter for the midsection, and another shade four levels lighter on the ends.

Ombré highlights are low maintenance because the color is concentrated on the ends. You won’t have to worry about noticeable regrowth. Still, you need color-safe haircare products like Cream Silk Triple Keratin Ultimate Color Revive Serum Conditioner to help keep those locks vibrant and shiny. This conditioner hydrates dry strands and helps make your hair color last longer.  

Hit the reset button on your tresses with a few babylights. These deceptively simple hair ribbons add dimension and movement to your curls without doing too much – a stellar choice if you don’t want to stray too far from dark hair. Plus, the highlights blend well with your natural hair color so there are no streaky bleached lines.

The key to creating these curly hair highlights lies in the color placement. Pintura, a hand-painting technique, works exceptionally well for textured mane. It focuses on applying color vertically to small sections of curls where the light would naturally hit, giving you that soft, sun-kissed look.

Halo highlights is the low-key sister of the money-piece and it only lightens the strands that frame your face. This precise placement accentuates your curls, lifts the front hair roots, and puts your best facial features in the spotlight.

While halo highlights don’t require much upkeep, all the bleaching can dry out your hair and may potentially loosen your curl pattern. Try TRESemmé Color Vibrancy Bond Building Conditioner for Salon Fresh Vibrant Color. Infused with amino acids and a technology that helps repair damage caused by color processing. Plus, its anti-fade formula hydrates your locks while helping retain color vibrancy for up to three times longer.

If you miss your natural dark brown hair or are tired of growing out lingering bleached curls, give reverse balayage a try. While technically not a highlighting technique, it creates a similar multidimensional effect by adding depth and contrast to your locks. Basically, it paints your roots darker so they can blend with the lighter ends of your hair.

Before committing to a reverse balayage or lowlights, consult your hair colorist. They will help you select the shades that blend with your natural color and complement your complexion. They can also assess the condition of your hair to determine how much chemical processing it can handle.

Consider this article a sign to get curly hair highlights. If this is your first time coloring your hair, go to a professional stylist. From there, show them a reference picture (which you can steal from here!) and let them work their magic. Hopefully, you’ll walk out the door loving your gorgeous new 'do.