5 LA-Inspired Ways to Create Sun-Kissed Highlights
When you hear ‘Cali hair’, what’s the first thing you think of? For us, it’s sun-kissed highlights – the kind that add chunky, piecey, volume-boosting dimension to every hair color. That’s where Californian Luxelights comes in. Inspired by SoCal surfer girls and San Fran city-dwellers, our new Wella color service is a tribute to the Golden State – and golden locks.
Discover how you can create the look with our Californian Luxelights guide. Plus, check out four more ways to achieve the most sun-kissed highlights on the west coast…
What are LuxeLights?
First up, let’s give you the lowdown on Luxelights. We first launched this technique last year, offering you and your clients a glossy twist on the traditional gray coverage service. Essentially, Luxelights combines a root touch-up with luminous, light-reflective highlights, so you get a flattering contrast that helps to boost dimension.
Californian Luxelights takes this one step further by veiling lengths in sun-kissed, blonde hues, with extra attention paid to the face-framing layers. Then, an all-over glossing service is applied to achieve sun-shimmery shine. This look is high on gloss and low on maintenance – just the way we like it.
How to Create Californian Luxelights
1. Illuminate with Luxelights
Apply your Luxelights first. Mix BlondorPlex with Welloxon Perfect 1.9%, then sweep the formula through chunky slices for prominent hair lightening. Leave the color to develop in foils to elevate the lift.
2. Touch Up the Root
Next, add a root shadow. By using permanent Koleston Perfect, you give your clients up to 100% gray coverage. Blend their target shade with Welloxon Perfect 6%, and brush it through the root area. We used 88/02. Then, when the highlights and root shading have developed, rinse with WellaPlex No2 and a color-kind shampoo.
3. Give Hair a Gloss
Finally, smooth on a root-to-tip gloss using Koleston Perfect + Welloxon Perfect 1.9% + INVIGO Color Service Color Post Treatment in a 1:1:1 ratio. The sun-kissed shade we applied for this look is 9/31. Dreamy.
Level Up Your Luxelights
To give your client’s Luxelights an extra sun-kissed boost, try these easy, speedy enhancing hacks.
1. Mix Enough Natural In
When you’re mixing up that gray-defying root shadow, make sure you add a Pure Naturals shade to your client’s desired Koleston Perfect hue. You’ll need 1/3 to cover 30-50% gray and 1/2 for 50-100% gray.
2. Use Color-Kind Haircare
When rinsing hair, apply shampoos and conditioners that care for colored locks – and recommend them for at-home use, too. We rate the ColorMotion+ Color Protection Shampoo, Moisturizing Color Reflection Conditioner and Structure+ Mask for keeping sun-kissed highlights looking salon-fresh.
3. Spritz with a Glossing Mist
Complete Californian Luxelights with tousled waves and a spritz of EIMI Glam Mist. Not only does it add weightless, luminous shine, but it also keeps flyaways at bay. Win-win.
4 More Techniques for Sun-Kissed Highlights
Link Cali Luxelights with other highlighting services to help your client achieve a sun-kissed mane. Here are four lust-have techniques to team with a root shadow...
1. Babylights
Image Credit: @hairbyhelene.tj
Babylights are micro-fine highlights that mimic the hair color of your childhood summers. They’re perfect for finer locks, because they elevate volume in the most natural-looking way. Create this look by taking finer slices during step one of your Californian Luxelights technique. You can go chunkier through the face-framing layers for a statement-making, sun-drenched vibe.
2. Twilighting
Make no mistake: Californian Luxelights aren’t just for creating a beachy blonde ‘do. You can also apply them to darker locks with a twilighting technique. Less sun-kissed and more moonlit, this trend sees golden tones sparkle on a brunette base. Here, Matthias Herzberg used Koleston Perfect 5/71 + 5/0 for the root shadow, followed by 7/75 in the glossing formula.
3. Moneypiece Highlights
Image Credit: @coloristnat
Show them the money(piece) by bumping up the weight of your face-framing highlights. For this look, a deeper root stretch has been balanced by a thicker ribbon through the front, which gives locks an après-surf feel. You can even create it in three side-by-side slices, with the first starting at the very root. Then, as you get further away from the hairline, start applying the highlights further down from the roots.
4. Lowlights
Image Credit: @stefan_scholz_hair
Working with an existing blonde that would benefit from soft, subtle dimension? Instead of adding highlights, weave in lowlights that break up the brightness and lend a little texture. You can do this with the same color you’re applying to the root, sweeping it in fine pieces to avoid a blocky blonde. Think of it like a reverse balayage.
