Foil Advice.

[Meagan [8x7]]

Hello all. I am a currently a Junior at a local cosmetology school and I will be completing my program in June.

I do a lot of my friends and family member's hair [as I'm sure most of you do as well] and right now I've got tons of friends wanting highlights. Color is one of my favorite things to do, so of course this is exciting for me.

But sometimes I become intimidated when it comes to bleaching. I hear different advice from different people. My worst fear is having someone redux, which has happened to me once. A friend of mine wanted a streak of her hair blonder than it had turned. I warned her it was going to possibly fall out, and when I rinsed it out, it was that rubbery clear texture we all know. That was months ago and now, I rinse when I know it's ready. I learned from that experience. Now I'm much more confident with highlights.

Well the dilemma is I'm doing my cousin's hair this weekend. It is long, thick, gorgeous red hair that has been highlighted for a long time. She wants foils done. I'm slightly intimidated because of the length, and I want to make sure I don't overprocess some while still working on the rest. I know I can just keep checking up on the others and stop the process if I have to, but are there any other tricks that could help? Here's a pic of her. [kinda silly, but shows her hair well.]

What are your thoughts? How would you highlight her hair if she came to you? What would you use? I want to hear some other point of views from fellow stylists, maybe it will help me out some.

I'm thinking weaved highlights with a toned powder lightener [maybe violet Koliedecolors] and a 20 volume?

Any advice you all have is welcomed and appreciated.

 

[scottydolly]

use 6 %, fine foils woven, she doesnt look like her highlights have been done chunky, they look quite delicate, jus stick to the basic rules, work quickly and dont reprocess any previously bleached hair, if the last few foils u put in arent finished developing, always go back and check the first few u put it, and if they are ready u can spray them down with water to stunt their development any further, otherwise u cud end up with thte first foils u put in being super white and the last few being pretty dull. . .x

 

[minky]

Hi, I will sometimes start off a full head of foils with colour releaser on lighter hair
and because I am such a fussy foo foo I try to pick up all the old highlights to do a foiled root retouch ,
I try not too overlap
and so therefore take a bit longer,

but with reddish or darker hair I start off at 20 vol then do the last ones with 40 vol (you can with wella blondor ) then they all usually end up at the same degree of lightness at the same time ,

If I have help,
I will get some one to wipe the bleach off with a damp sponge while I am still working
then just leave them out of the foils till the others are done :hug:

 

[Meagan [8x7]]

ah, I never thought of using a 40 near the end of the foiling. Good thought.

Yeah, I usually go back and check and use a spray bottle to slow down/stop the others that have developed. I think her previous hairstylist used a cap on her. How do you avoid overlapping? She doesn't have chunks, just like scottydolly said, so I was definitely going to do weaved highlights. She has so many small strands throughout, I don't want to damage the hair that's already blond.

 

[liana kay]

you cant avoid overlapping alogether , but you can avoid overlapping when you can . just do the pieces that arent light and if its mixed ,go over lightly ( or even with low peroxide if its quite light or take it throughif its significantely darker . its hard to describe .just use your common sense . i will say though pale gold or even gold looks better on rredheads than white /pale blonde and that red hair is hard to lift so you may need to reapply /check your vol strength

 

[minky]

Hi you are right ,
you can actually do it through a cap and pull lots of the same size ones through
and then apply the bleach just like a root re touch ,
if she has a lot of fine highlights this can work out quite well

When I do this on clients I dont take any bleach through the ends at all .
and when the cap comes off the highlights mix in really well ,
although it does take a bit of practice to get it nice and even ,
but you will be fine
with practice and experience :hug:

Then if you think it needs any refreshing to brighten up the ends

on the next appiontment you can swap techniques
and use foils for the root retouch
then just here and there take the bleach right the way through some of the natural colour on the mid lengths and ends with the foils ,

this way only the natural colour gets bleached each time,

hope that made sense ,

Ps I use (Wella Blondor blue bleach) because it doesnt swell much in foils
if its a big Job on longer hair and I am on my own ,
I start with a low level of peroxide and climb up to higher levels so they will all lighten up at the same time ,

(as Scotty Dolly says watch out for the first ones you put in and halt the lift )

I totally agree it is very hard not to overlap
but it is the constant act of taking the bleach straight over the last lot of highlights each time that causes the damage ,

hope this helps

 

[Meagan [8x7]]

It turned out great. She hand't had a trim in MONTHS which of course I fussed at her about, haha. She flat irons often so we cut a good 3 inches off and added some gorgeous long layers and I did some face framing.

I halted the processing in the front foils life you recommended, and they turned out great. She loved the results. Thanks!!