How Long Does It Take to Get Highlights?All You Want To Know

Let’s start by responding to one of the most frequently asked questions about highlights: how long does it take to get highlights? The majority of the time depends on the work you’re having done.

But it also depends on the length of your hair and the style you currently have in it. On average, it takes two hours to complete a basic color on medium-length hair. Depending on the length of your hair, you may need to spend 3 hours in the chair at the salon if you want foiling, balayage, or ombre.

Please read on.

How Long Does It Take to Get Highlights?

If you’re wondering how long it will take a salon professional colorist to apply highlights to your hair, plan on two to three hours. Of course, a number of other factors will influence how long it will take precisely.

For instance, the length of your hair, the color of your natural hair, the color of the highlights you want, and of course the technique you’ll use.

In comparison to other highlighting techniques, some take longer to complete. A short hairstyle like a pixie or bob will take less time to highlight than long hair.

Additionally, the color of your hair may have an impact on the overall timing.

If your hair is initially undyed, the colorist can highlight it more quickly and easily than if your hair has already been bleached or dyed.

For this reason, you will find a more thorough explanation of how long it takes to apply highlights, both complete and partial, below. You can roughly estimate how soon you can have your mane highlighted by keeping that in mind.

In A Salon, How Long Does It Take To Get Highlights?

If you choose to have your hair highlighted by a professional colorist at a salon, we advise you to budget two to three hours.

Even though this amount of time is typically sufficient for doing highlights, you still need to take the other factors into account.

Therefore, the best course of action for you is to call the salon where you intend to have this procedure done and ask how long it might take to highlight your mane.

Ask a receptionist how long it will take, and be specific about the style and color of highlights you want for your locks. Alternatively, going in person to a salon will be even better.

By doing this, the expert colorist will be able to assess the texture of your hair and talk with you about the best highlighting method.

What Is The Time Frame For Partial Highlights?

Sometimes we may decide to begin with only a partial refreshment of our appearance because we may not want to make some fundamental hairstyle changes.

Additionally, some women prefer highlighting their hair only partially for the first time, even though highlights are a much less drastic change than other hairstyle options.

To be honest, it makes sense. You might not be 100 percent certain if this hairstyle will suit you when you do highlights for the first time. Additionally, the color you decide to have highlighted on your strands might turn out to be a little different from what you had in mind.

Making partial highlights has yet another advantage. As you might have guessed, the time has come. You can see that it takes much less time to highlight just the top of your head than the entire mane!

How long does it typically take to get partial highlights? Well, think about only spending half the time required for a thorough highlighting process.

Thus, since complete highlights typically take three hours to complete, getting your chevelure partially highlighted might take one and a half hours.

However, keep in mind to account for all the subtleties! Your hair’s length, color, and whether or not it has been dyed should all be taken into account when choosing a technique.

Factors That Influence The Time Needed For Getting Highlights

As we have already mentioned, the time it takes you to complete the highlights will vary. But generally speaking, if you are having your entire head highlighted in a salon with a professional colorist, you should plan on spending three hours on that.

Partial highlights will take about half of that time, respectively.

The other factors that will affect how long this procedure will take to complete must also be considered, though.

• the level of your colorist’s experience
• the length of your hair
• the highlighting technique you will be using

Therefore, we advise that you consider the following details if you want to know what to anticipate when visiting a salon for highlights.

How Much Experience Does Your Colorist Have?

This aspect is extremely important! Whether we’re talking about colorists or experts in other fields, you probably already know that high caliber and experienced professionals work more quickly and efficiently!

You can anticipate having your hair highlighted exactly the way you want it after two to three hours if you schedule an appointment with a professional and experienced hair colorist who is very knowledgeable about what to do and how to do it with your hair.

Such a specialist has performed this procedure countless times, and as you are aware, repetition ensures proficiency.

The process will almost certainly take longer if you consult a novice professional, though. Furthermore, there is no assurance that a less skilled colorist won’t make mistakes with your hair, the color of the highlights, or anything else while performing the procedure.

How Long Is Your Hair, Exactly?

Your hair’s length is another aspect you should take into account before highlighting your strands. Whatever kind of highlights you decide on, a colorist will still need more time to work on long hair than short hair.

Additionally, if a colorist needs to work with long strands, any technique they employ will take longer.

Which Highlight Method Are You Going To Employ?

We’ve finally arrived at one of the most important points! When estimating how long it will take your colorist to highlight your hair, the technique you choose also matters.

When you visit a salon for highlights, you will typically be given the choice of either a cap technique or a foil wrapping technique. The reason is that these two highlighting methods are the most frequently used and well-liked ones globally.

Simply keep in mind that the cap method typically requires more time to complete than the foil wrapping method.

The reason is that it takes a skilled professional a lot of time, patience, and precision to thread sections of your hair through holes in a cap!

You are now aware of how long it will take to partially and fully highlight your hair.

And now, let’s try to determine how you should select the best highlighting technique to use on your hair, which techniques are currently thought to be the most popular, and how to choose the right color for your upcoming highlights.

How Long Does It Take To Get Blonde Highlights?

Generally speaking, depending on the color and length of your hair, etc., lightening your hair with bleaching and toning to achieve the ideal blonde highlights will take anywhere from one to three hours.

But remember that, depending on how quickly your hair grows, you will require root touch-ups every 8 to 10 weeks. For your first set of highlights, choose a reputable salon.

After Getting Highlights, How Soon Can You Wash Your Hair?

Numerous people spend several hundred dollars per visit for hair treatments. They immediately wash their hair after getting home. Disaster and dissatisfaction are guaranteed by this.

After adding highlights, experts advise waiting 48 hours before washing your hair. The color should have enough time to enter and remain in the hair follicles this way.

Do Hair Highlights Affect Your Ability To Swim?

Your hair becomes brittle and dry after undergoing harsh hair treatments like highlighting, bleaching, and dyeing. Chlorine water can exacerbate the problem and further harm your hair.

For this reason, experts advise waiting at least 7 days before going swimming. Otherwise, chlorine water may be a sign of certain chemical processes that could ruin the appearance of your hair.

Your color may deteriorate or change (to green), for example. Also, give your hair a good soak in tap water before entering the pool. Then use a conditioner and hair mask.

Hair Highlights: Are They Durable?

Unfortunately, highlights in hair are not long-lasting. They persist until the growth of your own hair. The category of semi-permanent hair treatments includes highlights. They require frequent touch-ups.

What Is The Durability Of Hair Highlights?

The rate of hair growth varies from person to person. Therefore, it’s challenging to estimate how long hair highlights will last. Resuming work at the salon typically requires 1-3 months.

People return to the salon for touch-ups when their roots start to show. Don’t do this too frequently, though. After bleaching, give your hair some time to recover.

How To Make Highlights Last Longer?

Highlights typically last for 4-6 weeks, but there are some things you can do to extend their life.

• To start, try to stay away from hot water when washing your hair because it will quickly fade your highlights.
• Second, when styling it, use your hair dryer’s cool air setting. Avoid using excessive amounts of heat-styling products because they can cause your highlights to fade.
• Finally, if you can, wait longer between washes of your hair. Even color-safe shampoos contain chemicals that strip the hair to clean it, and frequent hair washing will cause color and toner to run out every time.

Ask your stylist about a purple shampoo or toning mask for your hair if your highlights are very light blonde and you want to keep them looking bright between salon visits. These suggestions should help you increase the lifespan of your highlights by a few weeks.

No matter how well you take care of your hair, your highlights will eventually start to look grown out depending on the highlighting technique you and your stylist choose to use.

How Often You Should Get Highlights?

How often you should get highlights depends on your hair type and how quickly your hair grows, but as a general rule, most people would say every six to eight weeks.

This routine will guarantee that your highlights look their best and don’t start to look faded or brassy because your stylist can refresh the lighter parts of your hair by adding more toner to your hair.

Unless you’re trying to go lighter than your hair was previously capable of going, you can get your roots touched up without having to color your entire head of hair again. Additionally, getting highlights every six to eight weeks is a fantastic way to maintain the health and radiance of your hair.

Even if it isn’t bleach, every time you use hair color, it still does some minor damage. The secret to avoiding bad hair days, obvious damage, and split ends is regular trims and highlights!

See more about

• How Long Does It Take To Grow Hair 12 Inches? 
• How Long Does Permanent Hair Color Last Really? 

How Should You Look After Your Highlights?

Remember to adhere to some basic care instructions to keep your locks properly highlighted and in good condition longer.

Do not shampoo your hair for two days after leaving the salon! You won’t wash the dye off and it will settle better this way. This will make your highlights’ color last longer. To make the color last longer and adhere to your hair better, wash your hair later with cool or lukewarm water only.

For about a week, stay away from beaches and swimming pools as well. Your highlights could become a different color due to chemicals in the pool water, and your mane could become dry and hay-like.

Hair products play a role, too. Consider color-safe options, such as shampoos for colored hair. Consider using a shampoo with a purple tint if you have blonde highlights to prevent brassiness.

Keep in mind to feed and moisturize your hair properly! You can maintain strong, lustrous hair by using conditioners, balms, and hair masks.

Stop using your heat styling tools altogether. Blower dryers, irons, and other appliances hurt the hair and cause the color to deteriorate quickly.

With all of this in mind, you will now be able to precisely describe to your colorist the type of highlights you desire, and you will also be able to maintain your highlighted hair properly to keep it looking good and healthy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any more inquiries? Here are a few more insider hints about the highlighting procedure.

Final Words

Highlights in a salon are typically completed in about two hours. The length and thickness of your hair, the coloring technique used, your previous hair color choices, and the outcome you want could all affect how long this takes.

Before starting the highlights, you must speak with your stylist, especially if you don’t have much time. If you need to, bring something to keep yourself entertained on the way to your appointment.

Some stylists don’t mind clients reading or doing something while remaining still, but you might not be able to use it while the stylist is at work. If you’re unsure, make sure to inquire! Your shiny new hair at the end will make the wait worthwhile!