Hair-Highlighting Kits

Revlon leads the pack when it comes to highlighting

Paula Begoun warns that home hair-highlighting kits are not for the faint of heart. Highlighting your hair is a more difficult and time-consuming process than single-process color, even for professionals. But Begoun, along with experts at Shape, Prevention and About.com, insist that as long as you're not looking for anything drastic and just want to brighten up your look, there's no reason why you can't do your own highlights at home.

The simplest way to get a multi-tonal look is to purchase a hair color with built-in highlights, such as Clairol Nice 'n Easy (*Est. $8.50) or L'Oreal Feria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Color (*Est. $10). Both products blend three tones to give hair a multidimensional look. Consumers at TotalBeauty.com, for the most part, really like the results. If you want this type of subtle effect, experts at Prevention magazine say to look for colors that include "shimmering," "blended," or "tone-on-tone" in the name.

If you're looking for something slightly more dramatic, a highlighting kit is the way to go. L'Oreal Couleur Experte (*Est. $15) is a dual system that Allure magazine calls "user friendly." The kit combines a permanent base color with a coordinating shade of highlights for a two-step process. It's still important, however, to choose a base color that is not too far away from your current shade. Some users at TotalBeauty.com and MakeupAlley.com complain that the color is not as expected, which is often a result of choosing the wrong hue. Several users are impressed with the highlights, but a few say that the process is not as easy as L'Oreal claims. Couleur Experte is available in 19 shade combinations.

For a simpler, more affordable home-highlighting option, experts and users alike recommend Revlon Frost & Glow (*Est. $10). This highlighting kit comes with a highlighting cap that "allows you to create subtle or dramatic streaks," according to Prevention magazine. You place the cap snugly on your head and use the included plastic hooking tool to pull strands of hair through the holes. Then leave the solution on for anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes, depending on your starting shade and how light you want to go. Reviewers at MakeupAlley.com claim that the product really does lift color well, even for those with darker hair. They say the process, while time-consuming and sometimes a bit painful, is foolproof. In fact, Frost & Glow is one of the highest rated hair-coloring products at both TotalBeauty.com and MakeupAlley.com, where users consistently praise it for beautiful, salon-quality highlights. A few, however, say that a metal hook works better than the plastic one included with the kit. Metal hooks can be purchased from most beauty supply stores. Revlon Frost & Glow is available in three colors: Blonde, Honey and Chestnut. The manufacturer claims that highlights can last for two to three months before touch-ups are needed.