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Aluminum hair foils are often used to highlight a client’s hair in the hairdressing industry. Few people are aware of the other incredible uses for foils in hairdressing! When coloring your hair, why use aluminum foil? Foil is primarily used to add permanent oxidative colors to mid-length to long hair. Use foils for highlighting hair colors and lighteners to create modest or radical effects. Foil can be cut to size or purchased in ready-to-use strips.
Can you use regular aluminum foil to highlight hair? Foils can be used for a variety of purposes in addition to highlighting:
- You can use aluminum hair foil for lowlight.
- The majority of the hair is dyed, with a few strands left natural (opposite of highlighting)
- Protect hair from being over-processed in sections.
- Touch up simply the roots of color growing out with extra bleached or colored streaks.
- On the other hand, Hairdressing foil is a versatile tool used for various tasks to create interesting styles.
First, I’ll show you how to apply hair foils to your head properly. Then I’ll go over all of the numerous things you can do when the foils are in place, and I’ll suggest some YouTube videos to help you understand easily.
Can You Use Regular Aluminum Hair Dye Foil?
Yes, you can dye your hair with regular aluminum hair dye foil as long as the dye you’re applying specifies it’s safe to use with metal. If you wanted, you could use waxed paper as an alternative to foil for highlights, and obviously, the product you buy at a beauty store will work as well, though it will be more expensive.
Can You Use Regular Aluminum Foil To Highlight Hair?
Yes, you definitely can! Normal aluminum foil can be used to add highlights to your hair. The only thing to remember is that the foil indicates safety for metal. The normal “sandwich size” aluminum hair foil is in my neighborhood hair salon drawer. They always utilize it, she claims. It’s simple to use, inexpensive, and available at any store.
Even her salons purchase large rolls of this foil from a supplier and cut off pieces with an industrial cutter.
What does foil do when dying hair? According to my neighborhood hairdresser, aluminum hair foil is ideal for adding highlights to your hair at home.
Well, I have to say that you’d even color your hair using waxed paper. It all depends on your personal preferences. Of course, you can experiment with both to find which works best for you.
What Kind oF Foil Is Used To Highlight Hair
Aluminum hair foil is available in a variety of thicknesses and strengths. In any case, it’s something you should consider. You’ll need aluminum foil that’s both sturdy enough to withstand the hair dye’s chemicals and flexible enough to keep the colored hair sections apart.
Fold a strip of aluminum foil in half at the end to make sure it’s strong enough. Allow this section to reach the hair’s roots. This doubles the strength of the aluminum foil, and you can rest assured that it will perform admirably!
How To Highlight Hair At Home With Foils?
In this article section, I’ll guide you on how to do highlights with foil. Take your time, read it and make sure you understand everything. It’s more important to get it correctly than to get it done quickly!
What Supplies Do You Need?
You will need clips or barrettes.
You also need a hair dye (or bleach) box.
A tail comb to smoothen the hair or for hair sectioning.
A tinting brush for applying the dye.
Last but not least, comics or foil.
It’s a good idea to cut the strips of aluminum hair foil ahead of time. Make a number based on how many you require. Of course, if one tears or needs more, you can easily make more. The fact that you have the metal strips is the most significant factor.
Make Small Sections Of Hair
Make a sectional division of the hair you want to dye. Divide the part of hair you wish to dye into little bundles to offer yourself more flexibility over the entire process. A barrette can be used to fasten each segment (bundle) temporarily.
Separate The Hair Section You Want To Highlight
You can use the tail comb to select sections to color. The comb helps to pick lovely hair pieces or weave a comb through the hair to pick distinct parts. It is easier to achieve a lovely and natural look by choosing tiny parts of hair rather than large ones. Instead of placing the whole section in one sheet of aluminum foil, it’s also more convenient to use multiple hair foils.
Use Aluminum Hair Foil
Place the folded aluminum hair foil under the part of the hair where the hair dye will be applied. Make sure the aluminum foil is tightly fitted to the hair’s roots for an even better outcome.
Start Your Dye Process
It’s now time to color your hair. Make sure the hair you wish to color is completely soaked. Each piece must be completed to achieve a lovely smooth finish through the process. Place the aluminum foil on the roots of your hair and brush with the tinting comb.
Wrap Aluminum Hair Foil
It’s time to wrap the aluminum foil around the hair now that it is under the hair while the hair dye is in the hair.
Wrap the aluminum foil around the hair from the end (not the roots) and fold it in half so that it completely covers the hair. For more illustrations, you can watch the video mentioned below.
Be cautious not to squeeze the wrapped aluminum foil too hard. If you do, the hair dye can start to leak. You’ve just finished wrapping the hair entirely; now fold the aluminum foil and tuck it away. Fold the aluminum foil at the ends of the hair (not at the roots) so that it is completely wrapped around the hair like an envelope.
Fold Aluminum Foil Hair
It’s now time to fold the aluminum hair foil around the hair to get it as close to the roots as possible. Make sure you’re not squeezing too hard here, or you’ll get a “fold line” in your paint. If your hair is long, you can roll it up instead of folding the aluminum foil.
Ensure You Dyed Every Strip Of Hair
Follow the previous six steps for each hairpiece you want to dye. Please take your time. Again, it’s preferable to do things gently and thoroughly than rush through them and be dissatisfied with the result. Leave the hair dye on for as long as the package says.
Of course, this is a long/slow process, and the hair strands you worked on first will be done sooner (in terms of the amount of time the paint needs to rest) than the other areas. As a result, it’s best to make all of the portions you wish to dye first, then apply all of the colors at once and fold them closed. This way, you prevent having different results, and all come out looking lovely and even!
What Are The Alternative To Foil For Highlights?
Aluminum foil has been widely utilized since it is a relatively simple material. Many salons use it and are pleased with the results. Of course, there are reasons to avoid aluminum foil (allergies, for example, or a lack of it in your home). Here are a few professional hair coloring techniques and tricks that will come in handy for at-home DIY hair coloring sessions.
Waxed Paper (Plastic Wrap)
You might also choose good waxed paper, as I previously stated. In certain hair salons, plastic wrap is used instead of aluminum foil. They do this so that they can see the color of the hair. It’s also used occasionally because it’s great for concealing as much hair as possible. This makes large color shifts much easier. You go very close to the roots by covering as much hair as possible, producing a nice overall effect.
What Are The Other Functions of Aluminum Hair Foil?
Aluminum foils are used for the exclusion process during your hair dying. Most professionals use it for exclusion, so what is an exclusion in the dyeing process?.
Exclusion
If you want only to dye a few strands of your hair, foils are a common pick. On the other hand, Foils are perfect if you want to color the majority of your hair while protecting a few strands from being processed. Simply divide the hair you don’t want to color and wrap each portion in foil, following the same technique as above—but without the dye. Then, working gently around the foils, color the rest of your loose hair.
Bleaching Hair
The exclusion method can also be utilized if parts of your hair are already bleached, but you wish to lighten the rest or add additional bleached sections. This approach is great for preventing severe damage to hair that has been damaged by over-processing with bleach.
If you wish to lighten the rest of your hair, you should cover the areas that have previously been bleached to avoid overprocessing. You may finish with a chemical haircut if you previously opted to bleach bleach-damaged hair.
Touch-Ups (Regrowth Applications)
If you don’t want to color over your already dyed hair, foils are ideal for regrowth applications. This is particularly true for highlights, as layering more bleaching on top of your last highlights can brighten your hair even more and give it a stripey look. For this, you can utilize the exclusion method.
How Do You Cut Hair Foil?
Depending on the hair length you’re dealing with, you’ll want to trim the foil into manageable strips before you start. Because then you’ll fold the foil up to enclose the hair, you’ll usually cut sheets that are 4 or 5 inches (10–13 cm) broad and 8–12 inches (20–30 cm) long.
Cut strips that are rough twice the length of the hair you’re dying. Instead of wrapping one piece of impossibly long foil, use two different pieces of foil that are each the lengths of the hair as a foil sandwich for extraordinarily long hair.
A piece of foil less than twice the length of the sectioned hair can be used, but the hair must be curled or safely tucked inside the foil. Ensure you’re not curling the hairs.
Can You Use Kitchen Foil For Highlights?
The foil used by beauty experts for highlighting hair is usually not the same foil used for baking foodstuff. Some baking aluminum foil available in supermarkets may contain a trace quantity of metal that is unsafe to use in hair dyes & colors.
How Long Do You Use Aluminum Foil For Hair Coloring?
Although some hairdressers don’t use foils to get the balayage effect and instead color the hair without them, it’s a method that offers the best. You can use aluminum hair foils for approximately two to three hours.
How To Do Tin Foil Hair Bleaching?
Foils aren’t required for all-over lightening, but they can aid in sectioning and keeping bleached areas of your hair separate if you choose to use them. Foils/tint foils can also prevent the bleach from drying out and losing its power to lift.
So, can you use aluminum foil to color hair? You certainly can! It’s even something many hair salons practice regularly. As I previously stated, the mini-quick guide on using aluminum foils for highlighting hair allows you to begin experimenting at home. Prepare yourself, do it safely, and ensure you give yourself enough time, so you don’t have to rush. But don’t leave the product in your hair for a long time.
