How to Cover Your Highlights

One helpful hint before you get started: You should wear a zip-up shirt or smock. That way, when you rinse, you can easily take it off without getting color on it.

How to Cover Your Highlights Like a Pro

1. The first step is to divide your hair into four sections and clip it up.
2. Then apply the barrier cream to your forehead, ears, and neck. This keeps the color off your skin. Just be careful to keep the cream off your hair.
3. Now wash the cream off your hands and put on the gloves.
4. Next, fully puncture the top of the color tube and squeeze it into the activator bottle. Shake it for about 20 seconds until it’s thick and creamy like conditioner.
5. Unscrew the tip of the bottle cap.
6. Unclip a section and apply a small amount of color to your roots in rows that are roughly a quarter-inch apart. Work down your head until the section is complete.
7. Massage the color into your roots to make sure your hair is saturated.
8. Completely saturate your roots, using at least half the contents of the bottle.
9. Next, apply color to mid-lengths, starting where the roots stop. Work one section at a time.
10. Massage color down to ends. It helps to use your fingers or a wide-tooth comb to pull the color through your hair and saturate every strand.
11. Now go back to the color-resistant areas of your hair, like any gray areas you may have—and put more color there.
12. When you’re done, put on the cap, take off your gloves, and use the cleansing wipe to clean up any color that dripped onto your skin.
13. Set the timer for 35 minutes for normal processing or 45 minutes for color-resistant hair.
14. Now it’s time to rinse your hair until the water runs clear. The easiest way is to get in the shower, wet your head, and massage it well.
15. Wash your hair and lock in color with Madison Reed Shampoo and Conditioner.

More on coloring and highlights.