“Natural-looking highlights, rather than vibrant, is key to making you look sophisticated.” says Ami, a fluent English-speaking top stylist at Daikanyama-based Bulb hair salon.

A recent returnee, she relocated to Tokyo following a 10 year long hairdressing career in New York. During our visit, she proposes a half highlight package using low-maintenance hair coloring to keep our model of the day Daria looking naturally trendy.

Personalizing Your Hair Color with a Mix of Coloring Methods

Top stylist Ami intentionally combines different coloring techniques, taking a more bespoke approach towards making you feel like your most beautiful self.

The experience commences with a consultation, where we shortly learn how our model Daria received her current head of chunky highlights – during a trip to her hometown a few months back. Her hair has also grown two inches since, and dark roots are noticeable. After accessing the situation, Ami decides to transform Daria’s traditional highlights into a sophisticated play of subtle, blond color contrasts.

The hair coloring session begins with Ami applying the bleach with freehand coloring method Balayage, the most trending highlighting technique of current time. Balayage is performed on the lower sections to brighten our model’s hair without straying into stripy highlights territory.

Ami then combines the technique with a highlighting technique called Foilyage, carefully and methodically wrapping Balayage-painted hair sections into foils to amplify hair lightening. Foliyage gives Daria a naturally beautiful head of highlights while getting more lift out of the ends, something that cannot be done with simply Balayage. Babylights, a delicate highlighting technique, is then a performed on the top of Daria’s head to create the subtle dimensional colors that are often observed in children hair.

Applying Two Shades of Toner for a Natural Effect

With the highlight procedures out of the way, coppery hair toner is administered on Daria’s hair to neutralize the unwanted brassy yellow color that results from bleaching. Ami thoughtfully chooses a warm tone to bring out our lovely model’s fair complexion. Ami then employs Shadow Roots, a low-maintenance coloring technique that – as the name suggests – creates a beautiful, blurred transition between shades, allowing natural hair color to grow out without extra attention.

A Strengthening Keratin Color Care Smoothing Hair Treatment

Following the end of the hair coloring session, Daria enjoys a complimentary head massage as Ami indulges her hair in an intensive, 5-step moisturizing hair treatment to reverse potential damage. The keratin seals the hair, strengthens hair follicles and helps the color last longer.

Concluding with a Traditional NY Style Blowout Technique

The final step of today’s salon services is a perfect drying and styling session. Ami flawlessly executes a traditional blow dry using a round brush to add hair volume and shine, a technique that was high in demand with her clients back in New York.  As Daria was dressed in an elegant black dress, Ami styled her hair with a hair curling iron to add texture to the final look.

To the surprise of our team, the entire hair coloring session was completed in just about two hours, hands down the fastest we have seen at Tokyo Beauty Stars! Ami definitely knows her highlighting techniques and does not hesitate to put her expertise to use with her clients.

If you’re considering fuss-free natural looking highlights, would like to maintain your hair color, or simply want to touch-up your roots, this may be just the go-to package for you. Visit Bulb salon for professional consultation with highlighting expert Ami to discover the best combination of highlight color and tones that not just suits your style, but also your hair and complexion!