Lightening Textured Hair: The Must-Dos & Mistakes To Avoid

Textured Hair Highlight Placement For Natural & Heat-Styled Looks

Curly lightening misconceptions—although common, these myths may lead to improper lightening techniques resulting in a curly client’s worst nightmare: Curl damage. With the proper knowledge and understanding of texture, healthy, blended blondes are achievable—even for clients who wear their curly hair natural and heat-trained straight.

Keep reading to learn essential education from blonding specialist and texture expert Janae Miller (@janaeraquelmiller) around lightening curls and texture including:

• Consultation questions you should never skip
• Foolproof foiling techniques to create the blend
• Common mistakes to avoid when lightening curly hair (and solutions!)

3 Non-Negotiable Consultation Questions for Curly Clients

“During consultations, I focus on the hair’s condition and ask how clients typically wear their hair—curly or heat-trained straight,” Janae shares. “This helps me determine the best approach for developer, blonding technique and tone while keeping the process simple and effective for the client.”

Some of Janae’s must-ask questions are:

• Do you mostly wear your hair curly or straight, or is it an even mix of both?
• How often do you change between straight and curly?
• What products or methods do you use to manage your curls?

Although Janae’s client typical wears her hair heat-styled straight, her versatile techniques allows both looks to be blended and beautiful:

Photo Credit: Instagram via @janaeraquelmiller

Foolproof Foil Patterns For Curly & Straight Styling:

When highlighting curly clients, your placement must be versatile enough to complement both straight and curly textures. How? “This involves adding dimension and depth that works with the natural movement of curls and maintains balance when the hair is straightened,” Janae explains.

Don’t overcomplicate it: Your traditional foiling techniques can achieve this! To avoid harsh lines, Janae shares, “I like to use classic methods like weaving or slicing. This ensures consistency, making the highlights look seamless when the hair is both curly and straight. By carefully controlling the sectioning and placement, I can ensure that the highlights are evenly distributed, offering a soft, natural look that works in both textures.”

Photo Credit: Instagram via @janaeraquelmiller

Janae’s Curly Lightening Must-Dos:

• Utilize foils over open-air techniques: “This allows for more control over the brightness, and I can be precise with the placement,” Janae shares. “This ensures that the highlights complement both straight and curly styles, offering a consistent and vibrant result.”
• Use a horizontal foil pattern: “Be strategic by following the exact placement on both sides of the head which creates a soft diffusion and clean look,” Janae explains.
• Leave out paper thin pieces of natural hair in between foils: This will create diffusion and avoid harsh lines. “This method allows for a softer blend, ensuring that the color transitions seamlessly whether the client wears their hair curly or straight.”

Janae’s techniques allow for seamless end results with both styles: See the results below!

Photo Credit: Instagram via @janaeraquelmiller

Pro Tip: Janae keeps curl health a priority through not only her techniques, but also her products. Her go-to lightener to keep her clients’ hair healthy, shiny and vibrant is Joico Blonde Life Lightener.

Win Joico SilverLight™ Lightener—the game-changing Powder Lightener that counteracts brassiness while processing for cool, silvery blondes!

4 Lightening Mistakes To Avoid To Protect Curly Hair

One of the most common curl misconceptions may be the need to blast dark, coily hair with lightener to get your desired lift. The result? Potentially irreversible damage to the curls—but it doesn’t have to be that way! Avoid these four common curl-lightening mistakes from Janae for healthy texture that stays in tact:

1. Using too high of a developer: “I recommend processing for 45 minutes to an hour, checking every 30 minutes. Since curly hair naturally has a raised cuticle, bright blondes can be achieved with a mild developer like 7 or 10 volume—there’s rarely a need to go higher,” Janae shares.

2. Applying highlights too close to the roots or in too large of sections: “This can result in harsh lines when the hair curls shrink back up,” she adds.

3. Over-saturating your sections: Avoid this on tightly coiled hair, as it leads to a patchy or uneven lift.

4. Failing to account for shrinkage with curly hair: “Curls compress more than straight hair, so you’ll want to take that into account to avoid too much contrast,” Janae shares.

Photo Credit: Instagram via @janaeraquelmiller

Build strong, healthy blondes with the Blonde Life blonding system—learn more here.

Products Used

Lightener

Blonde Life

Joico

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