It looks like ombre’s got a new competitor! It’s name: splashlights. Splashlights are bursting on the scene as the newest hair trend to try. So what exactly is it and can you pull it off with hair extensions?

Splashlights are designed to give you a spotlight effect on a portion of your hair. Get this look with your own hair by bleaching a straight or slightly angled horizontal section of hair from ear to ear. First, start by bleaching the stripe, starting with the undermost layers working up. If you want a super harsh line, you can stop here. However, you can decide how bold you want the contrast to be. You can leave the bleached section as-is for lots of contrast between your hair and the line, or you can color the bleached section with a shade a few tones lighter than your natural hue. (For example, if you have dark brown hair, you could color the strip a light chestnut brown.) You can also choose how harsh you want the line to be. For a more blended, ombre effect between your color and the line, color the sections above and below the bleach with a shade close to your natural hair color.

Now for the most important question…does this work on extensions? The answer is yes! Aura Friedman, the New York colorist who created this look, paints the stripes on hair extensions before installing them on her clients (we recommend getting an extension in the color of the desired splashlight, then coloring the sides to match the client’s hair, as it is very unwise to try and lift color from hair extensions). It’s also much easier to color because the wefts are not installed, giving you more room to color the hair in whichever angle you’d like. You can get as creative as you’d like with your hair extensions, but always make sure to do a strand test on them before coloring. For more tips on coloring hair extensions, check out this blog and our new Color Takeover Portal—home to our educational outreach collaboration with Joico Color Intensities and Framar International, complete with tutorial videos, articles, and more!

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