Lowlights in Chicago | Depth & Dimension at Reverie Salon
Lowlights: What They Are & How They Work
Lowlights are strands of hair colored darker than your base shade to add depth, dimension, and contrast. They are the opposite of highlights: where highlights lift and brighten, lowlights deposit richer color. Applied in foils or painted freehand, they make flat, one-dimensional hair look natural, three-dimensional, and full of movement.
What lowlights do
Think of lowlights as shadows in a painting — they make the lighter areas around them pop. At Reverie we use them daily: to break up over-highlighted blonde, to ease a client darker without a dramatic single-process change, and to restore the depth that sun, water, and time wash out of both blondes and brunettes. They pair beautifully with hand-painted balayage and traditional highlights, and they are one of the core tools in gray blending.
Real Reverie Lowlights — Before & After
An over-lightened, flat blonde taken to rich bronde dimension with lowlights.
When to get them
Your blonde is too uniform. After several rounds of highlights, the contrast can wash out. Lowlights break up the monotone and reintroduce the variation that makes blonde look natural rather than bleached.
You want to go darker gradually. Instead of a full single-process color change, lowlights let you ease toward a darker shade piece by piece. The result is a natural evolution, not a dramatic overnight shift.
Your natural color has gone flat. Even brunettes benefit from lowlights. A slightly darker or richer shade woven through brings back the depth and movement that time, sun damage, and product buildup steal.
You're blending gray on your terms. Lowlights woven through silver soften the contrast between gray and pigmented hair with no hard line — the foundation of our gray blending service.
Pricing
Lowlights are priced like our other dimensional color work — partial placement from $160, full from $215, before toner (from $75). Often combined with highlights for a full dimensional service; your exact written quote comes at your free color consultation.
Lowlights — quick answers
How long do lowlights last?
Most clients refresh lowlights every 8–12 weeks. Because the deposited color is darker than your base, it fades gradually and the grow-out is subtle — no harsh line, no emergency appointments. A gloss or toner between visits keeps the tone rich.
Are lowlights permanent?
Lowlights are usually done with demi-permanent or permanent color. They soften gradually over weeks rather than washing out suddenly, and because they sit close to your natural depth, they never leave an obvious regrowth line.
How long do lowlights take?
Plan on roughly 1.5–2.5 hours depending on placement and density. Combined highlight-plus-lowlight dimensional sessions run longer; your colorist confirms timing at your free consultation.
Do lowlights fade?
Gradually, yes — heat styling, frequent washing, and sun speed it up. Sulfate-free color care and an occasional gloss keep them rich between appointments.
How much are lowlights?
At Reverie in Chicago: partial dimensional color from $160, full from $215, before toner (from $75) — quoted in writing before any color is applied.
Lowlights vs highlights — which do I need?
If your hair feels too light, flat, or washed out, lowlights add depth. If it feels dark or dull, highlights add brightness. Most dimensional color at Reverie uses both — that interplay is what makes color look expensive. Not sure? That's exactly what the free consultation is for, or ask our color team.
Book a lowlights consultation at Reverie Salon, River North, Chicago.
