Let me just establish my hair highlighting cred before I say anything about this product... I have highlighted and/or colored my hair for more years than I really care to admit. Being the owner of really drab dishwater blond hair I have used paint on, comb through, pull through caps, and any manner of contraption-fitted applicators with prongs or brushes or a combination of the two. I have used highlighting kits and occasionally a high lift hair color to accomplish the blond sun kissed highlights of my dreams. I have tried many brands! I've used one step kits and two step color-then add highlights kits as well.
I have had epic failures and magnificent results alike. I have learned from my mistakes and successes (one mess comes to mind in which I actually needed to send my husband to the drugstore for a box of restorative haircolor! LOL) Over the years, I have come to trust Revlon Frost and Tip with a pull through cap no matter how long my hair is at the time. It is truly no fail for me, and I never get the dreaded orangey result or too large clumps of white blond from unpredictable timing. The product has remained consistent over the years and I can count on perfect highlights every single time for the look I want.
All of that being said, I was seduced by the Marc Anthony Easy Lights sale priced at $6.99 - $2 off the regular price at my local drugstore. It was a impulse purchase for me because it seemed to be something new and the images on the box of the before and after of many different hair colors were really impressive. Is it possible that one highlighter that is processed instantly with a flat iron could work so easily for any type of hair!? You could literally add a few highlights while styling your hair to go out! The results looked wonderful... I HAD to try it, right?
So... how did the product perform? There is a really wonderful thing about this highlighter: IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION. Who has not had that scary moment of anticipation when you get out of the shower or pull your wet head from the sink to see how your freshly applied highlights look? Are they spaced OK? Too light? Too orangey? Is there a blob where the lightening solution leaked through the cap? Do they look like the effect you were going for? Well, this product eliminates all the doubt because you can literally see it working. The solution is applied with the spray mist bottle directly to the section of hair you want lightened and a flat iron is run along the strand 5-7 times to activate the lightener.
I immediately thought of the 70's product "Sun-In" which seems to be a similar concept. If you didn't actually have a sunny day or the time to sit out in it with the spray on you hair, you could activate the highlighting with a blow dryer. The Marc Anthony product is sort of the same idea but it is much more targeted. It is so much easier to isolate small strands for lightening by using a flat iron. (Which may have existed in the 70's but I didn't have one - I think the popularity of flat irons has increased exponentially over the years.) Plus, the act of flat ironing itself visibly activates the lightening. It is subtle, but with repeated applications one could actually achieve the effects on the box. I did a few sections more than once, meaning I sprayed and flat ironed 5-7 times at least twice on the same section of hair. It visibly lightened those sections past the point of the reddish blond I tend to get when highlighting solutions are not left on long enough.
Which brings me to the question of how damaging this can be. The directions say to flat iron the hair while it is damp with the solution, but how many times have we been told in general not to flat-iron or use a curling iron on anything but dry hair? The ingredients on the box do list some botanical oils so I am hoping they are built in conditioners. Also, I have not experienced any breakage or the appearance of damage yet. But since peroxide is usually rough on hair AND we are adding heat application to the mix, I probably would not do this repeatedly. I am going to save it for when I feel dingy and need a lift in the form of some hair brightening.
Overall though, I would enthusiastically recommend this product. It's really kind of fun to use. Just make sure you are not over-zealous with how much hair you are trying to do - add generous space between the sections or it will no longer look like highlighting but a solid swath of colored hair. Also, be careful with the flat iron too close to your scalp heating the liquid solution. That hot iron creates a puff of steam that can burn the heck out of your head! Finally, don't expect a miracle of lightening on the first try. Granted, for most of us, a gradual approach may be best, but if you want some sunny highlights for your date tonight be sure to build in some time for repeat applications.
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