Highlights at Kohort Studio, Foil Highlight Specialists, Richmond Melbourne

Traditional foil highlights, placed with precision and toned to photograph beautifully.

Traditional foil highlights, placed with precision and toned to photograph beautifully.

What Are Highlights?

Highlights are the classic lightening service. Lightener is packed into foils against the hair in thin woven sections, then left to process with a clean barrier between each foil and the rest of the hair. The foil traps the heat, accelerates the lift, and creates the brighter, more uniform look that balayage deliberately avoids. If balayage is the painterly technique, foil highlights are the precision technique, and both have a place in modern colour.

At Kohort, highlights are a core service. Full head foils, half head foils, babylights, T-section foils, face framing foils and top-section foils are all foil-based techniques that fall under the highlights umbrella. Each one places the foils differently and produces a different finished look. Your colourist decides which arrangement suits the brief, your hair density, your cut, and the maintenance cycle you can actually commit to.

Highlights are the right choice when you want bright, clearly defined lightness. Guests who want a head of obvious brightness from root to tip, whether that is a cool-ash Scandi blonde, a warm honey blonde, or a soft butter blonde, usually land on foils rather than balayage. Guests who want refined, glossy dimension rather than painterly sweeps also lean toward foils. The look reads more salon-finished, more uniform, more like a finished magazine editorial than a day-at-the-beach sweep.

The other reason clients book foil highlights is precision in grey coverage. Hair with significant grey runs through a foil service cleanly because the foil holds the lightener against the root and the width of the section can be tightened up to target the greyest areas. Many of our Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell and East Melbourne regulars book foil highlights for exactly this reason. Invisible grey blending through a head of foils reads as dimension rather than coverage, and that is the sophisticated version of going grey gracefully.

Foil highlights are not the same service as balayage. Foils sit higher against the root and deliver a more uniform lift. Balayage sits further from the root and creates a softer grow-out. The two techniques can also be combined, in which case the service is called foilayage, and Zoe and Taylah both offer that as part of their regular colour work. Related services include balayage, full head foils, half head foils, and lived-in blonde.

How KOHORT Approaches Highlights

Highlights at Kohort are treated as precision work. Your colourist is looking at your face shape, where the brightness will fall on camera and in the mirror, where to tighten the weave for a cleaner finish, and where to widen it for softer blending. The weave pattern and the foil width decide the final read of the colour, so no two highlight services should be mixed in exactly the same way. A highlight service that looks the same on every head is one that has not been designed for the individual.

Bond support is built into every foil service at Kohort. Before lightener is packed into a foil, our colourists will often apply L'Oréal Metal Detox for guests with any colour history or mineral build-up. Metal Detox neutralises metallic particles trapped inside the cortex, usually from tap water, old box dye or previous foil services, and stops those metals reacting with the lightener to cause breakage and brassy tone. Skipping this step is one of the most common reasons foil clients lose integrity after repeat services.

During the foil service itself, Olaplex Bonding Treatment or K18 Molecular Repair is woven into the lightener formula. Olaplex rebuilds the disulphide bonds that lightener breaks during the lift. K18 uses a bioactive peptide that reconnects keratin chains in the cortex. For foil clients in particular, bond support is not optional because foils sit closer to the scalp and hold the lightener tighter against the hair than balayage does. For clients with heavy metal load, an Olaplex Chelating Treatment is added as a pre-service step to purify the hair before colour touches it.

Toning is where a foil service becomes genuinely great. Your colourist tones based on your skin tone, eye colour, natural base level and the shade you are trying to land on. Cool ash for pale cool skin. Beige or neutral for mid tones. Warmer honey for olive and warm skin. Over-toning creates flat grey. Under-toning leaves hair yellow. Our colourists take ten to twenty minutes on tone every appointment because this is where most salon foil services either make or lose the result.

The Kohort co-working model means your colourist handles your service from start to finish. That matters for foils specifically because the timing of each foil is critical. Foils that sit too long blow out to white and fragile. Foils pulled too early leave banding. A colourist monitoring their own work across their own client, rather than juggling two or three books at once, produces cleaner, more accurate lift.

Every highlight service closes with a Kérastase Fusio Dose Ritual or a Davines Liquid Luster gloss finish. Fusio Dose deposits concentrated shine actives that last up to eight washes. Liquid Luster uses lamellar technology to coat the cuticle with a smooth reflective finish. Both leave foiled hair softer, glossier, and more photograph-ready than an untreated finish. If your service includes a cut, the cut happens after the colour so the shape flatters the foil placement rather than cropping the brightest ends.

Our retail matches our service shelf. Kérastase Blond Absolu for cool blonde tone maintenance, K18 leave-in mist for bond care between appointments, Davines Alchemic for tone refresh, and Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector for weekly at-home bond work. What your colourist recommends is sitting within arm's reach of the chair.

Who Performs Highlights at KOHORT

Taylah, Brightness and Precision Foils

Taylah's signature is foils that photograph brightly on day one and still hold together at week eight. Regulars book her when they want bright, photo-ready foils without committing to a four-week rebook. Strong on full head foils, face-framing foils and foilayage. Book with Taylah.

Sheridan, Soft Natural Foils and Babylights

Sheridan is the colourist to book if you want foils that look lived-in and natural rather than obviously foiled. Baby highlights, soft T-section foils, seamless root blending and natural-looking dimension are her signature. Book with Sheridan.

Grace, Foundation Foils and Natural Placement

A third-year apprentice trained at Biba and Billie Jean Hair, Grace offers accessible pricing on foundation foil services, half head foils and natural foil placements. Great fit for first-time foil clients. Book with Grace.

Sheree, Precision Foils Including Short Hair

Over twenty years of industry experience. Sheree delivers expertly placed foils on short hair as well as long, and is the colourist to book if past salons have told you foils will not read on a short cut. Book with Sheree.

Zoe, Cool-Tone Foils and Foilayage

Zoe is the colourist guests book when they want cooler, brighter foil payoff. She regularly combines balayage with targeted foils through the top sections and face frame, the technique known as foilayage. Book with Zoe.

Billie, Creative Foil Placement

Thirty years of industry experience. Billie approaches foils with an artistic eye and is the colourist to book when the brief pushes into creative placement, bolder contrast or editorial foil work. Currently welcoming existing clients only. Book with Billie.

Highlights Process, What to Expect

1. Consultation

Your colourist reviews your hair dry in natural light, goes through your colour history, and discusses the foil density, placement and finished shade. For a first foil with us, we strongly recommend a free fifteen-minute in-salon consultation before booking.

2. Preparation

L'Oréal Metal Detox or Olaplex Chelating Treatment if your hair history calls for it. Sectioning is planned around your parting, face frame and cut shape.

3. Foil Application

Your colourist weaves sections, applies lightener and wraps each foil. A full head runs through around 80 to 140 foils depending on hair density and length. A half head runs through the top and crown. Babylights use tighter weaves for a softer finish.

4. Processing

Foils process under even heat until lift is at target level. Your colourist monitors closely because each foil can move at a slightly different pace. Bond support runs through this stage where appropriate.

5. Toning

Lightener is rinsed out, a bespoke toner is applied and left to develop for the prescribed time. This is where final shade is locked in.

6. Finishing

Kérastase Fusio Dose Ritual or Davines Liquid Luster gloss, blow dry, style, home care conversation and an honest rebook window. No surprise charges.

Highlights Pricing at KOHORT

Highlight pricing at Kohort varies by colourist, foil count, hair length and density. As a guide, full head foils start from around $350 and run higher for long, dense or heavily pre-coloured hair. Half head foils start from around $250. A T-section or face-framing foil service starts from around $180. Baby highlights are typically quoted within the full or half head foil range depending on weave density.

Add-on treatments are priced separately and strongly recommended on lifted hair. K18 Molecular Repair from $50. Olaplex Bonding Treatment from $50. L'Oréal Metal Detox from $45. Kérastase Fusio Dose Ritual at $50. Davines Liquid Luster at $25. Olaplex Chelating Treatment from $50 for heavy mineral load.

Because foil services scale with hair length, density and how many foils your colourist genuinely needs to build the look, we do not quote full foil pricing without seeing the hair. If you want a quote before booking, email salon@kohort.com.au with a photo of your current hair and your reference look, or book a free fifteen-minute in-salon consultation. Every colourist at Kohort is an independent business setting their own rates, so pricing varies between chairs. Grace's foundation rates are more accessible because she is in her final apprentice year.

Aftercare for Highlights

Foil highlights are an investment, and aftercare is what decides whether they last six weeks or twelve. The rules are straightforward and worth sticking to.

Wash less. Three times a week maximum for foiled hair. Every extra wash pulls tone and gloss out of lifted sections. Dry shampoo between washes is your friend.

Sulphate-free shampoo is non-negotiable. Sulphates strip colour faster than anything else in the bathroom cupboard. Kérastase Blond Absolu is our top recommendation for cool foiled blondes. Davines Alchemic and the K18 peptide shampoo also live on our retail shelf and work beautifully on foiled hair.

Purple or silver shampoo once a week, not every wash. Leave it on for three to five minutes and rinse. Daily purple shampoo is one of the most common home-care mistakes we see and it leaves hair looking flat and slightly grey instead of bright.

Heat protect before any hot tool, every time, no exceptions. Foiled ends are more porous and lose moisture faster under heat than virgin hair. A heat protectant is the single fastest way to extend the life of a foil service.

Weekly mask. K18 Molecular Repair mask, Kérastase Masquintense Blond or Davines NouNou are the three we rotate at the salon and on our retail shelf. K18 is the heaviest repair. Masquintense Blond tones and conditions. NouNou is a deep moisture option.

Chlorine and salt water fade foils faster than anything else. Before swimming, wet your hair with tap water and apply a leave-in. That keeps the hair saturated and reduces chlorine or salt absorption. Rinse immediately after.

Refresh with a mid-cycle gloss. A Fusio Dose or Liquid Luster gloss at the six to eight week mark can extend a foil service by several weeks. Many of our regulars book a gloss between foil appointments and only rebook a full service three or four times a year.

Bhave keratin smoothing is worth considering if your foiled hair is frizz-prone or humidity-sensitive. A keratin smoothing treatment from $250 adds six to twelve weeks of manageability and protects foiled ends from the kind of frizz that shortens the perceived life of a highlight service.

Who Highlights at KOHORT Are Ideal For

Highlights are ideal for guests who want bright, defined lightness from root to tip, and who are happy with a four to six week rebook window for the cleanest look. It suits guests who want precision rather than painterly, salon-finished rather than sun-kissed, and a service that reads bright in a phone photo and under daylight.

It also suits guests who need clean grey coverage done in a way that reads as dimension, not flat colour. Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell, East Melbourne, Balwyn and Hawthorn East clients often come to us for exactly this work, and the foil-and-tone combination is the cleanest way to blend grey into a natural base.

Foil highlights suit fine, medium, thick, curly and wavy hair. Technique adapts. For very coarse or very resistant grey, your colourist may add processing time or combine foil services with a root colour application at the same appointment. For very fine hair, the weave tightens and bond support ramps up.

Foil highlights may not be the right fit if you want a no-grow-out-line, low-maintenance colour. Balayage is the more appropriate service if that is your priority. They may also not suit if you want a uniform all-over blonde that foils will not achieve in a single service from a significantly darker base. Colour correction is a separate category with its own specialists at Kohort, and some blonde journeys begin there.

Highlights for Clients Across Inner Melbourne

Our highlight book pulls from every inner Melbourne suburb. Richmond locals drop in from Bridge Road apartments and the Cremorne tech precinct, often booking foils over a half day Friday or across a corporate lunch window. Cremorne clients from the SEEK, REA, MYOB and Disney Australia offices along Church Street and Balmain Street book polished highlights that read considered on office camera calls. Burnley riverside guests lean toward soft babylights paired with long layers that hold up under a post-run ponytail or a bike helmet on the Yarra trail.

From south of the river, South Yarra and Toorak clients cross Punt Road for signature highlights and grey coverage maintenance, typically booking every five to six weeks. Chapel Street retail and hospitality staff from Prahran and Windsor book foils that stay photograph-ready through double shifts. Prahran clients often pair highlights with a creative accent through the face frame, while Windsor clients lean into cooler, more fashion-forward foil work through the top sections.

From the north, Fitzroy and Fitzroy North guests book highlights with an artistic lean. Sharper placement, bolder brightness, editorial toning, and creative foil work on shorter cuts. Collingwood regulars come across from Smith Street, Gertrude Street and the Collingwood Yards precinct for highlights that read bright without reading suburban. Northcote and Fairfield guests come down High Street and Heidelberg Road for soft foils, often copper-leaning, paired with a lived-in finish. Clifton Hill and Alphington guests book gentler foil placements with subtle grey blending.

From the east, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Kew, Camberwell and Balwyn clients are the heart of our refined classic foil book. The Boroondara brief is usually about invisible grey coverage, polished toning, healthy-looking finishing and longevity. Many of these guests book a full head foil three or four times a year with a mid-cycle gloss between. Balwyn clients in particular bring strong foil demand for the Balwyn High formal and bridal season.

Carlton and Carlton North clients, many from the University of Melbourne academic community, bring softer natural foil briefs. Abbotsford guests from the Convent arts pocket often request warm foils with a copper or honey lean. East Melbourne clients closer to the MCG, Fitzroy Gardens and St Patrick's Cathedral book refined foils suited to Parliament and Collins Street professional life. St Kilda clients mix beach-friendly foils with fashion colour for the arts and hospitality scene, and humidity-safe smoothing finishes are often paired with the service. Melbourne CBD apartment-belt clients usually book longer Friday afternoon foil slots, often paired with a keratin smoothing finish for corporate-ready polish.

No matter which suburb you are coming from, Kohort is fifteen minutes or less by car, tram or train from most of inner Melbourne.

Frequently Asked Questions About Highlights at KOHORT

What is the difference between full head foils and half head foils?

Full head foils go from root to tip across the entire head for a uniformly bright finish. Half head foils cover the top, crown and face frame only, for brightness where it shows and less lift underneath. See full head foils and half head foils for detail.

What is the difference between highlights and balayage?

Highlights sit in foils closer to the root and produce a brighter, more uniform lift. Balayage is freehand, sits further from the root, and produces a softer grow-out. Foilayage combines both techniques.

What are babylights?

Babylights are very fine, tightly-woven foils placed throughout the hair to create a soft, sun-kissed brightness without obvious stripes. They suit clients who want highlights that read very natural.

How often should I book highlights?

Every four to six weeks for full head, five to seven weeks for half head, six to eight weeks for babylights. A mid-cycle gloss at the halfway mark can stretch the window.

How long does a highlight appointment take?

Full head three to four hours. Half head two and a half to three hours. Babylights three to four hours depending on density.

Will highlights cover my grey?

Yes, foil highlights blend grey very effectively when placement targets the greyest sections. For very high percentage grey or very resistant greys, your colourist may combine foils with a root application. Ask at consultation.

Do highlights damage hair?

Foils are a lightening service so they do have an impact. With pre-colour Metal Detox, bond support through the service with Olaplex or K18, and proper home care, damage is kept to a minimum.

How much do highlights cost at Kohort?

Full head foils from $350. Half head foils from $250. T-section or face framing from $180. Babylights quoted within the relevant foil range. Add-on treatments from $25 to $50.

Can I get highlights on short hair?

Yes. Sheree and Billie both specialise in highlights on short hair, pixies and bobs. Placement adjusts but the service still works.

Can I get highlights on previously coloured hair?

Usually yes. L'Oréal Metal Detox is almost always added to the service for previously coloured hair. Some heavy box dye histories may require a correction session first.

Can I combine highlights with balayage?

Yes. The technique is called foilayage and Taylah, Zoe and Sheridan all offer it.

Which stylist should I book for highlights?

For bright photo-ready foils, book Taylah or Zoe. For soft babylights and natural foils, book Sheridan or Grace. For short hair foils, book Sheree. For creative foil placement, book Billie. If unsure, email salon@kohort.com.au and we will match you.

Where is Kohort and how do I get there?

234 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC 3121. Burnley and East Richmond stations are eight to ten minutes walk. Trams 48 and 75 run along Bridge Road directly past the door.

Is there parking near the salon?

Yes. Two-hour metered street parking on Bridge Road and free longer parking on residential side streets within a block or two.

Book Your Highlights at KOHORT

KOHORT Studio · 234 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC 3121

Phone: 0423 979 900

Email: salon@kohort.com.au

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, bookings by appointment.

Book directly with any of our highlight colourists:

Book with Taylah
Book with Sheridan
Book with Grace
Book with Sheree
Book with Zoe
Book with Billie (existing clients only)