Seeking advice - Hair Color first time - dark hair

[naturalooks15]

Hi all, this is brand new world to me because so far, just shampoo-conditioner & sometimes mask is all I have done for my hair most of my life. 
My teen daughter wants her hair colored and since I have never had it done, I have no clue about any of this so seeking advice from experienced people here. Hope tagging our resident expert @GG84  is ok. 

I will come back and post pictures of what we are looking to get to and also her current hair in 5 min. 

here is some info first -

1. Never had hair colored

2. her natural hair are dark, almost black (they will be considered dark brown in some countries where everyone has black hair but here I think it gets categorized as black)

3. Mostly straight slight wavy when fresh washed 

4. we are looking to get her biolage (I think that’s what it’s called) in dark brown and medium brown

questions I have -

1. Any particular product line to ask for

2. what would be needed for maintenance afterwards

3. anything to watch out for?

4. How to go about finding a good colorist in my areas

5. what would you tell your teen self when getting hair colored for the first time if you could go back in time 😊

 

[GG84]

Hey @naturalooks15 

You’re looking to get your daughters hair Balayaged. There are a few things to consider..balayage is just a technique. It’s free hand panting on the hair for a more accurate placement of lightener. 
Now there’s air touch balayage, open air balayage, reverse balayage - the list goes on. I’m going to attach a photo of different styles of placement for you to see..

I personally like a “balayage face” as it brings brightness to the face and can accentuate facial features, however it’s all a personal choice. 
Once your daughters hair has been lightened, they will tone it to a brown (I’d recommend a caramel vs a brown as a brown will fade faster) and the upkeep will be very minimal. Depending on how light they lift her, I’m guessing a level 7, she may have some brassiness but we won’t know until it’s done. As for what the salon uses, as long as they use Olaplex in their lightener you’ll be good. 

[naturalooks15]

Thank you so so much @GG84  !!! Really appreciate your response!!! now I know what Balayage means 😂🤣 I think I used to confused whole head highlights with Balyage. 

I had a haircut appointment today and they called to tell me that they had a cancellations and if I wanna come in early. I ended up taking my younger one along with me for consultation and see what can be done.
Given how crazy my work schedule is right now I thought I won’t be able to spend time on research to find a colorist during the week and might disappoint her (her B’day is Thur and plan was to take her Wed)  I ended up opting for getting her hair done today itself. It was an Aveda so they use their own thing and not sure if they use Olaplex. This is good information though and would help me tons to research for my elder one (now she also wants it) on her B’day in June. Her hair are jet black so I feel I really have to be careful. 

I feel like the lady that does my haircut did a pretty good job on highlights  for my kid. Here are the pictures, what do you think @GG84 ?

Also, what should I use to maintain it keep it healthy. I have Olaplex 3 bottles and Christopher Robin Prickley Pear mask, I got from Costco. Don’t know if I have any highlights safe shampoo-conditioner. We use regular head & shoulders from Costco. Also have Living Proof Triple detox. I think I would need a sulfate free shampoo, right?

 

In front of dining room door so golden hour sunlight hitting her hair in the below two