Mi hermana quiere hacerse unas mechas antes del verano.

Because querer + infinitive is the normal Spanish pattern for saying that someone wants to do something.

• quiere = she wants
• hacerse = to get done / to do to herself

So quiere hacerse... means she wants to get... done.

This is very similar to English wants to get or wants to have something done.

The se is important here. In this sentence, hacerse unas mechas means to have highlights done to one’s own hair.

Without se, hacer usually means to do / to make something in a more general sense.
With hacerse, the action affects the subject personally.

So:

• hacer unas mechas = to do/make some highlights
• hacerse unas mechas = to get highlights done for oneself / to have highlights put in one’s hair

In everyday Spanish, this reflexive form is very common for beauty and body-related actions:

• hacerse un tatuaje
• hacerse las uñas
• hacerse un corte de pelo

Not usually. In real-life usage, hacerse unas mechas often means to have highlights done, usually at a salon. It does not necessarily mean she personally will do them with her own hands.

This is one of those cases where Spanish uses a reflexive form, but English often prefers get or have:

• Se va a hacer unas mechas = She’s going to get highlights done

So the reflexive here often suggests that the person is the one affected by the action, not necessarily the one physically performing it.

In Spain, mechas usually means hair highlights or lighter streaks in the hair.

It is a very common salon/hairdressing word. Depending on context, it can refer to:

• traditional highlights
• streaks
• lighter sections of hair

So in this sentence, unas mechas is a natural salon-related expression in Spain.

Using unas makes the phrase sound more natural and idiomatic here. In Spanish, many salon or beauty expressions use an article even when English might not.

So Spanish prefers:

• hacerse unas mechas
• hacerse la manicura
• hacerse un corte de pelo

Here unas does not mean some in a strong literal sense. It is just part of the normal way of referring to that treatment.

If you said just hacerse mechas, people would probably still understand, but hacerse unas mechas sounds more natural.

In standard modern Spanish, possessives like mi, tu, su, nuestro usually go directly before the noun, without an article:

• mi hermana
• tu casa
• su coche

So mi hermana is the normal form.

English speakers sometimes wonder about this because Spanish does use articles in many places where English does not, but with basic possessive adjectives before a noun, no article is used.

Del is the contraction of de + el.

So:

• de + el = del

That means:

• antes del verano = before the summer

This contraction is required in Spanish whenever de is followed by the masculine singular article el, except when El is part of a proper name.

For example:

• del libro
• del coche
• del verano

Because verano here refers to the season, a specific time period, so Spanish normally uses the article:

• antes del verano = before the summer

Using de verano would usually mean summer-type or for summer, not before summer. For example:

• ropa de verano = summer clothes

So in this sentence, antes del verano is the correct structure for talking about time.

Yes. Mi hermana quiere hacerse unas mechas and Mi hermana se quiere hacer unas mechas are both correct.

The only difference is where the reflexive pronoun se is placed:

• quiere hacerse
• se quiere hacer

With a conjugated verb + infinitive, Spanish usually allows both positions:

1. attach the pronoun to the infinitive: hacerse
2. put it before the conjugated verb: se quiere hacer

Both are natural. Many speakers choose whichever sounds better to them in the moment.

Yes. Quiere is present tense of querer, but the whole sentence can still refer to a future plan or intention.

That is very normal in both Spanish and English. If someone says:

• Mi hermana quiere hacerse unas mechas antes del verano

it means that right now, she wants that future thing to happen.

So the wanting is present, while the action of getting highlights will probably happen later.

That is the most neutral and natural word order. Spanish often places time expressions after the main action:

• Mi hermana quiere hacerse unas mechas antes del verano

You could move it for emphasis:

• Antes del verano, mi hermana quiere hacerse unas mechas

But the original order sounds more straightforward and conversational.

Yes.

• hacerse unas mechas = to get highlights/streaks
• teñirse el pelo = to dye one’s hair

So mechas usually means only parts of the hair are lightened or colored, while teñirse el pelo is broader and can mean changing the color of all the hair.

A person could do both, but they are not the same thing.

Yes, mechas is very common and natural in Spain when talking about highlights. It is a good example of everyday salon vocabulary in Peninsular Spanish.

Speakers in other Spanish-speaking countries will usually understand it too, but some regions may prefer other hair-related terms depending on local usage. The sentence itself is completely standard Spanish.