If you’re looking to add a little depth and dimension to your hair, highlights are a great option. However, adding highlights to your hair requires more than a casual drop-in at the nearest salon. It’s best to understand the different techniques available and what hair highlights fit your current hairstyle, including your haircut, length, and color.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Different highlighting techniques
This traditional hair highlight technique takes alternating sections of hair then lays them over with foil and dye. It gives you differently colored hair strands in between sections of natural hair, and is great for adding dimension to sleek and straight hair.
Similar to traditional foil highlights, babylights takes strands of hair from root to tip, but are much finer. More of your hair will be lightened but in thinner sections. As an effect, the blending of colors look more subtle and natural, creating a dimensional single-toned color effect compared to the more obvious contrasts of traditional highlights. It’s great for those who want a more natural look regardless of hair length and hairstyle.
Ombre highlighting, which means “shaded”, describes a gradual changing of hue of the hair along hair length. This hairstyle is achieved by foiling (or often bleaching) the bottom part of hair and creating a gradient color scale upwards. This gives your hair a two-toned effect where the roots are differently colored from the tips. The best part about ombre hairstyle is that it is easy to grow out especially if you maintain your natural hair color at the roots. While this hairstyle fits almost anyone, it’s especially good for those with wavy hair for smoother-looking color transitions.
The word balayage means “to sweep” and refers to how this technique is applied. Unlike in traditional highlights, the hairstylist doesn’t use foil—they apply dye “freehand” on your hair starting from mid-shaft towards the tips. The results are dual-toned, soft-looking highlights that look more natural in their subtle messiness. Balayage is great for those with multi-layered hairstyles and those with curly or wavy hair.
Add contrast to your hair by going for light brown hair highlights. This color is subtle yet contrasts enough for needed dimension. You can also enhance your brown tones with bronze highlights, brightening up your face while bringing out the warmth in your hair.
For a bright, sun-kissed look, you can try bleach blonde hair highlights. Well-blended blonde hair highlights on dark brown hair makes your hair look naturally lightened by the sun. For a warm-toned highlight that blends well with dark brown hair, caramel is a soft and sophisticated option.
Alternatively, you can cool down your brown with ash brown hair highlights. This color creates a smoky finish that remains multi-dimensional.
Stand out in a crowd with pastel-colored hair highlights that contrast with light blonde hair. Go for a light pink for a youthful look, or even a sky blue if you sport a cool-toned blonde. For something more balanced, you can add streaks of brown to your light blonde hair. Also known as “bronde”, it’s great for those seeking to add more contrast to their hair.
Dirty blonde highlights look more natural while adding more depth and dimension. This super trendy hair color is a great hair highlight of choice if you want to stand out while still being subtle. Another subtle yet multi-dimensional look are ash blonde highlights. This hair color can add more volume to your hair.
You can also make your hair cool and more unique with platinum white highlights. This color adds a sophisticated touch for those looking to bring out the lighter tones of their hair.
Feeling bold and extra? Then you might want to go for bold red hair highlights. When done well, they can look glamorous and unique. You can also warm up your hairstyle by adding streaks of brown highlights. They’ll make you look like you just spent a lengthy afternoon at the beach basking underneath the sun.
For more dimension and contrast, try adding streaks of blonde highlights. Just make sure to go to a trusty hairstylist to ensure that the transitions are smooth and subtle instead of sharp and glaring. Caramel can also look subtly sophisticated against black hair. They provide a creamy effect to black hair when blended well.
Want to embrace a more recent hairstyle trend? Add streaks of ash gray into your black hair. Ash gray can make you look sleek and glamorous and will look better when styled into layers.
Work with an expert hairstylist to add life to your hair. Dapper & Divine Hair Studio has a team of dedicated and passionate hairstylists who can help you find the best hair highlights for your hairstyle.
If you’re in the Boca Raton area, get in touch with Dapper & Divine Hair Studio, book an appointment, and let them help you bring more life into your hair.