Adding highlights hair colors to your hair is one of the simplest things you can do to really change up your look. Whether your base color hair is brown, red, black, or blonde, you’ll find a gorgeous look for you using different highlighting techniques such as foil highlights, partial and full highlights!
Before your next hair coloring appointment, check out our inspiring photos of this year’s most popular highlights hair color ideas for your hair.
#1: Honey Blonde Accents on Chocolate Brown Hair
A sweet blend of honey and chocolate done on any hair type and length looks perfect on warm complexions. Place those light honey highlights at the mid-length to the bottom and add in some pretty huge waves to give depth and volume to your brown hair.
#2: Turquoise Green Partial Highlights
Blue-green highlights clearly show through the black curtain hair. Hair ideas like partial highlights like these make a nice upgrade for any lady’s current look.
#3: Blonde Highlights in Red Hair for Women Over 50
Blonde highlights in red hair for women over 50 are great for women who want to add dimension to their warm-toned tresses. To get this hair color, ask your colorist for a deep red with soft golden babylights.
#4: Chunky Highlights for Older Women
Chunky highlights for older women are the perfect hair color service to blend out the grays, especially around the face. While normal highlights are also a great option to blend, adding more chunkiness around the face helps to blend the area while still maintaining a fresh highlight look. Also, chunky highlights are a great way to show off two specific hair hues.
#5: Streaks of Dark Royal Blue on Dark Hair
Streaks of rich blue in black hair make for an interesting combination. The added curls really round up the whole look, too.
#6: Pastel Pink Highlights
Your medium to long hair looks amazing already, but why not make it more enchanting with a great amount of pastel pink highlights? These light pink soft waves are easier to upkeep if your roots are your natural hair color.
#7: Ash Blonde Highlights
One of the many versatile looks a blonde can have is these ash gray ombre highlights on lengthy waves! The gorgeous subtle highlights also create a dynamic look to the hair.
#8: Subtle Ashy Blonde Hue for Dark Brown Hair
This high-maintenance ultra-cool girl look is achievable by opting for dark brown hair with highlights. Choose the subtle ashy blonde accents if you want to be edgy and classy at the same time. This brown hair with blonde highlights looks best on people with fair skin tones and blue, gray, or green eyes!
#9: Peek-a-Boo Highlights
For the adventurous ladies who want to add a little creativity to their look, here’s blonde hair with rainbow peek-a-boo highlights! This combination matches perfectly with this sassy long-length cut.
#10: Light Brown Highlights
A multi-dimensional highlighted lob that anyone can rock! Keep your natural hair color while adding dimension to your straight hair with this ash brown highlight technique.
#11: Yellow Dip Dye Highlights
One of the biggest trends of this decade is the dip dye highlights, which amazingly adds fun and edge to anyone who tries it! Reveal your playful side with this subtle yellow dye while looking modern with grey hair.
#12: Highlighted Burgundy Red Hair
Highlights don’t always mean bright light colors. For this one, colorist Elisabeth made sure to showcase the deep wine streaks on black hair by using the full highlights technique.
#13: Strawberry Blonde Highlights
Try these awesome beach waves with a blunt end cut, colored with highlights of this sweet shade of strawberry blonde. Full-head highlights hair with such a chic hair hue works best for girls with a tan skin tone.
#14: Grey Ombre Highlights
It’s a challenge to create an ombre with straight hair, but these melting highlights of grey shade prove how it can be easily and beautifully done. A plus when your natural color is black as it blends in without effort when it grows out.
#15: Golden Blonde Highlights
These smooth golden blonde highlights are ideal for warm-colored hair. The added tone provides dimension and texture to wavy long hair, especially when the light hits it.
#16: Sun-Kissed Blonde Ombre
These trendy and sassy highlights can absolutely do a lot for anyone’s hair of any length and type. When done in a subtle warm blonde ombre, they can add the dimension and texture that you’re wanting.
#17: Dusty Rose Gold Highlighted Hair
Undeniably one of the most sought-after looks this season is this hair idea with dusty rose-colored highlights. This highlighted hair works perfectly on fair tones and light brown eye color. Wear this brown hair color with jaw-length beach waves and end up feeling light and flirty and ready to turn heads wherever you go!
#18: Honey Blonde
A blend of honey blonde and chocolate works best on ladies with warm complexions. The added waves boost the color’s dimension while giving the hair depth and volume.
Color specialist Sami Schneider of Colorado achieved this hair with blonde highlights with a balayage. “Balayage highlights give off the dimension of light against dark, which was exactly what we wanted! It’s also a great option for lower maintenance as it allows for a softer grow-out,” says Schneider.
#19: Dimensional Hair with Highlights and Lowlights
Dimensional hair with highlights and lowlights offers a bright tone without the high upkeep. Color specialist Pamela from Australia made it with full-head highlights and root shadow.
“Such hair color ideas will suit many women, but it’s important to invest in your home care. Look after the condition of your hair and give your blonde the best look and feel. I’d suggest maintaining it with regular trims to keep your hair looking its best.” Pamela advises.
#20: Platinum Blonde Highlights
This hair color is a platinum blonde hue, as they’re not too white and still have a tint of beige. They were created by Camila De Oliveira of Florida. She says, “the haircut is long layers with a face-frame.”
The maintenance is about 8 weeks alternating between partial and full. Products that should be used are Redken bonder protein mask for at least 4 weeks, then alternate to hydrating shampoo and mask. De Oliveira also recommends hydrating leave-in that also has thermal protection and SPF Redken one United 25 benefits.
#21: Dark to Ash Grey Ombre with Highlights
This is a silver/grey balayage ombré, designed by stylist Maryann Nguyen of Buford, GA.
“The best thing about this look is the seamless blend from a dark root to a smokey silvery grey. It’s even more beautiful after it’s been curled with a wand, giving it a more soft, lived-in beach wave look. The cut is a V-cut with long layers and face-framing accentuating the look as a whole by adding movement, texture, and body,” says Nguyen.
Nguyen says there may be multiple sessions involved before you get this color. She advises, “Be patient and be aware that highlighting your hair may lift differently than others. The hair has to lift to a pale yellow (the inside of a banana) in order to achieve this color.”
Grey is a fashion color, so be sure to use color-safe shampoos and conditioners. Toning every so often may be needed to add grey tones back in once it fades over time. However, the Celeb Luxury Viral grey shampoo would be very useful for a color like this to keep its longevity without having to get it re-toned every time at the salon.
Nguyen also suggests using hair masks in between sessions because the hair may feel brittle and will need moisture to be put back in, especially for those who use heat styling (i.e. blow dryers, flat irons, curling irons).
#22: Purple Highlights
This look has purple teasy lights. Colorist Nicole Mulder created light long layers and styled the curly hair in a smooth finish using a flat iron.
To get this look, Mulder says your hair would need to already be in a pretty healthy state. The Texas-based colorist recommends a color shampoo at home such as Celeb Luxury’s Viral shampoo to keep the purple highlights vibrant. Also, use a color-protecting shampoo that’s moisturizing. It would be good to use a heat protectant when using heat and to get a strengthening/moisture treatment once every month or every two months.
Mulder notes, “this look can work for just about all women as long as they like having fun with vivid colors.”
#23: Platinum Highlights
These are full-head platinum highlights on a textured pixie with a longer side bang! Created by stylist Shellee Hughes of West Virginia, this is easy to style using a texture paste or spray wax or whatever you have at the time.
“I smudged her root and pulled down matching baby lowlights into her heavy highlighted summer bleach blonde hair,” Hughes explains.
If you’re a very active woman and need easy-to-style hair that could go from day to night in just a few minutes, here’s a great option!
Related: See more pixie cuts with highlights.
#24: Ash Brown Hair Highlights
Seeing silver? Seeing black? Well, this ash brown color with highlights has both! A versatile color for women wanting to try something new but want to stay in their comfort zone.
#25: Caramel Streaks on Dark Brown Roots
Spice up those long wavy layers with some luscious honey and caramel highlights, so you can look sexy and flirty by just simply letting that lovely hair down!
“Hair like this reminds me of a supermodel’s hair. That perfect blend of drama and effortlessness that a lot of women are looking for today,” stylist Danielle Golburgh of New York describes.
“Using the balayage technique, we achieved these bright caramel and honey pops that give so much drama and movement without taking away from the beautiful, natural rich brown base color. This is what balayage does for a brunette base,” Golburgh notes.
Balayage is really for the girl who doesn’t want the maintenance of standard highlights. It’s perfect for brunettes wanting to dip into the fabulous world of blonde, while still feeling like a brunette.
“Understand that every shade of brown is different and every skin tone is different. Bring some pics of looks that inspire you to your color appointment, but trust your colorist’s eye, and be flexible in your vision,” she adds.
#26: Auburn Red Highlights
Give texture to your deep red lob by adding hair highlights and waves to it for a voluminous effect. This shade of auburn is ideal for those with medium warm skin tones.
It’s a vibrant multi-dimensional red with violet undertones by California-based hairstylist Erin Shellabarger. “It’s a layered lob with lots of texture. I always love to have multiple colors in a style. It makes your hair look thicker and reflects more light,” says Shellabarger.
These red highlights follow the trend of vivid hair colors but is not out of the natural reds, just kicked up a little. Shellabarger states, “I love to keep the current color, but not everyone can have pink hair. So the bold color will definitely help you stand out but in a gorgeous way.”
#27: Cherry Red on Dark Brown Hair
This delicious blend of rose red and rich dark brown is ideal for any cut or style – wavy or straight, long or short. If you have a medium cool skin undertone, this will absolutely look perfect on you!
Made by stylist Kate Breedlove of Indiana, this is a ruby red balayage/ombré. The flowing layers add so much texture and really makes the color pop.
Breedlove notes, “this look can allow for up to four to six months grow out time, and you’ll never see the line of demarcation (where your roots grow in) like you will with highlights.”
For all who like to have their roots done, they can still continue to do so with root touch-ups while the balayage continues to grow out!
#28: Silver Strands
Silver highlights, without a doubt, make the new blonde color everyone wants these days. Don’t be afraid to blend it with your natural brown roots by adding some highlights for a smooth transition.
“This look is a balayage with silvery tones on the ends, which I definitely love,” hairstylist Claire Henderson of Florida points out.
Silver tones can be achieved on all women. It just requires patience and possibly several visits to the salon. The darker the hair, the longer it will take to get there. And it definitely requires maintenance.
Henderson warns, “if you can’t get your hair touched up every 6-8 weeks, but you’re wanting to keep the silver-tone, maybe this isn’t the look for you.”
#29: Bronze Copper Highlights
Talking about seasonal highlighted hairstyles, here’s a combination of bronze and copper tones that are in right now! Luckily, having this glossy ginger hair happens to be a fall trend.
Frequently Asked Questions
A hair highlight that is best would be a shade that is a few levels lighter than your natural hair. It will give you more of a natural look. The grow-out will be less harsh than if you were much lighter than your natural color.
Streaks are meant for a bolder look and highlights are for more of a natural look. If you’re looking for more of a contrast or dimension you may want to as your stylist for streaks. If you want to blend your color and want more of a natural look then highlights is the way to go!
Highlights such as babylights, traditional highlights, face-framing highlights, and foilayage highlights are a few techniques that are in style. The technique would depend on the results you’re trying to achieve. Whether you want something subtle or more dramatic, consult with your stylist to see what would be best.
Choose highlights that would compliment your skin tone. A warmer skin tone would suit warmer color tones and cooler skin tones would suit cooler color tones. There are only guidelines so choose what tone you love.
Highlights can cause damage to your hair so it’s important to have your highlights done by a professional hairstylist. Being realistic about your lightening service and slowly lightening your hair can save your hair some damage. Taking care of your hair between services with treatments and professional products can help treat your hair as well.
You shouldn’t highlight your hair for less than 8-10 weeks between your chemical services. Highlighting your hair too often can cause dryness and damage to your hair. Talk to your stylist about your goals and how to safely get your hair to when you want to be.
There are several ways to highlight your hair at home naturally. One method of naturally lightening your hair is to mix two parts lemon juice and one part water in a spray bottle. Spray onto your hair and stay out in the sun to allow your hair to lighten. Wash and condition afterward.
Not all highlights use bleach. If your hair is a level seven base color or lighter, you can use a hi-lift color to lighten your hair. For darker base colors it is harder to lift without bleach. Consult with your stylist about your hair goals to determine what is the best method.
The difference between babylights and highlights is the weaving technique used when fouling. Highlights are used to create dimension in your hair. Babylights are thinner sections and have a finer weave pattern for more of a soft and subtle look.