Different Types of Highlights for Every Hair Type

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Are you ready to switch up your hair game? Highlights can completely change your look, but the thing is that not all highlights work the same on every hair type.

If you’ve got fine, thick, curly, or straight hair, there’s a highlighting technique that’ll make you shine. From subtle babylights to bold chunky streaks, the world of highlights hair is way more diverse than you might think.

And honestly, that’s exciting news. It means there’s definitely a perfect highlighting style waiting for you, no matter what your natural texture looks like.

Let’s get into different types of highlights for hair that’ll complement your unique strands.

Understanding the Basics of Hair Highlights

Highlights are lighter strands woven throughout your hair, usually achieved by bleaching select sections.

They’re different from lowlights, which add darker tones for depth, and full color changes that change your entire head.

They add serious dimension and brightness without the commitment of going completely blonde or brunette. Plus, they create the illusion of visual volume, perfect if your hair tends to look flat.

And the best part is you can experiment and play around without diving headfirst into a dramatic color overhaul.

Overview of Highlighting Techniques

Now let’s break down the main ways stylists create different types of highlights. Each technique has its own vibe and works differently depending on what you’re after.

Foil-Based Methods

These are your precision powerhouses for clean lines and high-contrast drama. Traditional foil highlights create those classic streaky looks with maximum placement control. Perfect when you want defined, noticeable highlights.

Freehand Painting Methods

Here’s where artistry meets hair color. Balayage means “to sweep” in French; stylists paint color directly for that sun-kissed effect. Foilyage combines painting with foils for faster processing. Pintura works specifically with curly hair, painting each curl individually.

Gradient/Fade Methods

All about smooth color transitions. Ombré creates dramatic dark-to-light fades, while sombré offers a softer version. Dip dye gives you edgy, concentrated color at the ends.

Unique Placement Tactics

Sometimes it’s about placement, not technique. The money piece frames your face beautifully. Ribbon highlights create vertical streaks, while strobing places highlights for hair strategically to contour your face shape.

Different Types of Highlights for A Trendy Look

Now that you know the main techniques, let’s see different types of highlights and styles that are trending right now.

Each style brings its own personality and works differently depending on your hair type and maintenance preferences.

1. Balayage

Balayage

Balayage is a hand-painted highlighting technique that creates soft, natural gradients of color, mimicking the way sunlight lightens hair.

It’s low-maintenance and versatile, making it one of the most requested hair color methods in salons today.

  • Best For: Medium to long wavy or straight hair
  • Style Impact: Natural, beachy glow with subtle transitions
  • Maintenance Level: Low

2. Babylights

Babylights

Babylights are ultra-fine highlights that softly brighten the hair without obvious streaks.

Inspired by children’s natural highlights, this technique adds subtle dimension and a fresh glow that’s especially flattering for fine or thin hair textures.

  • Best For: Fine or straight hair wanting soft dimension
  • Style Impact: Subtle luminosity and refined elegance
  • Maintenance Level: Low to medium

3. Foil Highlights

Foil Highlights

Foil highlights use small, separated sections of hair wrapped in foil to produce precise, root-to-tip lightening.

This traditional method offers strong contrast and control, significantly lifting the base color for a bold, uniform result.

  • Best For: Medium to thick hair seeking bright definition
  • Style Impact: Bold, structured, and high-definition
  • Maintenance Level: High

4. Teasylights

Teasylights

Teasylights involve teasing hair near the root before applying color and foil, softening the transition line. This makes the highlight appear more diffused, providing a seamless blend that grows out naturally and flatteringly over time.

  • Best For: Medium-length layered hair needing soft brightness
  • Style Impact: Airy, sunlit look with soft edges
  • Maintenance Level: Medium

5. Money Piece Highlights

Money Piece Highlights

The money piece highlights a focus on bold, brightened front strands that frame the face.

This strategic placement adds instant brightness, draws attention to facial features, and can be customized in thickness and tone for various aesthetics.

  • Best For: All hair types seeking a bold, trendy accent
  • Style Impact: Eye-catching and flattering focal point
  • Maintenance Level: Medium to high

6. Ombre

Ombre

Ombre hair color features a dramatic fade from dark roots to lighter ends.

The transition is more pronounced than balayage, offering a bold contrast that’s perfect for making a stylish, statement look with depth and character.

  • Best For: Long hair wanting high-contrast visual appeal
  • Style Impact: Bold and modern with visual contrast
  • Maintenance Level: Low to medium

7. Sombré

Sombre

Sombré, or “soft ombré,” is a gentler take on the ombré trend, with a smoother and more natural transition between shades.

It offers warmth and depth without stark contrasts, making it ideal for a subtle improvement.

  • Best For: Hair of any length, preferring soft tones
  • Style Impact: Gentle, dimensional fade with softness
  • Maintenance Level: Low

8. Peekaboo Highlights

Peekaboo Highlights

Peekaboo highlights are hidden beneath the top layers of hair and only become visible with movement or styling.

They’re perfect for a creative surprise pop of color that’s bold yet discreet, especially in bright or pastel shades.

  • Best For: Medium to long hair, playful and expressive styles
  • Style Impact: Fun, hidden surprises of color
  • Maintenance Level: Medium

9. Chunky Highlights

Chunky Highlights

Chunky highlights are wide, bold streaks of color that contrast sharply with the base tone.

Often placed evenly throughout, they give a retro feel with a modern edge, making them a comeback trend for those craving drama.

  • Best For: Thick or voluminous hair, retro or edgy styles
  • Style Impact: Dramatic and eye-catching
  • Maintenance Level: High

10. Foilyage

Foilyage

Foilyage merges balayage’s hand-painted technique with the brightness of foil.

Hair is painted for a natural placement and wrapped in foil for extra lift. This technique results in soft yet lively highlights that look fresh and dimensional.

  • Best For: Dark hair needing extra lift without harsh lines
  • Style Impact: Radiant yet organic transitions
  • Maintenance Level: Medium to high

11. Dip Dye

Dip Dye

Dip dye highlights involve saturating only the tips of the hair in bold or pastel shades.

The result is high contrast with no blending from the roots, perfect for edgy fashionistas or those wanting a temporary color kick.

  • Best For: Straight or blunt-cut hair, bold looks
  • Style Impact: Edgy and dramatic ends
  • Maintenance Level: Medium

12. Pintura Highlights

Pintura Highlights

Pintura, meaning “painting” in Spanish, is a curl-specific highlighting technique. Stylists hand-paint lightener on individual curls to improve natural movement, creating dimension without breaking the curl pattern or requiring foil.

  • Best For: Curly, coiled, or textured hair types
  • Style Impact: Highlighted curl definition and depth
  • Maintenance Level: Low to medium

13. Ribbon Highlights

Ribbon Highlights

Ribbon highlights are wide streaks of color placed in a flowing pattern, mimicking ribbons weaving through hair.

They give rich, contrasting dimension that works beautifully on waves, curls, or long layered cuts.

  • Best For: Medium to thick, wavy or layered hair
  • Style Impact: Statement streaks with elegant flow
  • Maintenance Level: Medium

14. Strobing

Strobing

Hair strobing is inspired by makeup techniques, applying highlights where light naturally hits your face, like the crown, fringe, and cheekbones, to improve facial contours and brighten your overall look subtly but effectively.

  • Best For: Custom color placement with face-enhancing glow
  • Style Impact: Brightens and defines face shape
  • Maintenance Level: Low to medium

15. Shadow Root

Shadow Root

Shadow root highlights involve intentionally leaving roots darker and blending them into lighter lengths.

This technique adds depth and dimension while allowing color to grow out more naturally without obvious demarcation lines.

  • Best For: Any color-treated hair needing a graceful grow-out
  • Style Impact: Lived-in blend with depth at roots
  • Maintenance Level: Low

16. Face-Framing Highlights

Face-Framing Highlights

This style uses soft, lightened strands only around the face to highlight features and add instant brightness. It’s a simple yet powerful way to refresh your look without a full head of highlights.

  • Best For: Enhancing facial features
  • Style Impact: Gentle glow around the face
  • Maintenance Level: Low

17. Lowlights

Lowlights

Lowlights use darker tones than your base hair color to add depth, contrast, and dimension. They’re great for balancing overly bright hair or creating a richer, more natural-looking blend.

  • Best For: Fine or overly lightened hair
  • Style Impact: Adds volume and visual texture
  • Maintenance Level: Low to medium

18. Color Melting

Color Melting

Color melting blends multiple tones into each other with no harsh lines, creating a seamless gradient effect. It’s ideal for mixing shades like brunette to caramel or ash blonde to platinum.

  • Best For: Multi-tonal or transitional looks
  • Style Impact: Ultra-smooth and soft gradient
  • Maintenance Level: Medium

19. Face-Framing Balayage

Face-Framing Balayage

This style combines balayage’s hand-painted technique with the targeted brightness of face-framing highlights.

It delivers the best of both worlds: dimension throughout and glow up front.

  • Best For: Long layers or textured styles
  • Style Impact: Balanced brightness and softness
  • Maintenance Level: Medium

20. Pastel Highlights

Pastel Highlights

Pastel highlights introduce soft shades like lavender, mint, or peach into blonde or pre-lightened hair. They’re delicate, dreamy, and perfect for adding whimsical color without overpowering your style.

  • Best For: Light or bleached hair
  • Style Impact: Ethereal and playful color
  • Maintenance Level: High

21. Bold Neon Highlights

Bold Neon Highlights

Neon highlights use high-intensity colors like electric blue, hot pink, or lime green for maximum contrast.

Often paired with underlights or peekaboo placement, they create lively, head-turning styles.

  • Best For: Trendsetters and festival looks
  • Style Impact: lively and unapologetically bold
  • Maintenance Level: High

Choosing the Right Hair Highlights

This section gives examples of what highlight types suit different hair types and maintenance preferences:

Hair Type / Lifestyle Suggested Highlight Types Why
Fine or thin hair Babylights, teasylights Adds subtle brightness without overwhelming texture
Thick, coarse hair Chunky or money-piece Shows up well, adds dimension and movement
Curly or wavy Balayage, sombré, peekaboo improves natural volume, looks soft and blended
Short hair/bob Face-framing, short balayage, money-piece Adds dimension without length
Low-maintenance style Sombré, smudged blonde, root shadowing Grows out gracefully, fewer touch-ups
Bold statement style Chunky stripes, dip dye, peekaboo ribbon colors High-contrast drama and creative expression

Maintenance Tips for Hair Highlights

Different highlighting techniques need slightly different TLC, but some rules apply across the board.

  • Use color-safe shampoo: Purple shampoo for blondes, color-protecting formulas for all highlights for hair
  • Deep condition weekly: Highlighting can dry out strands, so regular moisture treatments are essential
  • Minimize heat styling: Always use thermal protectant when you style with heat tools
  • Schedule touch-ups: Foils need refreshing every 6-8 weeks, balayage can go 3-4 months
  • Add toner treatments: Glosses between appointments maintain vibrancy and blend growth lines

The Bottom Line

Finding the right highlights for hair comes down to understanding your unique texture and lifestyle.

If you’re drawn to the precision of foil highlights or the natural flow of balayage, there’s a perfect technique waiting for you.

Great highlights hair isn’t just about following trends; it’s about enhancing what you’ve already got. Your stylist can help you navigate these options and create a look that feels authentically you.

Don’t overthink it too much. Book that consultation, bring some inspirational photos, and trust the process. Your hair transformation is just one appointment away, and you’re going to love the results.

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Alex Schilling is a professional colorist and hairstylist who loves sharing the latest trends in haircuts, styles, and coloring techniques. He’s passionate about helping people express themselves through their hair. From bold highlights to fresh looks, Alex brings creativity to every tip.

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