Hair highlights are everywhere these days, although you may not even realize it as many styles transition seamlessly to natural colors. Read all about different types of hair highlights and their pros and cons below.

When choosing highlights for hair, you have to monkey around with terms like gloomy or babylights, which can result in a disastrous misunderstanding between you and your colorist. So, what are hair highlights? These are pieces of hair that have had their natural color lifted in any way, using any technique. As for the methods used and the styles created, browse our collection of photos where all the terms have been sliced ​​and diced.

1. Espresso Brown Baby Highlights. These dark locks shimmer with smoky light brown subtly blended into the base color, which is exactly the effect thin highlights, known as babylights, are supposed to produce.

2. Solid, high-contrast highlights. While such thick and distinct panels of ash blonde may feel like a blast from the past, zebra-style hairstyles have been one of the hottest types of highlights in recent years.

3. Brightened up hair with frosting highlights. Freehand painting on the surface of the hair is one of the time-honoured, tried and tested highlighting techniques that bring subtle sparkles of brightness to the locks.

4. Summer Ribbon Highlights. Not as sharp and thick as thick highlights, this beautifully highlighted hair still has visible streaks of cool blonde inserted between darker sections for added dimension.

5. Cappuccino brown with highlights all over the head. This delicate brown color palette is filled with warm golden and light beige tones thanks to full highlights placed throughout the hair.

6. Pearly brown hair with partial highlights. Lifting the color only in certain sections rather than along the entire perimeter is an alternative way to incorporate highlights into the hair.

7. Ashy Bronde with facial highlights. Brighter pieces placed close to the face to draw attention to the features and compliment the complexion remain one of the best hair highlights in 2023.

8. Dark chocolate brown hair with striking coin highlights. While face-framing highlights can be worn with a balayage or other types of highlighted hair, these gems create a focal point in their own right.

9. Midnight Black with unexpected Peek-A-Boo highlights. Hiding the rainbow or contrasting shades under a solid color is definitely one of the coolest ways to accentuate your hair.

10. Cool-Tone Dark Brown with high contrast highlights. This girl has paired her black base with golden blonde highlights to capture more light and enjoy more attention with such stunning definition.

11. Subtle highlights in auburn hair. Seamlessly blended shades that are slightly lighter than your base color look exquisite and natural, so we’re not surprised that this type is becoming the hottest hair highlight for 2023.

12. Deep coffee brown with barely visible highlights. If some hair highlight photos make you wonder if it’s a color job or a natural play of shades, the barely there coloration has served the purpose.

13. Golden sun-kissed highlights. Those who want to nail a summery look with some lighter locks that have faded slightly in the sun should get a dose of these Cali highlights inspo.

14. Highlights of Hazelnut Foil in Black Hair. Contrary to popular belief, such seamless color transitions can be achieved with the foilayage technique where the hair is wrapped in foil.

15. Blonde Balayage Highlights For Light Ginger Hair. This bob shows off hand-painted highlights and lowlights that blend with the base color with no visible delineation and create a more natural movement in the hair.

16. Naturally flowing golden flamboyance. A beautiful child of balayage and ombre, the flamboyage method uses strips of clear adhesive paper to separate the right amount of hair and better control over the color lift.

17. Brunette with Peach Ombre Highlights. We are sure you have seen many inspiring hair highlights photos with a color scheme that gradually transitions from one shade at the roots to a completely different shade at the ends. Yes, this is the ombre type of highlights.

18. Strawberry blonde gloomy highlights. While classic ombre encourages bold color transitions, the softer version (hence the name) retains a natural color at the roots and becomes slightly lighter towards the tips.

19. Flaming red tealights. This coloring technique involves teasing the hair to lift the color in very small sections and fits into the hottest highlights trends for 2023 thanks to the stunning diffused effect it delivers.

20. Gorgeous dusty blonde with beach lighting. If you’re looking for a bit of lightening without harsh lines, dyeing just a pinch of hair instead of a whole strand is what you need.

21. Ash blonde highlights built with strobe. Like facial contouring, hair strobing focuses on strategically placing highlights that are tailored to your face shape, complexion, and hair type.

22. Bronde Shag with Dimensional Highlights. This light brown style features blonde multi-dimensional highlights that are much lighter than the base color to create contrast and depth.

23. Subtle platinum highlights for thin hair. The play of bright white and muted beige tones in this style helps to bring dimension to the thin strands and create an illusion of fullness.

24. Bold White Highlights for Fine Hair. Switching to high-contrast shades is another way to build volume in fine strands while adding more shine and better movement.

25. Blonde highlights with red undertones. Strawberry blonde has been trending for a number of years now, and this peachy shade accented with shimmery white pieces is the look to take in 2023.

26. Bronze brown with caramel highlights. The expensive brunette trend will continue throughout 2023, so pairing a natural brown with neutral to warm highlights that are one or two levels lighter than the base is right up your alley.

27. Intense red highlights for auburn. Blonde tones aren’t the only weapons in the arsenal of brunettes looking to brighten up their looks, especially since you can keep reds on the warmer or cooler side depending on your skin tone and eye color.

28. Toasted Brown Highlights. It’s a new take on caramel highlights, meaning they get a more toasty feel for a warmer, richer, and more dimensional look.

29. Gray Highlights for a Salt & Pepper Style. Gray mixing is the most popular method of incorporating natural gray into a custom color scheme, for example mixing silver highlights with ash brown lows.

30. Sparkling Curly Hair with Pintura Highlights. Invented and popularized by DevaCurl, this curl-specific hand-painted technique allows each curl to be emphasized differently to emphasize the pattern in the most flattering way.

So, are her highlights in? The answer is yes, of course, and you have plenty of colors, looks, and techniques to embrace hair highlights as best you can. Bring a photo of your hair goal to a salon and talk to your colorist about how to customize the look for your facial features.