The Secret to Natural Looking Highlights

Despite the weird weather we’ve been having recently in NYC (90 degrees one day, 50 the next—what is that?!), spring is definitely here and with it comes the desire to wear eat lunch outside, and get highlights. Okay, maybe not everyone is like me in that the slightest increase in temperature sends them running to the colorist, but there’s definitely a connection between warm weather and lighter hair. Remember back when you were a kid and your hair would get lighter during the summer because of the sun’s natural effects? Well, unless you’re spending the next four months on a beach (if you are, keep that to yourself or you’ll make the rest of us insanely jealous), then your highlights are going to come from a bottle.

In order to make your man-made streaks look natural you should only go one or two shades lighter than your base color. But the real secret to gorgeous highlights is all in where you place them. A lot of colorists start at the root and evenly space out the streaks, which is fine, but Marie Robinson at Sally Hershberger Downtown in NYC gives me super-skinny highlights (about the width of angel hair pasta) mainly at my hairline with a few random bright bits at the ends. It might sound weird to leave out your roots, but I swear the results are really pretty, plus you can go way longer between color appointments. If you try this technique at home, ditch the applicator that comes in the kit and use a Q-tip to paint on the streaks exactly where you want them.