I'm Emily, Queen of Hair

If you're bored with your current hairstyle, adding hair highlights can be a great way to change up your look without doing something overly drastic. If you've never had your hair highlighted before, or if it's been a long time since you tried it, you might be picturing yourself having strands of hair pulled through the holes in a plastic shower cap. However, that's not the only way to add highlights to hair, and it's no longer a preferred method of highlighting. Take a look at some highlighting techniques that are trendy now and that will give your hair a fresh new look.

Balayage

If you want to look like you have sun streaks instead of highlights, balayage might be the right choice for you. The technique involves sectioning off the hair and painting it from top to bottom. Each highlight is narrow on the top near the root, but gradually widens as it moves closer to the bottom strands. Only the tips of the hair are saturated with bleach. If you had natural highlights from spending time in the sun, your hair would be light on top and darker on the bottom, and this highlighting style mimics that look.

With balayage, there's no foil separating the sections of hair, so the highlights are more fluid and less choppy. It's also a low-maintenance style. It still looks good even once your hair has begun to grow out, so it's fine to go longer than usual between touch-ups. It's a style that works on most hair colors. Balayage highlights are also fine on thick or thin hair and on most hair lengths – although, if you keep your hair cropped very short, then balayage highlights may not be the best choice for you.

Ombre

The ombre look is one of gradated highlights, starting with a dark color at the root and  gradually changing to a much lighter color at the tips. A popular current trend is ombre hairstyles with bright, shocking colors – for example, you might start with a deep purple at the top, a light lavender in the middle, and a hot pink at the tips. However, the style also works with more natural hair colors – for example, you could start with auburn at the top and fade to honey blond at the tips, or start with a dark chocolate color that fades to a cherry red. Typically, ombre is done by separating strands of hair with foil, but the highlights can also be painted on balayage-style.

Ombre doesn't have to be drastic. A version of ombre with much more subtle shading is gaining traction – this technique has earned the name "sombre". Whether drastic or subtle, if done correctly, ombre can be a low-maintenance look – if your natural hair is the same shade as the root color or darker, once the hair begins to grow out, your roots will just look like another layer of color. However, if you choose to use bright unnatural hair colors, you'll need frequent touch-ups to maintain it.

This is a good choice for brunettes with medium to thick hair that want some blond highlights but don't want to lose the overall dark hair. Ombre may not be the best choice if you frequently wear ponytails, as the hair may look like it's striped when pulled back. Ombre is one of the more difficult highlighting techniques and is best done by a stylist rather than doing it yourself at home.

Slicing

Slicing, also called paneling, is a great choice if you're looking for edgy, eye-catching highlights. The technique involves separating wide slices, or panels, of hair with foil and frosting them. Slicing isn't meant to look natural – the chunky highlights are significantly wider than typical highlights and the effect is more avant-garde fashion than a kissed-by-the-sun look.

Slicing works well on short to medium length hair, and on thick, dense hair that needs definition and depth. It's a somewhat difficult look to maintain, and you'll probably won't be able to wait as long between touch ups as you would with smaller and less chunky foil highlights.

Not every highlighting technique works for every person, and it can be tough to imagine exactly what a particular style will look like on you. Ask your stylist for an honest opinion about which highlighting technique will look best on your hair.