The One Highlights Technique That Is Perfect For Women Over 40: Herringbone Highlights

Hitting the big 4-0 is a huge milestone, and what better way to celebrate this than with a stunning new hairstyle? Herringbone highlights are all the rage with mature beauties on TikTok and elsewhere as of late, for the way they seamlessly blend graying strands with the rest of your tresses.

The highlighting technique— as seen on stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Aniston to name a few— helps us embrace our gray hair while also trying out a fun new trend (it can also provide an instant refreshing update to your typical ‘do!)

We reached out to professional hair stylists and hair experts to learn more about the trend, and why many deem it perfect for women over 40 looking for a fresh style. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Adriana Tapia, color specialist at Pierre Michel Salon, and Jessica Shults, professional hair stylist and owner of Twisted Scissors Salon.

READ MORE: Is This Color Right For Me? A Stylist Tells Us How To Pick The Most Flattering Shade

First Off, What Are Herringbone Highlights?

Herringbone highlights, Tapia explains, are a “combination of warm and cool toned” highlights. Herringbone highlights intentionally include “natural gray hair into the hairs’ overall color” when coloring it to create a more natural overall look, she adds. Tapia stresses that it’s “not really covering or eliminating gray.” This highlighting technique, she says, works great for women who are “starting to go gray,” and who want to “ease into the new color,” because it’s much lower maintenance than trying to fully cover up gray hair. “The highlights are blended into the natural color to make graying hair stand out less against someone’s original natural hair color,” Tapia continues.

This trend is so popular (and continues to gain popularity), Tapia believes, due to this “low maintenance” appeal, as you “aren’t going to get super contrasting roots or have a new gray hair that stands out starkly against your main hair color,” she points out. It requires less upkeep, she adds, and it’s also “great for women who want to have a more natural effect as they age, but aren’t ready to have all gray hair.”

Tapia notes that the final look isn’t one that’s “fighting the aging process or covering anything up,” it’s just a softer-looking color that can be flattering on anyone, depending on what tones you blend in. “It doesn’t look old or young, because people of all ages elect to have this color, naturally gray or not,” Tapia says, emphasizing the positive mindset of healthy aging that this trend takes into account.

Shults concurs, and says that herringbone highlights are “highlights placed in foils on a diagonal on the head to replicate a herringbone pattern.” Shults goes on, “I believe this trend has developed from the last few years of people wanting face framing ‘money pieces.'” This, she says, can really “blend in and/or accentuate any gray hairs instead of covering them up, which leads to a longer time between salon visits, and less dramatic, obvious roots.”

Ultimately, Tapia acknowledges that when, if and how someone goes gray is a “personal choice, and totally up to the individual,” but she thinks that getting herringbone highlights is a “great way to soften the transition.” As seen on multiple celebrities, the end result is an overall “very pretty, flattering color” that can be very personalized, she notes.

Colorist Tips When Asking For The Highlights

If you’re interested in trying out the trend and planning your salon visit, a great colorist, Tapia says, will be able to “recommend the best combination of tones to blend in to keep your natural hair color.” Your stylist will able to “talk about what the end result will be.”

In general, gray may “blend more easily into blonde hair,” Tapia adds, but she says “it can be done with any color,” and a professional will “know how to combine the warm and cool toned highlights” in a natural pattern. Another pro tip is to bring a celeb reference photo with you, and if you are able to find one with your natural hair color, that always helps!

Shults agrees, and adds that “following the color pattern of your natural hair helps.” Adding “more highlights where there’s more grays,” she says, will accentuate the grays, and keeping “darker spots darker” will keep the depth in the hair, and the natural dimension. “My advice to someone looking to try this trend would be to ask your stylist to create a healthy balance of warm and cool highlights to really blend in with the colors that you have naturally,” she recommends. Noted!