How to Style Dark Hair with Blonde Highlights

When you have dark hair, adding blonde highlights to your hairstyle can be a strikingly beautiful fashion statement. The contrast between the dark hues and the blonde shades come together to create a luminous look. With strategically placed blonde highlights, you will stand out and turn heads with a modern, stylish, and exciting hairstyle.

The blonde highlights can be inserted into your dark hair in different ways. Some women use the balayage method to add a natural texture and nuanced dimension into their hair. Others prefer more clearly defined blonde highlights, which are bold and dynamic even when viewed from a distance. For more inspiration, you can consult with your favourite Toronto hair stylist and get a professional opinion on different blonde highlights ideas.

In the below guide, we prepared some useful tips on how to style dark hair with blonde highlights beautifully:

Start by choosing the right shade of blonde

Are you wondering if blonde highlights would look good on your dark hair? The beauty of blonde highlights is the versatility, so there is an ideal shade of blonde for everyone. The key is to make sure that you select the right shade of blonde that complements your skin tone.

Ideally, any shade of blonde you add to your hair should match with your skin undertone. This can be determined by looking at your wrist. Do you see visible veins? If the veins appear blue or purple, you have a cool undertone. If the veins appear greenish, you have a warm undertone. Or if you can’t determine the colour of the veins, you might have a natural or an olive undertone.

When your skin has a cool undertone, your dark hair pairs well with cool shades of blonde, such as platinum blonde, silver blonde, or blush blonde. Conversely, if your skin has a warm undertone, you might like to try warmer shades like golden blonde or honey blonde. If you cannot decide on a shade of blonde, ask a hairstylist to offer recommendations on the best blonde highlights.

Consider how the blonde highlights are applied

After settling on a shade of blonde, your next step is to consider where these highlights are applied. Ask yourself what you would like to accomplish with these new blonde highlights. Do you want highlights that will frame your face and enhance your most beautiful features? Or do you want to add texture and dimension into your hair with the use of blonde highlights?

For many people, the highlights might help you experiment between going from brunette to blonde, offering a sample taste before you transition into a blonde. Based on your motivation, there are different ways to apply your blonde highlights to achieve the gorgeous look that you want.

Style with a blonde balayage to add dimension to your hair

Balayage describes a popular highlighting technique where the colour is naturally painted into your hair, using gentle and freehand strokes. If you want a subtle way to style your dark hair with blonde highlights, the balayage is a simple yet elegant option. The blonde balayage adds an interesting dimension to your hair, giving it a rich and luscious texture.

Since the balayage method is applied by freehand, it is low-maintenance and does not require frequent follow-up visits to the hair salon. After the balayage, you will enjoy blonde highlights that feel natural, look sophisticated, and last for many months to come. You can easily take care of your balayage at home without a lot of hassle.

Style blonde highlights to frame your face beautifully

Blonde highlights help to frame your facial features in an interesting and flattering way. The highlights work best when they are strategically placed to complement the shape of your face.

If you have a round face, get blonde highlights that cover the full length of your dark hair, which will make your face appear thinner. If your face has a diamond shape, you can add highlights only to the bottom of your hair, so they won’t draw attention to your cheekbones. For those with long faces, you can frame it with thick blonde highlights to make your face seem shorter.

Style with a blonde ombre for low hair maintenance

If you want a fun new look that doesn’t require a lot of maintenance, you can go for ombre hair. With this technique, you keep your natural dark hair on the top of your head, and the colour will gradually change to become your chosen shade of blonde. This creates a dramatic visual effect, where the dark colours fade and transition into the lighter hues seamlessly.

With a blonde ombre, there is no need to regularly go back to the hair salon to touch up your roots. Your ombre hair will keep looking beautiful for a long time, which is perfect if you want dark hair with blonde highlights that won’t require too much maintenance.

Style blonde highlights to create a sun-kissed look

A sun-kissed look, which is perfect for the summer, can be easily achieved by adding some blonde highlights to your dark hair. With this styling technique, the shades of blonde appear just a bit lighter than your natural hair colour. The radiant colours will have everyone thinking that you spent a lot of time on the beach lately. These highlights look especially stunning on brown hair with highlights.