Hair Highlights for Men Are Coming Back

And there’s not a frosted tip in sight.

I can live happily knowing that most late-’90s trends will never (hopefully?) be back in style: JNCO jeans and puka-shell necklaces are still buried in a time capsule. I pray they stay there. I would have said the same for guys getting highlights—I'm picturing Chris Kirkpatrick and Nick Lachey with their immortally frosted tips. But recently I’ve been seeing subtle highlights on the runway and in editorial spreads, and I have to say I don't hate it. Most recently, Chris Evans graced the cover of L’Uomo Vogue sporting a barely-noticeable-yet-definitely-lightened layer on top of his naturally darker hair.

He's not using highlights to stand out. He's using them to blend in, to add depth to his styles. “Everything we’re seeing now is understated, almost sun-soaked,” says Tyson Kennedy, co-owner of Cutler Salon in NYC. “Lately guys prefer a more natural look, working with the hair’s traits instead of forcing anything against the color, texture, and flow.”

Kennedy attributes the highlight resurgence to a ramping-down of recent hairstyle trends, like the gray and platinum hair dyeing, as well as all of the “classic, structured barbershop looks” that have dominated for the past few years. “For a while, everything was bold and demanded attention,” he says. “We had slicked-back undercuts with shiny pomades and tight fades, lots of really strong looks.” Natural-looking highlights allow guys to loosen up, to relax. (Time to channel your inner surfer, brah?)

I’ll take any excuse to look great with less effort. General chill-ness aside, it’s important to know the rules of highlights, since they don’t work for all hair types. To get it right the first time, memorize these 10 commandments before you head to the salon. And you will head to the salon, because the last commandment is the most important: Never do it at home.
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​1. You should get highlights if you want to add visual texture to your style.
Think of the verb “highlight”: It means “to emphasize,” and that’s exactly what you’re aiming to achieve. You’re emphasizing the texture and layers of your hair with small pieces of slightly lighter color scattered throughout. Typically, your colorist will paint small clusters of hair, particularly around the hairline and very lightly back from there, on top of the head. Your highlights may not be the same as another guy’s. “It’s always done based on the hairline and the way that the hair naturally lies,” says Pamella Gonzalez, Cutler’s in-house colorist. So trust that your colorist will know what looks best. Usually, less is more.

2. …And if you want more physical texture.
An added benefit of highlights is that they boost the grit of your hair, too. It’s perfect for guys whose straight hair falls limp without any styler. “We’re putting in bleach to lighten the hair, but what it’s really doing is expanding the cuticle so that your hair has more texture,” says Gonzalez.

3. Highlights should not be confused with hair dye.
Highlights are supposed to look natural. They complement your natural tone by subtly contrasting themselves against the rest of your hair. If you merely bleach parts of your hair, or if you pick a vivid or unnatural color, then you’re technically not highlighting. Anything else is designed to draw attention to itself, where highlights are devised to draw attention to the overall, mostly natural look.

4. Guys with thinning hair should proceed with caution.
Bad news for guys who are balding: While highlights usually add natural texture to the hair, it’s only the case for fuller styles. Some texturizing products can give you the illusion of fuller hair, but highlights won’t do the same. Gonzalez advises against coloring the hair, because the cuticle isn’t strong enough to take the chemicals and toner. You might compromise whatever it is you have left.

5. If you want to grow your hair out, it’s best to avoid artificial color.
Your hair can only take so much wear, and coloring it (with bleach, dye, or highlights) will really compromise its health. “You don’t want to lighten the same pieces of hair more than once or twice,” says Kennedy. “This will really thin it out and strip the hair of its properties.” So if you’re getting haircuts every six weeks and chopping it off at regular intervals, then highlights are a great choice, since they’ll add movement, volume, and variety. Otherwise, focus your attention on healthy hair growth, since you’re playing a long game.

6. Certain hair colors shouldn’t be highlighted.
“If you have dark brown hair, you don’t want to go lighter than a light brown,” says Gonzalez. “It’ll look artificial.” Luckily, guys with light brown and dark blond hair have more flexibility with tone options. You can go much lighter than one shade, because the contrast won’t be as high. (And thus it won’t detract from the overall natural look.) However, this is bad for guys with black hair: The contrast is so high that almost any highlights will detract from your natural color. Instead, you should praise the day that your natural grays start sprouting.

7. You’ll need color-preserving hair-care products.
“You need some good silver shampoo,” says Kennedy, “especially if you go for a cooler blond. It can start turning orange or gold.” You might remember, during the gray-hair-dyeing trend, that some guys’ hair was turning purple. This was because they weren’t using the right shampoo to preserve the gray tone, and the same can be said of bleached or highlighted hair: You’ve already stripped the natural color and have replaced it with an artificial one. That artificial one can fade or change if you don’t treat it properly.

8. And you must treat it daily.
Not only do you need to use a specific type of shampoo and conditioner, you’ll need to use them frequently—particularly the conditioner. It will keep the hair soft, which is critical after it’s been stripped of color and treated with toner. That grit you’ve added to the cuticle is great for styling but not terrific for the overall health of your hair. (Hence the reason guys with thinning hair shouldn’t color theirs.) Wash it every other day, and condition every single day.

9. Don’t confuse men’s highlights with women’s highlights.
“Usually with men, we put in fewer highlights,” says Gonzalez. “We’re highlighting it to see nuances that you wouldn’t see if it were all solid. With women’s hair, however, it’s about getting an all-over lightened effect.” This is fairly universal across different hair lengths, too. Women will highlight larger clusters of hair, as if to let the darker roots show through, whereas men’s highlights flatter more when scattered strategically, like light undertones.

10. Always hire a professional.
“You need to lift the color to the right tone, or else it’s going to be this chicken-fat yellow color,” says Gonzalez. “Most of the time, people who attempt this themselves will have busted-looking highlights. They’ll bleach the hair and then rinse it off without toning it. Or they’ll tone it with permanent color and lift all the natural color, making it orange.” Simply put: Just go to the professionals, and you won’t have any regrets.

This article appeared on GQ