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Best Men’s Highlights: '90s Trend Back in Style

Best Men’s Highlights: '90s Trend Back in Style

Some ‘90s trends should stay firmly in the ‘90s (like color block shirts). However, hair highlights for men is a ‘90s style we’re happy to see coming back. Not only are they back, but they’re hotter than ever.

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Let’s take a closer look at whether or not you should get highlights, what’s on-trend, and the best men’s highlights products.

Deciding Whether to Get Highlights

When should you get highlights? 

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  • Textures: You want to emphasize the visual and physical textures and layers in your hair. 
  • Natural look: You want your dyed hair to look more realistic or want highlights to complement your natural hair color. 
  • Stand-out look: You want a stand-out color to contrast with your main hair color.

When should you not get highlights?

  • Thinning hair: Thinning hair cuticles may not be strong enough to take the toner and chemicals.
  • If you’re growing out your hair: If you’re growing your hair out, you won’t want to lighten the same strand more than a couple of times.

But What Type of Highlights?

men's highlights

Let’s demystify a few highlight vocabulary words to help you decide what type you want. 

  • Foils: Separating strands of hair that you want to highlight with foil
  • Balayage: Hand-painted subtle highlights that become denser toward the end.
  • Lowlights: Lowlights add darker highlights for more contrast
  • Babylights: Delicate white-blonde highlights that mimic naturally sun-lightened hair 
  • Ombre: Ombre highlights that fade from dark to light the closer they get to your tips
  • Pintura: Painting highlights on curls

Various Highlights From Which to Choose

There are more options beyond just blonde highlights for men. 

Brown Highlights

Brown men's highlights add extra dimensions to your natural hair color. Consider dark brown lowlights for your light brown hair or milk chocolate highlights in your dark chocolate hair.  

White Highlights

White highlights on a black hair male is a look that’s on fire. And if you’re going grey, white highlights can bring your hair from drab to stylish, especially if your original hair color was dark. 

Silver Highlights

Silver men's highlights can make any hair color look more distinguished. Purposeful silver in otherwise dark hair is on-trend. Silver can also bring a pop of life into already-greying hair

Blonde Highlights

High-contrast blonde highlights on black hair males make a bold statement. Blonde highlights for men's short hair are popular with shaved-side haircuts. In long hair, it gives a sun-kissed look. 

Pros & Cons of Highlighting Your Own Hair at Home

Let’s look at the pros and cons to decide if you should highlight your own hair. 

Pros

  • Less expensive
  • Convenient
  • Easy

Cons

  • Messy
  • Limits methods and styles
  • You may not get the results you want

9 Best Men’s Highlights

Let’s explore the nine best highlight products for men.

L'Oreal Paris French Eclair Highlight Kit

Best for All-over Color + Highlights

L’Oreal Paris Couleur Experte Express includes both permanent base and a highlight colors so you’ll know exactly how the highlights will contrast against your hair color. 

The box includes a Control-Touch FingerTip applicator to help you add the highlight color to your hair. Plus, the highlight formula is blue to make it easy to see. 

PROS: Forgiving of mistakes, includes fingertip applicator, easy-to-see highlight formula

CONS: Finger applicator gets tangled in hair, dye is drying

  • Star rating: 4 out of 5
  • Application: Finger applicator
  • Includes: 2 developers, permanent color base, illuminating powder, conditioner  
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Walmart.com


L'Oreal Paris Colorista Bleach

Best for Ombre Highlights

L’Oreal Paris Colorista Bleach is for bleached highlights. You can stay with your natural bleached highlight color or pair it with a Colorista semi-permanent color for colored highlights. 

Use the enclosed brush for a gradual ombre effect or balayage highlights. Results are permanent.

PROS: Easy even if it’s your first time, works well even on black hair 

CONS: Possible uneven results, doesn’t include enough product for longer hair

  • Star rating: 4 out of 5
  • Application: Applicator brush
  • Includes: Developer, bleach, lightening cream, conditioner
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Target.com


Permanent Hair Color by Revlon

Best Men's Highlights for Frosted Looks

Revlon Colorsilk Color Effects Frost & Glow is an ammonia-free blonde highlight kit. The Colorsilk version only comes in platinum blonde and doesn’t include anti-brass shampoo. 

You can either use the pull-through hook-and-cap method or paint it on with your fingertips balayage-style. 

PROS: Easy to apply, glow without frying your hair, ammonia-free, paraben-free

CONS: Possible brassy results, drying

  • Star rating: 4 out of 5
  • Application: Cap and hook
  • Includes: Developer, highlighting powder, shampoo, conditioner, cap and hook
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Walmart.com


L'Oreal Paris Frost and Design Cap Hair Highlights

Best for Less Mess

L’Oreal Paris Frost & Design is great for first-time highlighters because of its no-drip formula and easy pull-through cap for precise results. 

The kit also includes a color toning rinse to remove brassiness and conditioning shampoo that makes your hair feel silky and soft. 

PROS: Easy to use, great for beginners, low mess, natural look

CONS: Requires patience, can be drying

  • Star rating: 5 out of 5
  • Application: Cap and hook
  • Ingredients: Cap, hook, developer, lightning powder, conditioner, toning rinse
  • Effectiveness: Decent

Shop on Walmart.com


Revlon Permanent Hair Color

Best for Eliminating Brassy Tones

Revlon Color Effects Frost & Glow is a good choice for a highly frosted look. You can either use the enclosed cap and hook method or paint it on (balayage-style).

Both the blonde and honey highlight kits come with a violet-pigment shampoo to eliminate brassy tones in your hair for colors that pop.

PROS: Includes anti-brass violet shampoo, ammonia-free, paraben-free, easy to use 

CONS: Requires patience, time-consuming

  • Star rating: 5 out of 5
  • Application: Cap and hook
  • Includes: Highlighting power, developer, violet shampoo and conditioner, cap and hook
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Walmart.com


Garnier Hair Color Nutrisse Nourishing Creme

Best for Healthy-Looking Hair

The Garnier Nutrisse Multi-Lights Highlighting Kit doesn’t come with an applicator, so you have to self-apply the highlights with your fingers or a brush you purchase separately.

You’ll have beautiful blonde highlights and shiny hair after just 20 minutes of waiting. 

PROS: Leaves hair healthy and shiny

CONS: Only one color option for highlights, no applicator

  • Star rating: 4 out of 5
  • Application: No applicator
  • Includes: Developer, color creme, fruit oil
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Walmart.com


Best for Sunkissed Men's Highlights -Sun Bum Lighten and Tone Kit

Best for Sunkissed Men's Highlights

Sun Bum Lighten & Tone Blonde is a leave-in spray that gives you sun-kissed hair. Simply spray in the lightener and let the sun do all the work of lightning our hair while you’re outdoors.

Then, spray the tone-enhancer into your hair the next time you shampoo to remove any unwanted warm tones and help condition your hair. 

PROS: Includes natural ingredients, easy to use, only requires sunlight to activate

CONS: Can only activate in sunlight, better results with some hair colors than others

  • Star rating: 4 out of 5
  • Application: Spray
  • Includes: Lightener and toner
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Ulta.com


Schwarzkopf Live Intense Lightener

Best Men's Highlights for Bright White Bleaching

Schwarzkopf Live Intense Lightener is a bleach powder that you can use to bleach down almost to white in about 30 minutes. 

However, it doesn’t come with other treatments to keep your hair healthy or remove brassiness, you’ll want to consider a violet shampoo and conditioner to use afterward. 

PROS: Little to no damage, brilliant color, bleaches down to almost white, plenty in the box

CONS: Difficult to spread, requires other products for hair health

  • Star rating: 5 out of 5
  • Application: No applicator
  • Includes: Bleach powder
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Boots.com


MANIC PANIC Flash Lightning Hair Bleach Kit

Best for Bleaching Before Applying Color

You can use the Manic Panic Flash Lightning Super Strength Bleach Kit to lighten your hair as much as seven shades down, even from the darkest black. 

The kit is also specially formulated to use before adding a semi-permanent Manic Panic hair color as a highlight. 

PROS: Best for prepping hair for highlight color, works on the darkest hair, works quickly

CONS: Doesn’t mix easily, can ruin hair if left on too long

  • Star rating: 4 out of 5
  • Application: Brush
  • Includes: Brush, bleach powder, developer
  • Effectiveness: Permanent

Shop on Walmart.com


Final Thoughts 

Men’s highlights are back in style. So, no matter what highlight color combination you choose, we think you’ll be pleased with the results. Since it’s not too difficult or expensive to do it yourself, what are you waiting for? 

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