Herringbone Highlights Are The Gray Hair Technique Of The Future

Going gray doesn't come with nearly the stigma it used to for women. In fact, influencers have inspired thousands of women around the world to ditch the dye and embrace their natural hair. Some of these women (and men!) are doing so for a variety of reasons. Many have been dying their hair for decades and have tired of the chore. Others don't want to dump quite so much chemical substance on their heads, and, still, others desire to simply age gracefully. Whatever the reason, there's little doubt that the #silversisters revolution has taken on a life of its own, other people's opinions be damned.

Just because it's a noble idea to embrace one's most authentic self, however, doesn't make it easy. In fact, it can be a pretty painful, not to mention lengthy, process to grow hair out to fully natural status. Fortunately, stylists have a few impressive tricks in their toolkits for women who want to take a gradual approach to going gray.

For women who don't want to grow their hair out cold turkey, herringbone highlights are a gorgeous alternative. The idea behind this is that the stylist works with the grays instead of against them. "This technique is achieved by creating baby fine highlights to blend into your natural grey, helping blend your color but not cover," says the Benita Bianca Salon on Instagram with a pic of icon Gwyneth Paltrow, who is a big fan of herringbone highlights. This is a perfect option for people who struggle to fully cover their grays month after month.

Of course, since everyone's hair is different, herringbone highlights must be customized to do the trick. Blond hair, for example, might require a combo of lowlights and highlights to convincingly work existing grays into the mix, according to Boston-based stylist Megan Graham Beauty on Instagram. Those with brunette or red hair are likely to require a modified tactic compared to their flaxen-haired friends, as each one will need a specific balance of cool and warm tones to pull off the look.

Unless you're most of the way to gray-town, it's likely that these silver strands are popping up in irregular spots all over your head. To that end, the savvy stylist will know how to balance such uneven colors so that it's not painfully obvious. This likely means that the highlights and lowlights will also be done irregularly so as to make any lack of symmetry less obvious.

Herringbone highlights actually get their name from a common chevron-like pattern so often seen in home decor (think of wood grain flooring or backsplash tiles in a number of complementary shades angled to work together). So, it's not a shock that these artful patterns work well with all hair styles and types. Some people choose to let the pattern take center stage by keeping hair long, straight, and sleek, but it also shines through with shorter bobs or textured, wavy looks. Bangs can also soften the effect and add extra dimension.