Nearly every colourist we spoke to mentioned '90s chunky highlights as one of the year's biggest hair colour trends. Thought chunky highlights would never see the light of day again? To be honest, same, but thanks to celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian, the look has made a huge comeback. And turns out, there's a way to make this trend feel modern but also perfect for springtime.
Think big, piecey ribbons of colour," says New York-based colourist Rachel Bodt, who's 2020 version of the look is a "nod to the '90s, but with more of a sexy, lived-in feel." The key to achieving this look is block colouring — your colourist will most likely apply heavy highlights using foils to your hair, focusing on the front section and money pieces of the hair. To keep it feeling ultramodern, "create a deeper root area, spacing out the highlights to create the sharp contrast," says LA-based colourist George Papanikolas.
But let's face it, not all of us want to be that daring. Jack Howard, colourist and balayage expert at Paul Edmonds Salon in London, has found the perfect way to create a look that's the perfect balance between natural and '90s. He's been using the balayage technique — as opposed to traditional foils — to create stronger, face-framing highlights that are heavier than typical balayage but give a softer and more modern version of the '90s trend.