Hair Colour
Creativity is at the core of what we do. To help you stay inspired, we created a hub with all your hair colour needs. Our blog covers the latest trends, formulas, professional tips and inspiration.
10.12.2025
What are Herringbone Highlights?
By: Zara Kenyon
Who knew that a tweed jacket could be your next colour inspiration? As clients seek new ways to embrace their grey hair, herringbone highlighting techniques are stepping into the spotlight. But this isn't just another trend; it's a pattern hair pros have relied on for years to blend silver strands seamlessly, weaving warm and cool tones together to mirror the beauty of natural greys
Soft regrowth, sun-kissed radiance and effortless maintenance are just some of the benefits that make this look so loved. So, how do you create herringbone highlights for your clients? Here's everything you need to know...
What are Herringbone Highlights?
Herringbone is a highlighting technique with an overlapping, diagonal placement, similar to the herringbone V-shape pattern seen in the chicest tweed jackets. It's a clever way of combining cool and warm tones for a natural-looking finish, and is often used to blend grey hair, so your client's silver strands appear intertwined and intentional. The strategic positioning also offers ultra-seamless regrowth, making it perfect for those clients who crave low-maintenance colour.
Image Credit: @haleyhaxtonhair
Image Credit: @colourbytriciamarie
Who Suits Herringbone Highlights?
Anyone and everyone can enjoy herringbone highlights, but they're especially flattering for clients who want:
- Seamless grey blending that turns silver strands into part of their look.
- A highlighting technique that lets them switch up their parting as they please.
- Soft, subtle regrowth, thanks to the diagonal placement of the blended highlights.
- Harmonized colour blends that even let you seamlessly combine cool and warm tones.
What are the Benefits of Herringbone Highlights?
Beyond that effortless, blended finish there are many benefits of herringbone highlights. Here are just a few reasons to make the technique part of your client's next colouring service:
- Diagonal sectioning follows the curves of the head to create an even distribution of colour.
- Strategic lightening through sections of hair creates a natural, sun-kissed effect.
- Fine-haired clients enjoy the illusion of a volume boost with foils through the hat line.
- Greys become one with the rest of the hair, and grow out beautifully between salon visits.
Image Credit: @dereqc
Image Credit: @hairbysergio
What is the Difference Between Herringbone Highlights and Balayage?
The main difference between herringbone highlights and balayage comes down to the placement of your lightener. While a balayage technique sees Blondor painted through the mid-lengths and ends, a herringbone pattern involves foil highlights that start near the root. Plus, the purpose of a herringbone pattern differs. These highlights are able to weave natural greys in with your dream shade for delicate blending, while balayage isn't typically used to disguise grey hair (unless you combine it with a root shadow).
So, while both approaches give your client low-commitment colour, the final results are distinct. If your client wants root-to-tip ribbons, choose herringbone highlights. If they crave glowing lengths and ends, offer them a balayage.
Do Herringbone Highlights Work on Dark Hair?
Yes – herringbone highlights work beautifully on dark hair. In fact, they work through all base colours, adding a seamless glow with soft regrowth in a multitude of tones. So, whether you're giving your brunette client a caramel gloss, a bronde makeover or a veil of ash blonde hues, the herringbone colour placement ensures a natural blend that moves harmoniously with hair growth.
Is it Better to Have Highlights When Going Grey?
To lift or not to lift? When it comes to grey hair, there's no one-size-fits-all approach, but for those clients who want seamless grey blending, highlights tend to be the better choice. While a root shadow or all-over shades are great for full grey camouflage, highlights – and especially herringbone highlights – let you marry silver strands with other tones for a softer finish. The big benefit is that grey blending tends to be lower maintenance than grey coverage. Instead of dealing with harsh demarcation lines, your client's stray greys become a part of their overall look.
How to Give Your Client Herringbone Highlights
Step 1: Consultation
Set aside time to talk through your client's hair goals. How light do they want to go? What shades do they like? What level, if any, of grey blending are they hoping to achieve? While you listen, look carefully at the distribution of silver strands to help plan out your placement.
Then, take them through your Wella Professionals swatch book to identify the shimmering shades that will enhance their skin tone. While you can make their colour all cool or all warm, remember: herringbone highlights typically feature a contrasting yet harmonizing blend of the two.
Step 2: Mix the Lightener
Once you've got the placement planned out and the shades chosen, it's time to mix up the hair lightener. For a root-to-tip highlighting technique like this, we recommend Wella Professionals BlondorPlex. The bond-strengthening formula offers up to 9 levels of lift, with an anti-brass complex that prevents yellow tones. Plus, because it harnesses the WellaPlex ingredient, it gives your client up to 97% less breakage*.
Step 3: Section and Lighten
Next comes the placement. As you'll see in the image above, herringbone highlights are focused through the top section of the head, and scattered around the hairline to create a soft halo of colour.
Instead of lining up your foils in perfect rows, take fine, alternating sections and place them diagonally to mimic the herringbone weave. Some pieces may be left out completely or shaded to add lowlights – a trick that keeps your client's regrowth soft and enhances movement.
Pro tip: For clients with very defined natural partings, be sure the parting falls within your sectioning and not on the lines of the sub-section. This will ensure an even distribution of highlights through the part line, close to the root.
Step 4: Tone and Perfect
After the lightener has developed and been rinsed, tone your client's hair with the perfect colour product to reach their goals. Choose Koleston Perfect for pure-pigment dimension, Illumina Color for a lit-from-within glow or Color Touch for true-to-tone vibrancy and shine.
If you're mixing cool and warm tones, use your tint brush to sweep the contrasting hues in alternating strokes. It's not about precise lines – movement and texture are the aim. Finish with a clear Shinefinity glaze to add mirror-like luster from root to tip, leaving your client's hair up to 250% shinier² and up to 50% softer and smoother³.
Step 5: Maintain with Top-Ups
Depending on the look your client wants – perfectly polished or undone and effortless – they should have their herringbone highlights topped up every three to six months. Before they leave the salon, discuss a colouring schedule that suits their lifestyle and desired results. You may only need to refresh their highlights every other salon visit and offer toner-only sessions in between to keep the tones balanced.
¹ Versus untreated bleached hair.
² Instrumental testing versus our regular demi-permanent color.
³ Versus untreated bleached hair.
Elevate Your Craft with Wellastore 🚀
Join Wellastore for exclusive content, hair tutorials, pro-only deals, and seamless shopping across all Wella brands - tailored for your daily salon needs. Start your journey today and get 15% off your first order with code WELLANEW15 . REGISTER NOW!
Looking for more hair colouring inspiration? Discover pro formulas, up-and-coming trends and transformative care tricks on the Wellastore blog.
