There are many options for brightening your hair with highlights. First, you need to decide if you look better in warm tones, or in cool ones. One trick is to hold a silver (cool) and gold (warm) swatch up to your face. Make sure you are in a room with good lighting. Pick the tone that looks best against your skin tone. This is the color family that you should stay in for your highlights or lowlights. Otherwise, the color of the highlights that look best depends on your hair color.

If you have platinum blonde hair, lowlights in a deeper blonde color are a good option. Medium blonde hair looks great with coppery toned highlights. For light brown hair, blonde highlights are all the rage. For dark brown hair, using a few shades of caramel to highlight the hair adds a subtle, but vibrant effect. For black hair, rich copper or warm chocolate brown hues will soften and brighten the hair.