Peek-a-boo highlights are highlights that are applied to the under-layers of the hair to create stunning color combinations without necessarily saturating the entire hair with color. Bleaching is not always necessary as muted hues of the color will often look just as good when stylishly thrown in using the dyeing technique.
This highlighting style offers limitless styling options and can be used to integrate any color, whether natural browns, pastel greens and reds, and even neon, to the hair without looking clownish or shouty. It is also a lot easier to maintain and usually does not cause much color disharmony when the natural hair starts to grow back in.
Whether you’re going for something subtle or bold, peek-a-boo highlights are perfect for everyone. Herein are 40 beautiful ways you can apply the vibrant highlights to your hair.
While not as flirty or vibrant as you would expect the highlights to be, the solid violet underlay creates a beautiful two-toned look to the hair that is very attractive. The dirty blonde locks benefit from the darker layer of color, which gives them a much deeper, more dimensioned appearance.
The ravishing manner in which this hairstyle transitions from the dark roots into the vividly bright creamy blonde locks is undeniably the main focus of this hairstyle. The more vibrant highlights can be seen on thick individual curls which add some brightness to the hair spectacularly.
Shorter hair should not be dyed as heavily as long hair. Gentle touches of color on the angled bob create a stunning color effect that dramatically improves the appearance of the hair. A few dazzling streaks of blonde have also been thrown in randomly to give the hair a beautifully radiant look.
Although bolder, the color combination used in this example can easily be muted by tousling up the locks underneath with the natural blonde locks. This allows the colored locks to be perfectly distributed and to create a more spectacular color effect no matter how the hair is worn.
Simple, yet absolutely magnificent, this is a muted color combination every woman should try at least once. The gloriously wine colored locks merge gracefully with the mild sunset brown locks, making the hair look perfectly dimensional, radiant and simply sensational.
Streaking straight peek-a-boo highlights through your solid bangs is a great way to shake things up without stepping out of the conservative zone. The color only adds a bit of vibrancy, dimension and subtle radiance to the hair without looking too pronounced or taking away the neatness of the hairdo.
Peek-a-boo highlights never look out of place no matter what color you go for. The solid purple and the dirty blonde locks combine exquisitely despite the fact that they do not blend as seamlessly. The burst of color gives the hair a playful look and makes the beautifully wavy locks a bit more interesting to look at.
The best part about this highlighting technique is that it always looks good whether you go for solidly colored locks or subtle touches that add a tasteful tint to your natural hair color. Throwing in some ribbons of brown into the luxurious ebony locks gives them a naturally sunkissed appearance that combines especially well with the ripply texture of the flowing locks.
Adding color to the locks on the side of the head is one of the most popular ways to use peek-a-boo highlights for most women. This leaves the top layers of hair virtually unchanged and normal while giving the burst of wavy locks that cascade down the shoulders a beautiful sprinkle of rich violet that complements the blonde locks.
Peek-a-boo highlights look great on any texture or length of hair. The highlighting technique is especially good at making hair look naturally lustrous by simply brightening the tips or the edges using vivid natural colors. The wild dark locks look sensationally beautiful thanks to the auburn inflections on the edges of the wavy locks.
For those not sure of the perfect color combinations to use on their hair, go for bright jewel tones—they rarely fail to look amazing. The blue and violet curls look regal and give the hair a subtle color boost, which cannot go unnoticed, but at the same time, will not be the first thing you notice about the hair.
Plain red might look fantastic on paler skin tones and such sometimes it is enough to turn heads. However, pair it with a dark underlayer of perfectly tinted blue locks and your hair gets a fuller and much deeper body, not to mention a beautiful color combination from the bright red and the solid blue locks.
No matter what shade of color you use, the peek-a-boo highlighting technique has a way of making it look tasteful and beautifully vibrant. Teal might be a shade too bright for dark hair complexions although when teal peek-a-boo highlights are added to the hair, the effect is stunning since the darker locks do well to mute it, only revealing beautiful slivers of the color underneath.
For redheads looking to add a little kick to their hair, go natural with a bit of bright blonde highlights that give the hair a natural radiance of its own. The two layers blend almost seamlessly from a distance to create hair that seems to glow and reflect the light. This is one highlighting idea that will have you looking like a star without trying too hard.
Adding thick blocks of dark color to blonde hair can look incredibly good, even with less natural colors such as dark blues and purples. The highlight of this hairdo is without a doubt the way the dark lowlights emerge from underneath the beautiful golden locks to create a stylish color disruption.
One of the greatest color combinations of all time is without a doubt blonde and purple. The two have an uncanny effect when combined, which makes bright hairstyles irresistible to look at and undeniably sexy. The wildly textured blonde locks look a lot better with the bold streaks of purple peeking stylishly from underneath.
You can use vivid highlights to brighten your natural hair color without having to use bleach or other dyes. The blonde layer underneath does exactly that to the rich hue of the burgundy bowl cut, making it appear a lot more vibrant and colorful without looking out of place. A choppy finish to the top layer allows the blonde locks to be stylishly yet randomly exposed.
Simply put, this is hair artistry at its very best. The expertly applied dyes of different hues of blue, purple and pink combine almost hypnotically and make the hair look angelic. The intricacy of the hair doesn’t end there as a superb rope braid wonderfully combines the two sections of differently colored hair together while creating a distinct divide between the pastel blonde locks and the beautiful jewel colored locks.
This is a simple case of dark and light hair looking incredibly good together. The randomness of the peek-a-boo curls is what makes them so perfectly suited to the hairdo, especially because of the thick fluffy curls. The touches of color have been spread evenly around the hair to give it some measure of balance.
The tastefully applied highlights benefit this hairdo in three major ways. First, the slight inflection of blonde within the locks enhances the radiance of the hair, making it look perfectly sun-kissed. Second, the hair transitions beautifully from rich brown locks into stunning ginger curls thanks to the perfect use of peek-a-boo highlights. Lastly, there is no denying the incredible boost of color the hair gets from the addition of bright streaks of ginger.
The key to perfectly highlighted hair when it comes to darker hair is to keep the sprinkle of brighter colors slight and only touching a few areas of the hair. The darker eggplant shade has been used to alter the tint of the jet black hair only slightly and to blend with the fuchsia under layer for a more seamless transition.
There is really no standard when it comes to highlighting your hair using this technique. Whatever you feel suits you is often the best way to go and you will rarely be disappointed with the outcome. If you’re gunning for a more mature look, muted shades of red on dark hair will grant you the color boost you need without making the contrast too striking.
Curious about anime hair? Herein is one of the best ways to make your dark locks appear even darker. Perfectly placed blue highlights give the hair a beautiful blue sheen. With this color, you will never have to worry about dry hair as it makes the rich dark locks look brilliantly glossy.
There is nothing that will bring out the girly side of your hairstyle better than perfectly placed pink highlights on naturally textured blonde hair. Not only do the two colors combine exquisitely, pink also compliments a lot of fair skin tones. Lowlights have also been used to give the hair a dimensioned finish and a much more satisfying depth.
Partially dyed ginger locks give the long flowing locks a more sensational feel by brightening the hair in a tastefully asymmetrical fashion. The tousled locks look extra beautiful with the sudden burst of blonde on one side and muted but noticeable shades of blonde on the tip which give it an exquisite appearance.
Muted colors are often enough to spruce up dark hair, which is why you should try as much to avoid colors that are too bright. Soft lines of pink bordered by purple are enough to dramatically change how this hairstyle looks. Although only slightly visible, the black locks definitely look a lot better with the highlights.
To pull off this look, the texture of your hair has to be perfect. The beach blonde waves have been flawlessly styled with a sprinkling of lowlights thrown in to give it some fantastic depth and dimension. Finally, a streak of bright pink has been run through the blonde locks, giving it a girly touch that is very attractive.
The brown and blonde highlights in this look have only been added further down the locks where the fluffy curls are more spread out. This gives the fuller section of hair more character and the darker roots will help hide growth for much longer.
This dyeing technique allows you to rock the most eccentric color combinations in the best way possible. Thick streaks of aqua blue, purple and a rich dark blue have been used for the straight bronde hair since hair with that texture looks better with a much bolder color infusion.
The dark brown hair forms a perfect base to blend in a muted shade of plum towards the ends of the thick wavy locks, which gives it a beautiful, natural sheen. Streaks of bright pink have been run through the stormy locks for a beautiful color burst. Keep them few, randomly placed and well spaced out to give the hair a perfectly unintentional burst of color.
Brown and black may seem tame on paper but when done stylishly using the peek-a-boo highlighting technique, the effects can be ravishing. The two colors wonderfully complement each other with the black giving the hair more depth while the brown adds a lush radiance to the locks. The two-toned look is very versatile and can be just as formal as it can be casual.
Color-melting brown and black together can be a really good way to make your hair a bit brighter without losing the rich darkness of the look. To add a nice, flirty finish, throw in some random, vivid blonde streaks of blonde towards the ends for a banging finish.
Pixie cuts can get a bit boyish, so color is one of the best ways to make them extra feminine. This sexy haircut features neatly trimmed black locks with a bright patch of red on top, which makes the hairstyle very cute.
A lot can go wrong when opting for hushed shades since the color is often very faint. Getting just the right balance of color can result in a random, almost unintentional inflection of color in blonde hair, which is girly but seductive in a relaxed kind of way.
Throw some color into your short hairstyle to give it life and spunk. The sizzling appeal of the pixie cut gets a lot of kick from the bright red colors sprinkled on the short locks on top of the head. Remember, when it comes to peek-a-boo highlights, the more random they are, the better.
This intricately done blonde and purple hairdo bears the mark of an expert stylist in the way that the blonde underlayer gently bleeds onto the radiant blonde locks. The beautifully merging colors dramatically enhance the appearance of the hair and although the colors do not blend as well, they make the hair a lot more interesting to look at.
When pairing natural colors using this highlighting technique, make sure the colors are as natural as possible. The ginger under layer and the blonde layer on top look perfectly distinct, creating a nicely balanced two-toned look that would go well with many skin tones.
Shorter hairstyles warrant a bit of color to make them more interesting. Faint blonde streaks definitely make the brown hair have more color and a stylish “dirty” appearance which is trendier than a solid brown hairdo would have been.
Here is a look for those among us who are free spirits that would love to embrace the colorful side of life. The hair is a spectrum of all the colors of the rainbow, perfectly done with minimal bleeding. The vibrant highlights look extra special when the brown hair is let down.
The rich, seductive and perfectly dark undertones of purple and red are a great choice for dark hair. The colors add an air of mystery and exquisite style to the beautiful blowout curls. The messy texture greatly enhances the appeal of the perfectly placed highlights.
For first-time hair dyers, go for peek-a-boo highlights as they offer more versatility in terms of styling options and work well on any hair type and with any color. This highlighting technique is perfect for both the fun, spirited woman and the classy alpha female with a fantastic sense of style.
