There’s a reason why so many celebrities look like they’re on holiday all year round—and it isn’t actually down to a jet-set lifestyle. Unbeknownst to many of us, that sun-kissed glow is the result of a clever hair color technique that those in the know swear by for its ability to make them look healthy and suitably holidayed.
Say hello to babylights, little—and infinitely more natural—sister to the more familiar highlights so many have tried in the past. Beloved by everyone from Dakota Johnson to Jodie Comer and Jennifer Aniston, they are the key to hair color that doesn’t look like it’s been “done” at all.
“Babylights are fine highlights—much finer than classic highlights—that are sprinkled through the hair,” explains celebrity hair colorist, John Clark, who works from the John Frieda salon in London. “They lend hair a little sparkle and glow.”
Known for creating gorgeous sun-kissed color, Clark is a master of the babylight technique, and says it is one of his most requested color services in salon. The idea behind the technique is to create color that looks like it has been “lifted by the sun, like the hair children get after playing all summer in the sunshine”, he explains. “It not only creates a natural brightening effect on the hair, but it also instantly adds dimension and volume.”
When Vogue spoke to colorist and founder of dpHUE, Justin Anderson, who tends to the locks of everyone from Margot Robbie to Gwyneth Paltrow, he said the same, adding that healthy, natural-looking hair is made up of darker and lighter bits, which creates all-important dimension. “If you put a ton of highlights in the hair, you lose that dimension and instead hair looks flat and dull,” he said. Babylights are less chunky strands, which means that different tones in the hair all get their time to shine.
