"Herringbone Highlights" Elevate Your Gray Hairs in the Best Way

There are two types of people in the spring and summer: those who thrive in the hot, humid weather, and those who can't unwrap themselves from the air conditioner for more than 30 seconds. If you fall into the latter camp, the warmer months may find you wanting to do as little as physically possible to avoid the weather — including paring down your monthly hair-color appointments.

If that means skipping out on those root touch-ups for any gray hairs, we have a trending solution that's as low-maintenance as it is stylish: "herringbone highlights."

According to Tom Smith, hairstylist and international color creative director for Evo Hair, this trend makes perfect sense, given the times: "Since the pandemic, it's wonderfully more acceptable to show your natural grays," he tells POPSUGAR. "Celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Sarah Jessica Parker are leading the way when it comes to incorporating their gray hairs into their iconic hair colors."

Here's everything you need to know about the trend, according to experts.

Essentially, it's a hair-color technique. "Using a herringbone pattern of highlighting, various shades are woven in among the gray strands, giving a finely balanced mix of warm and cool tones," Smith says. "The trend really celebrates gray hair by including them in a hair-color design as an additional highlight color instead of covering them up."

If you want in on the trend but are unsure of what to ask of your stylist at the salon, Smith has a suggestion. "Ask your colorist to include your gray hair into your highlight pattern by adding a warm- and a cool-toned highlight and mixing them throughout your hair in an irregular way," he says. "Not alternating each shade but scattering and diffusing the various shades around the irregular pattern of your own gray hair. Gray hairs tend to arrive sporadically and scattered — some even cluster into streaks — so work with this rather than fight against it for a hair-color design that is totally tailored to you."

Keep scrolling for some of our favorite examples of "herringbone highlights."