Honey Highlights: 35 Best Color Ideas In 2025 And How To Maintain Them

Interested in trying honey highlights? We’re here to help! Read on for 35 ideas that work for every skin tone.

By Hair.com & Powered By L’Oreal Professional Products Division

Update Date: 10 Jan 2025

There’s always going to be a place for those crisp, cool platinum shades and ashy hair colors, but lately we’ve been seeing more and more people eager to warm things up. If you’ve been dreaming of a rich, warm color, honey highlights might just be what you’re looking for.

From barely-there sun kissed honey highlights to bold honey highlights on dark hair, there are many ways you can dabble in this trend. If you’re keen on trying honey highlights for yourself, keep scrolling for 35 ways to wear the look.

What are honey highlights?

Inspired by the sugary substance you love to mix into your morning cup of tea, honey highlights can range from golden yellow to rich amber. This means they’re ultra-versatile and that they’re flattering on so many skin tones. When in doubt, defer to your colorist’s opinion for what shade and boldness will work best on your tresses.

Best Honey Highlight Ideas And Inspiration

Dreaming up ways to incorporate the rich, warm-toned honey highlights into your tresses? Look through our list below for 35 inspiration ideas.

Subtle Honey Highlights

If you’re an experienced salon blonde, all you’ll need is a little bit of honey to warm you up for the season. This look is subtle and oh-so-gorgeous.

Honey Balayage Highlights

For the low-maintenance girls out there, we recommend a honey balayage. Your colorist will hand-paint highlights onto your hair to create a blended, natural-looking color that grows out gracefully in between salon appointments.

Cinnamon And Honey Highlights

This gorgeous combination of cinnamon and honey highlights painted onto a rich brown base reminds us of a perfectly blended seasonal latte.

Honey Money Piece

If you’re looking to edge into a full head of honey highlights gracefully, you’ll strike gold with the money piece technique. Your colorist will apply foil highlights to the strands framing your face to add a pop of color to your mane and accentuate your facial features.

Chocolate Brown With Honey Highlights

There’s nothing we love more than warm, chocolate cake—except maybe a hair color that’s equally as rich and delicious as the delectable dessert. Ask your colorist for honey highlights over a chocolate brown base to satisfy your craving for sweets while giving your strands depth and dimension.

Light Brown With Honey Highlights

If you’ve been toying with the idea of brightening your naturally light brown hair, honey highlights are the perfect way to go a bit lighter without completely abandoning your dark roots. In order to keep your lightened brunette hair brass-free, you’ll need a toning shampoo and conditioner like the Matrix Total Results Brass Off Shampoo and Conditioner system. This system neutralizes brassy tones, while moisturizing hair and protecting it from breakage.

Light Copper With Honey Blonde Highlights

Copper is a color we come back to every single year—and can you blame us? This warm, gingery hue screams fall. Put a twist on your light copper hair with honey highlights. If you have a fair complexion, this look is made for you!

Curly Honey Highlights

There’s something special about highlights on curly hair. While all over color might make ringlets appear flat, honey highlights can enhance your natural texture with a pop of brightness and dimension.

Auburn With Honey Highlights

Take your red-brown auburn hue to new heights with subtle, honey highlights.

Golden Honey Highlights

Lean into those glow golden vibes via honey highlights. Golden highlights look best when they’re shiny and reflective, so invest in a shine-enhancing hair oil like the Redken Diamond Oil Glow Dry Blow Dry Shine Oil. This hair oil formula delivers diamond-like shine with ultra lightweight control.

Honey Caramel Highlights

Take your honey strands slightly darker into a sweet caramel shade. For an extra faceted look, have your stylist weave in baby strands of honey, too. Just look at how rich, warm, and gorgeous this color is.

How To Care For And Maintain Your Honey Highlights

You’ll want to care for your honey colored highlights by adding products intended for color-treated hair to your routine. Doing so helps lock in the vibrancy of your color for longer. For example, Redken Color Extend Magnetics Sulfate-Free Shampoo and its matching Conditioner boast gentle formulations that strengthen hair without stripping your strands of that expensive color.

Routinely using a leave-in conditioner or conditioning mask will also help keep your mane healthy and strong. We recommend Redken All Soft Heavy Cream Deep Conditioning Treatment Mask and Biolage ColorLast Deep Treatment Pack Multi Use Hair Mask. Anytime you’re dyeing your hair—and especially if you’re lightening or bleaching it— you’ll want to go above and beyond to nourish and strengthen your tresses to keep them looking and feeling healthy, shiny, and gorgeous.

Another way you can maintain your honey highlights is to see your colorist every four to six weeks for a toning treatment. This is a semi-permanent wash of color that helps create dimension, vibrancy, and shine. You can also use color-depositing masks like Redken’s Color Extend Blondage Color Depositing Honey Beige Mask. This formula adds a golden honey beige tint to enhance your hue in just five minutes.

Interested in getting honey highlights? Use our salon locator to book an appointment at a salon near you.