30 Head-Turning Ideas of Chunky Highlights to Update Your Look

You may be too young to remember the infamous chunky highlights of the 90s, but Kylie Jenner and Jennifer Lopez just cannot be wrong about the hottest trends — the stark color contrasts have come back into fashion.

This time, they are often combined with balayage, ombre, or babylights for better customization while delivering depth and ensuring low maintenance. Let’s see how trendy chunky hair highlights look nowadays and find inspiring examples for your next visit to a salon.

1. 90’s Chunky Blonde Highlights on Brown Hair. If you pine for razor-sharp cuts, outward flip, and The Rachel’s vibes, this cute shag will get you back into the 90s.

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2. Chunky Highlights and Lowlights with a Rose Gold Tint. This fascinating blend of shades creates a unique pattern with much-boosted depth.

3. Blended Ribbon Highlights on a Lob. This hairstyle incorporates retro highlights into a modern balayage to produce a rather subtle yet visible contrast.

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4. Chunky Highlights on Short Hair with Bangs. Can you think of a more stunning way to emphasize the shaggy texture of a wolf cut? We adore this copper and blonde combo!

5. Shoulder-Length Brown Hair with Chunky Highlights. Actually, this creative style boasts all kinds of highlights, from tiny strips to chunky ribbons, from the high-contrast top to the blended bottom.

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6. Chunky Blonde Highlights with Dark Copper Lowlights. A blend of medium red and creamy blonde is not a common choice, but it has depth and drama and can complement your skin tone.

7. Delicate Golden Ribbons on Black Hair. If you are a brunette wishing to spice up your look with some retro chic vibes, it makes sense to opt for narrower but still crisp highlights.

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8. Two-Color Hair with Wispy Bangs. These chunky highlights serve to brighten up the face and add depth to the front section while leaving the base color on the crown and in the back intact.

9. Piece-y Hairstyle with Bold Highlights. It’s a killer way to go dirty blonde — you make a statement with a bright money piece and accentuate the texture with well-defined color strips.

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10. Zebra-Like Blonde Hair with Chunky Lowlights. Yes, it’s another blast from the past, but Y2K hair is everywhere nowadays, so have some fun with the ashy black-and-white combo.

11. Muted Chunky Highlights on Dark Hair. Here is a good alternative to trendy mushroom hair — it pairs a cool dark shade with grayish-brown streaks to deliver a sophisticated, creamy look.

12. Striped Bronde Hair. This style offers a fusion of blonde and brown hair and adds chunky highlights to the formula for a 3D effect.

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13. Toned-Down Mix of Highlights and Lowlights. This color palette is kept on the cooler side while staying bright enough to grab a good portion of attention.

14. Chocolate Brown Hair with Blonde Vibes. While straight tresses may lack dimension, especially when having little to no layers, thick highlights with babylights added in between can fix the problem.

15. Rainbow Highlights with a See-Through Fringe. Long black strands work as a perfect canvas for the neon colors of this striped hair inspired by the tropical sunrise.

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16. Streaked Chunky Blonde Highlights in a Warm Color Range. Strawberry blonde chimes well with medium brown, giving us yet another high-contrast color mix.

17. Chunky Face-Framing Highlights with a Wave. Looking for an idea on how to turn a regular money piece into something stunning? These blonde bands illuminating the face are definitely worth trying.

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18. Mysterious and Vibrant Pink Chunky Highlights. This layered and feathered hairstyle does come with some flare, and it can easily transform a girl-next-door into a femme fatale.

19. Chunky Coral-To-Yellow Ombre. Modern mix-and-match trends allow us to leverage different coloring techniques within one hairstyle, and the result can be that hot and flattering.

20. Long Wolf Cut with Gray Highlights. If you are not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, you can keep him company with this shaggy cut and gray camouflage.

21. Chunky Front Highlights on Multi-Tone Hair. These locks shine with silver and copper and look absolutely cool while retaining some warmth.

22. Gothic Black with Flaming Highlights. These sloppy bundles of red hair add fuel to the fire and create the right edgy touch a hardcore girl should enjoy.

23. Fun A-Line Bob with Highlights and Lowlights. Featuring black, copper, blonde, and everything in between, this cute bob manages to look pretty balanced rather than garish.

24. Streaky Shag with Flipped-Out Ends. While some chunky color schemes exploit symmetrical strips all around the perimeter, this one got chunky pieces on the sides only.

25. Seriously Thick Highlights in Black & White. This zebra pattern stands out for the way it incorporates blonde ribbons — they don’t start at the very roots, which results in a melted look.

26. Silver Highlights for Long Hair. Here is another mix of the 90’s color contrasts and current color blending techniques, making the whole style feel softer.

27. Glowing Hair with Red Chunky Highlights. Even a phoenix will turn green with envy if it happens to see such a marvelous play of colors made with chunky highlights!

28. Sleek Lob with Eye-Popping Color Blocking. The clear-cut lines of this lob call for definition, and the style gains it, along with depth, through regularly-shaped silver streaks.

29. Soft Blunt Bob with Chunky Dimension. This is a charier take on chunky highlights, which gets them well-blended and barely visible yet volume-adding.

30. Mermaid Pastel Hair. This unicorn style radiates a bunch of chalk colors, from turquoise contouring to chunky purple highlights, to bring a piece of fairytale into troublesome reality.

All in all, chunky highlights are gaining momentum, and you are welcome to join A-listers who are sporting different variations of the style. And since the options are truly endless, as you can see from our collection of chunky highlights, we hope you’ll find the one to inspire you.