While red hair is already a statement choice, you can always go further by adding highlights. With the amazing palette of red hues and plenty of highlighting techniques to choose from, it’s easy to get a unique look. So, long story short, here’s our awesome compilation of red hair with highlights ideas to get you inspired.
1. Play of Copper
This gorgeous look is a result of elaborately combining shadow roots, a deep copper base, and lighter copper highlights. Such a subtle blend is an excellent choice for women who want to rock their red hair in a more sophisticated and elegant way.
Instagram / @live_love_dohair
2. Auburn Hair with Highlights
Darker shades of red hair are popular with ladies who struggle to choose between edgy red and the more reserved brown hair color. If you want to transfer to the bright side, getting orange highlights will help you get used to a more vivid shade and … turning heads!
Instagram / @ryennesnow.hair
3. Deep Red Hair with Face Framing Highlights
Red locks and porcelain skin tones look fantastic together, but you can go further by adding light red highlights to face-framing layers like in this pic. They create a seamless transition from dark red hair to light skin, making the latter glow.
Instagram / @megumicolor
4. Strawberry Blonde Balayage
Balayage doesn’t seem to go out of vogue soon – this highlighting technique has won millions of women’s hearts due to its naturally-looking effect. Among the huge variety of red shades, strawberry blonde deserves a special place – it looks unusual and dazzling.
Instagram / @erinblanchardhair
5. Have Them All
From peachy red and strawberry blonde to dark brown and red tones, the palette of reds has a lot to offer. The great news is that you can have them all combined into a vibrant red balayage, with the main thing to keep in mind being to choose hues that match your skin tone.
Instagram / @kl.hairartist
6. Dark Red Hair with Subtle Highlights
Ruby red hair color is an excellent choice for women with warm skin tones and dark eyes. Deep and juicy, it’s definitely a way to stand out from the crowd. Still, there’s no limit to perfection, and you can inject awesome depth and dimension into your ruby red hair with the help of slightly lighter highlights.
Instagram / @hairby_michellesavic
7. Ginger Red Hair with Highlights
If you want to achieve a natural redhead look, consider a light ginger base with a multitude of golden blonde highlights. This hair color looks incredible on freckled ladies with blue eyes and neutral skin tones.
Instagram / @kort.sandystrands
8. Black to Wine Red Ombre
While black hair color combines exceptionally well with virtually every shade of red, it looks especially chic when paired with wine red. So if you feel like spicing up your dark hair, embrace wine red highlights or a classy black to wine red ombre like this.
Instagram / @hairhecker
9. Golden Highlights on Copper Hair
Want to know the perfect formula for a flirty, playful look? Here it is: short hair, loose waves, and a copper base with blonde highlights. While this is a great option if you want to give a try to new hair dye, it’s also the way to go if you seek to juice up your natural red hair.
Instagram / @hairart_by_eli
10. Statement Money Piece
Bright red hair is already a statement, so go for it only if you are absolutely ready to draw tons of attention. However, if you want to stand out from the redhead crowd, you’ll need something more exciting than just fiery red locks, like the light blonde money piece framing your face.
Instagram / @_biancastyles_
11. Chic Mahogany
Ladies with dark brown hair who crave noticeable change but don’t want to step aside from the palette of brown and red hair should definitely consider mahogany hair color. Deep and rich, this stunning red hair shade perfectly combines with lighter highlights to create extra depth and dimension.
Instagram / @hairbytiannad
12. Auburn Hair with Copper Highlights
Auburn hair color pairs well with virtually all shades of copper, so if you’re browsing ideas of red hair with highlights, include this amazing combo in your shortlist. And if you’re already an owner of gorgeous auburn locks, this is the sign!
Instagram / @chrisweberhair
13. Dark Red Brown Hair with Highlights
If you have an olive skin tone, it’s a better idea to avoid bright red hues for your hair. Instead, consider dark red, cool or neutral, and close to brunette shades. Once you see that the base looks good with your skin tone, you can add subtle highlights for more dimension.
Instagram / @desireerosillo
14. Ruby Red Hair Highlights
With the impressive palette of red hair colors, it’s easy to choose a perfect hue to match your skin tone, eye color, and personality. The ruby red shade is a stunning choice to make you feel special.
Instagram / @mayraalejandra_hair
15. Dark Curly Hair with Red Highlights
Red highlights are a fun way to juice up your natural hair color. They look particularly good on dark curly hair, providing the right contrast to accentuate curls and make them look more defined.
Instagram / @belowbeautyy
16. Vibrant Copper
The rich copper color can be as subtle or showy as you want it to be. If you feel like joining the vibrant red hair tribe, here’s a quick tip: to achieve a natural redhead look, get copper red hair with highlights a few shades lighter than the base.
Instagram / @maritimebeautysupply
17. Poppy Red Hair with Highlights and Lowlights
The gorgeous poppy red hue looks chic when paired with black lowlights that add incredible depth to the hair. Grab this idea for your next hair appointment if you want something more unusual than light highlights on a darker base.
Instagram / @nabila_salon
18. Red Brown Hair with Caramel Highlights
If you’re searching for red hair with highlights ideas that don’t feature blazing hues, look no further than an elegant deep auburn hue with tasteful caramel highlights. These are not as intense as copper or ruby reds, resulting in a sophisticated, classy look.
Instagram / @hairbydarceee
19. Golden Blonde Balayage on Ginger Red Hair
Women endowed with natural red hair can always spice it up by embracing more hues. With a plethora of hues out there, darker golden blonde highlights are one of the best options for curly ladies, as darker shades of blonde need less bleaching and, thus, are safer for a gentle hair texture.
Instagram / @paris_mcelroy
20. Deep Red Hair Highlights
Dark red hair color is an excellent choice for women who have skin with cool undertones. To achieve stunning depth like in this photo, give a try to black lowlights. A word of advice: your dark red hair will look its best with a bit of shine spray.
Instagram / @umer_wahaj
21. Vibrant Red Hair with Highlights
Going the highlights route when they are the same color as your entire mane but a few tones lighter is a sure way to inject more depth and dimension into your tresses. And if you choose a bright shade like this ruby red, get ready to have all eyes on you!
Instagram / @curlyhairdaze
22. Ginger Red Hair with Highlights
Whether you’re a born redhead or have chosen this stunning red hair shade to change your hair color, highlights are always welcome to make your locks shine. You don’t have to pick bold, contrasting colors for highlights – a few tones lighter suffice to create an out-this-world look.
Instagram / @lumieresalondebeaute
23. Peek-a-Boo Highlights
One of the edgiest ways to add highlights to red hair is the peek-a-boo. This technique suggests applying contrasting highlights to your hair underneath the top layer. You can choose from a variety of options, from a daring rainbow peek-a-boo to more reserved platinum blonde highlights.
Instagram / @hairby.oliviasgl
24. Red Hair with Auburn Highlights
Auburn highlights on darker red hair can help you beautifully accentuate your eyes and the warm tone of your skin. They also create the right contrast to add depth to red hair and look particularly flattering when paired with loose waves.
Instagram / @valarie.ann_
25. Raspberry Balayage
Burgundy red is a rich hue loved by women who enjoy being the center of attention. This juicy shade looks equally stunning when combined with both light ruby red highlights and darker lowlights. If you crave a more dramatic look, go for the latter. Lowlights help achieve incredible depth and make your tresses look fuller.
Instagram / @locksbylauryn
26. Copper Balayage
There’s little wonder that balayage is one of the most favored highlighting techniques – besides being relatively low-maintenance, it helps create a natural look. So if you feel like embracing red hair color, consider getting a balayage.
Instagram / @_danielledoeshair
27. Cherry on Top
Cherry red is one of the most vibrant and eye-catching hues of red hair, which calls for a bit of courage to turn heads everywhere you go. If you love this shade but aren’t ready to get an entire head of it, juicy cherry highlights might be your way to go.
Instagram / @amati_lara_pini
28. Ginger Hair with Blonde Highlights
If you can’t choose between blonde and red hair, getting highlights sounds like a wise solution. For example, strawberry blonde highlights look great on a ginger red base. By the way, this is an excellent idea if you’re a natural blonde who wants to seamlessly transition to light brown or red hair.
Instagram / @hairby.stephmarie
29. Red Highlights or Short Red Hair
Short deep mahogany hair is already a statement, but you can always make it even more eye-catching with the help of bright highlights. Highlights help to accentuate the texture of a short cut and make your hair appear more voluminous by creating extra dimension.
Instagram / @salonsezar
30. Dark Hair with Red Highlights
Deep red highlights on a darker brown base work exceptionally well with naturally curly hair. They help showcase your curls at their best, accentuating the curl pattern and adding dimension.
Instagram / @alexfromfreya
All in all, red hair with highlights is better than just red hair. Besides making your hair look more beautiful and eye-catching, highlights can go a long way toward creating extra dimension and depth and accentuating your skin tone and eye color.
