If you've ever looked in the mirror and felt like your hair color was missing something — depth, richness, a sense of dimension — lowlights might be the answer. They're one of the most effective and underused tools in a colorist's kit, and at Reverie Salon in Chicago's River North neighborhood, we use them every day to take flat, one-dimensional color and transform it into something that looks genuinely natural and full of movement.
What Are Lowlights, Exactly?
Lowlights are sections of hair that are colored darker than your base or existing color, applied through foils or open-air painting techniques to create contrast and depth. They work on the same principle as shadows in a painting — by introducing darker tones, you make the lighter areas around them pop more brilliantly.
Unlike highlights, which lighten the hair, lowlights add color. They're a permanent service that grows out gradually, and done well, they're nearly impossible to distinguish from your natural color variation. That's what great lowlights should look like: as if your hair just grew in that way.
Who Should Get Lowlights?
Lowlights are a great option for many different clients:
- Blondes who've gone too light — if your blonde looks platinum, flat, or icy when you wanted something warmer and more dimensional, lowlights can restore warmth and depth instantly
- Clients with faded highlights — highlights that have grown out or lost their tonal contrast look tired. Lowlights bring the color back to life without having to redo the whole thing
- Anyone with single-toned color — whether you've been coloring at home or getting a flat color at a salon, lowlights introduce the natural variation that makes hair look real and three-dimensional
- Brunettes who want movement — adding a few shades of depth through brunette hair creates the kind of richness you see on hair that's never been touched by a colorist — in a good way
Lowlights Alone vs. Combined with Highlights or Balayage
One of our most popular color requests at Reverie is a combination of balayage or highlights with lowlights woven through. The logic is simple: highlights and balayage create brightness and lift, while lowlights provide the shadows and depth that make all that brightness look intentional rather than uniform. Together, they create hair that looks completely natural — the way hair actually grows, with variation from root to tip and strand to strand.
A gloss treatment on top of a lowlight service is the perfect finishing touch — it seals the color, adds incredible mirror shine, and makes the tonal difference between the highlights and lowlights more vivid.
How Long Do Lowlights Last?
Lowlights are a permanent color service, so they stay in until the hair grows out. Most clients come back every 3–5 months to refresh their color, adjust tones, or add new lowlights as their hair grows. Because lowlights add depth rather than lightness, they tend to grow out more naturally and gracefully than highlights alone — there's less of a harsh line of demarcation as new growth comes in.
Book Lowlights at Reverie Salon, Chicago
Ready to add depth and dimension to your color? Our colorists at Reverie Salon are experts at blending lowlights for a natural, beautiful result. Learn more about our lowlights service → or book your appointment today.
Reverie Salon | 300 W Grand Ave Suite 5 | River North, Chicago IL 60654 | (312) 664-0055
