5 Hair Color Tricks to Instantly Look Younger, According to Celebrity Colorists

Use color to add some vitality to your hair.

There’s something deeply personal about our relationship with hair color. Maybe it started with a box dye in your teenage bathroom, a quarter-life crisis blonde moment (guilty), or the first time you spotted a gray strand and made a salon appointment with record speed.

As we get older, though, the stakes feel a little higher. Hair doesn’t just grow, it evolves. The color shifts, the texture changes and suddenly what once felt fresh can start to feel a little off. That’s because aging doesn’t just impact the strands themselves, it changes the way color reflects on our skin, the way contrast shapes our face, and how light or depth can either flatter or fight against our features.

That's where some strategic approaches come in. And no, this is not the "anti-aging" hair color tricks of yesteryear. Today, it's all about subtle and expertly placed tones that add vibrancy, brightness and lift—without looking like you're trying too hard to latch on to your youth. The right tweaks (we're talking small but mighty) can work like an Instagram filter IRL with an enhanced glow, softened lines and a face-framing effect that looks as fresh as eight uninterrupted hours of sleep feels. It’s not about hiding your age. It’s about letting color work for you, instead of against you.

5 Hair Color Tricks to Instantly Look Younger, According to Celebrity Colorists

1. Warm Honey Highlights

Warm honey highlights—à la Jennifer Aniston—are basically the hair color equivalent of golden hour lighting. This shade works overtime to bring warmth back into the skin, especially if your natural tone has dulled a bit over the years (it happens to the best of us). The secret sauce? It’s all in the tone. “Warm blondes soften features and brighten the complexion,” says Chase Kusero, celebrity colorist and Co-Founder of IGK Hair Care. Unlike cool, ashy blondes that can sometimes wash you out, honey hues reflect light in a way that adds radiance and a youthful softness.

To nail the look, ask your colorist for face-framing honey highlights blended into a soft golden base to create dimension without looking streaky or harsh. Strategic placement around the face gives a natural lift, like contouring without the bronzer. And don’t sleep on aftercare, shine is what makes warm tones really pop. Kusero recommends locking in that glossy finish with IGK’s Expensive Clear Gloss Top Coat and keeping strands hydrated with your go-to serums to extend color life and keep things looking fresh.

2. Adding Soft Undertones

Soft undertones might not sound groundbreaking, but they’re the unsung heroes of youthful hair color, especially if you’re a brunette. Instead of going for chunky highlights or a dramatic shift, you could try barely-there cinnamon tones that add life to hair.

Be sure to ask your colorist to layer in warm cinnamon or amber undertones through the mid-lengths and ends for a seamless, light-reflecting finish. “Shine and tone are key as hair matures,” celebrity colorist and salon owner Rita Hazan adds. To keep that glow going between salon visits, she recommends Glaze Supergloss to boosts shine and revive color. When picking your color, just be sure to avoid anything too golden or red, since that’s where things can veer brassy.

3. Buttery Balayage

Balayage is the hair refresh you probably didn't know you needed. The technique, which involves hand-painting lighter tones onto the hair for a soft, seamless fade, works like an instant energy boost. No harsh lines, no obvious grow-out, just strategic brightness that hits right where it counts. On Ciara, those golden ribbons look like they’ve been kissed by actual sunshine, but there’s intention behind the glow. “Subtle balayage with buttery blonde ribbons adds dimension and softness,” says Kusero. And that dimension? It plays off the contours of your face, adds warmth to your complexion and makes your hair look fuller and shinier in one go.

4. Blending Blonde Hues

Michelle Pfeiffer has a slightly deeper shadow root that melts into warm, golden mid-lengths, creating dimension without harsh lines, which makes the overall look incredibly natural, says Kusero. Not to mention, it grows out gracefully and doesn’t require constant touch-ups. Pro tip: to stretch the style between salon visits (without losing that golden glow), Kusero recommends the IGK First Class Charcoal Detox Dry Shampoo to zaps oil and add volume without dulling your color (unlike some powders do).

5. Opt For Auburn

Opting for auburn is like adding a secret weapon to your hair color arsenal. Hazan describes it as "a youthful pop of color without being too much of a statement. It is a flirty, fun look that brings warmth back into your face." Those reddish undertones catch the light perfectly, adding dimension and a subtle glow that instantly brightens your complexion. To get the most out of auburn, customize the shade to your skin tone—golden copper for warmer complexions or deeper cinnamon for cooler ones—and keep it fresh with regular gloss treatments and root touch-ups to maintain that lively, warm glow.

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Articke taken from https://parade.com

Article written by Alyssa Rotunno