Light up your style

Priyanka Chopra flaunts her new hair colour. Pics/Instagram

Earlier this month, Priyanka Chopra welcomed the new year with brand new, noticeably lighter hair. The style has been identified by beauty lovers as babylights, although city-based hairstylist Drishya Bhagyanath says that a more accurate description for the style is money pieces. "Both of these are trendy new ways of highlighting your hair - while babylights are natural-looking and subtle, money pieces are strategically placed to draw attention to your facial features," she clarifies.

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Decoding babylights

Babylights mimic the appearance of sun-kissed hair. In that, super fine highlights are placed all over your head to add dimension. "The number of foils used for babylights is a lot more when compared to traditional highlights. Since the pieces are finer and blend in more seamlessly into your mane, they don't require as frequent touch-ups and can end up looking more natural. However, this technique is not as popular in India considering typical Indian skin and hair tones since the highlighted hair may not be as visible," she explains.

Drishya Bhagyanath

Face-framing goodness

Money pieces are face-framing highlights placed near your face using the balayage or hand-painting technique. "This style is suitable for both people who want to change up their look without an all-over colour job, and those who may want to combine it with an all-over balayage for a look that stands out," Bhagyanath says. Depending on your choice of colour, money pieces can also be a relatively low-maintenance style given their lived-in appeal, she adds.

After-care

As with all colour-treated hair, Bhagyanath emphasises the importance of using the right shampoo and conditioner and including a good mix of heatless styles to minimise heat damage. "Braided styles or loose waves can bring out the best in highlighted hair. A low ponytail with loose face-framing strands works especially well with money pieces. Since the thickness of the highlight and the placement are important for both these styles, I would recommend visiting a stylist instead of trying to replicate these at home," she concludes.