Highlights are streaks of lighter colour put through hair. Get highlights, blonde highlights, subtle highlights.
They lift sections rather than the whole head, which is what makes the effect look like sun rather than dye. Lowlights are the darker version and balayage is a hand-painted technique. The word also means the best parts of anything — the highlights of the match, career highlights — which is much the commoner sense outside a salon. Note highlight as a verb, meaning to draw attention to.
1nounhighlightsStreaks of lighter colour put through hair.
“She had blonde highlights put in her brown hair for the summer.”
2nounbestThe best parts of something.
“We watched the highlights of the match on television after dinner.”
highlights is lighter streaks, or best parts.
highlight comes from high + light.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Hair & Grooming