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The lesson we were supposed to learn from our blunt, stripey, borderline-skunky highlights in the early 2000s was not to never do that again. That's not what Kelly Clarkson would have wanted. No, no—the lesson was to try, try again, equipped with the hindsight and updated sensibilities to make it look incredibly cool in the present day. And that's exactly what Jennifer Lopez is doing with her high-contrast yet super seamless highlighted look.
On October 15, Lopez was a guest on The Howard Stern Show, which, thankfully, was filmed and photographed in addition to being broadcast on SiriusXM, allowing us to see J.Lo's look of the day. She wore jeans and a denim shirt, topped with a herringbone blazer and black tie—perhaps a nod to the late Diane Keaton, known for her penchant for menswear.
Draped over that blazer were Lopez's long layers, reaching all the way to her waist while seated. Some pieces were as dark as a medium brown, while others were practically platinum. And instead of balancing out as a blended bronde, it reads as a modern version of those now-retro chunky highlights.
The secret to preventing a dated take on the look, it seems, is to avoid the thick, literal stripes we used to do right on top of the head and, instead, work the boldest light-and-dark variegation in the length. That hairstylist Danielle Priano blew out her hair super-straight also emphasizes the distinctly different shades.
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Lopez must have been feeling especially nostalgic because, in addition to her throwback hair color, she was also sporting a lipstick look straight out of the mid-1990s: a deep, brownish red with a strong outline, care of makeup artist Scott Barnes. In fact, they almost match the hue of her aviator sunglasses' lenses.
Being one of the queens of balayage, it's no surprise that this isn't the first time Lopez has played with chunky highlights. Back in 2020, Chris Appleton shared a photo in which J.Lo went full-blown Y2K stripey, and just earlier this year, she sported a warm, quiet-luxury take on the look.
And each time, she proved that, as much as we may poke fun at how we highlighted our hair 20-plus years ago, there really are ways to pull it off with a little confidence and colorist wisdom.