Hair Affair: The Most Popular Styles of the Last Century

17. Ombré and Balayage

Chunky highlights and platinum whisps were popular for decades, but the late 2000s said goodbye to these old trends. Old-fashioned highlights were replaced by ombré and balayage looks. No one knows who first perfected the ombré technique, but cultural historians are sure that the singer Aaliyah first popularized the look in 2000. Ombré refers to a dye technique where color subtly fades from lighter at the top to darker at the bottom.

The similar balayage style also became popular during the late 2000s, but it dates to 1970s France. A stylist named Yvan, who worked at the Carita salon in Paris, was the first person to perfect the technique of painting a thinned highlight formula on hair. Balayage means "sweep" in French, so the idea was that the hair looked as if it had been randomly swept by color. Reality TV icon Khloe Kardashian was one of the first celebrities to popularize this style.