Before we even started looking at the shades, I had a couple of questions for Pelusi. The answers might be well known to the daring, highlight pro, but as a novice, they definitely helped clear up any of my basic hair highlighting issues. Here’s what I learned …

What are highlights? Highlights are when you apply color and/or bleach to various strands of hair throughout your entire head of hair.

What’s the difference between highlights and lowlights? Highlights are light colors applied to dark hair, while lowlights are dark colors applied to lighter hair.

How do you keep your highlights looking good? In order to maintain your highlights after you leave the salon, Pelusi recommends buying specific products made for color treated hair. (Pelusi’s personal fav? Aloxxi products.) He also suggests staying out of the sun, which will only lighten hair, and not over-styling your hair with heat.

Any general tips on finding the perfect highlight color? According to Pelusi, it’s important to know if you look better in cool tones or warm tones. A simple way to figure this out is to hold a swatch of silver (cool tone) and a swatch of gold (warm tone) against your face. Whichever looks best against your skin tone is what type of color family you should stay in. Just make sure you do this test with NO makeup, especially not bronzer, and in daylight.

What’s the latest look in hair color right now? “Off the scalp highlighting,” says Pelusi, or what others refer to as ombre. Often credited to Drew Barrymore — check out this pic to see what we mean — Pelusi dates the look further back than Barrymore’s 2011 transformation. He says, “I think this trend started at the end of ‘Sex and the City,’ when Sarah Jessica Parker was pregnant and couldn’t dye her hair. Her roots grew out, while color was still on the bottom.”

Next: See all the shades and learn about the best highlights for your hair color.