Back in Sims 2, I would always go for custom textures because the hairs always looked so pretty, however I soon got fed up with all the different colors of blonde or red or whatnot, so I decided to only download Maxis Match hairs. Now in my Sims 3 days, I'm not finding a mega difference between EA Highlights or Adjust Shine, but I still prefer the EA ones when trying to keep my game as base as possible.

What are your guys's preferences (and maybe favorite creators)?

I prefer EA highlights. Adjust-shine are just too shiny for my tastes!

Though I'm still a bit of an EA-Match in terms of TS3 content, I'm actually finding many adjust-shine hairs that didn't fit in well with TS2, actually can fit in nicely with the TS3 aesthetics and not look too about of place.

Anything but AS. It's far, far too much shine!

That's a really good point, actually.

At first I got only Adjust Shine, but now I prefer EA highlights. Some AS textures make the hair look greasy and the colors too strong but, on the other hand, certain hairs look better in AS textures than EA ones. And I always appreciate a creator more when they offer both options for download (Beavehausen, for example, used to provide at least 3 options; I haven't been to their site in a while so I'm not sure about the current state of affairs, though).

Anyway, I would say old Peggy hairs have objectively bad textures: very dark roots, with very contrasting textures.

If both versions are available, and specifically stated not to conflict, I download both. EA-highlights allow for coloured stripes and tips, and AS tends to look more glamorous. It depends what sort of Sim I want to use the hair on. Also, AS is adjustable, so you can set the highlights to be as strong or subtle as you prefer. Old Peggy and Newsea hairs have bad textures that don't really look good either way.