Murrine

both of your requests are already implemented.
1) try using hightlight_ratio = 1.0 and gradient_shades = { 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0 }
2) you just need to play with a custom gtk match and overriding the default murrine options with new ones. for example get the section menubar_item (or whatever it is called) and add engine "murrine" { add your options here and play with the look }