Hair Color
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06.11.2025
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE: FACE FRAMING HIGHLIGHTS & CONTOURING
Every now and then, a hair trend comes along that’s so versatile and flattering, it quickly becomes a salon staple. Enter: face-framing highlights—also known as hair contouring or a subtle “money piece” placement. Much like balayage, which began as a sun-kissed summer look and soon became a year-round favorite, this technique rose to fame for its ability to transform. When celebrities and top influencers started showcasing face-framing highlights around the hairline, everyone wanted in on the look. The strategic placement of light and shadow enhances natural features—brightening the eyes, softening the jawline, and giving the illusion of lifted cheekbones. Whether bold or barely there, these highlights are an easy way to personalize color while adding dimension and glow.
WHAT ARE FACE-FRAMING HIGHLIGHTS?
Face-framing highlights pair perfectly with balayage, offering a great way to add brightness around the face while enhancing both the hair color and facial features for a beautifully dimensional effect. Money piece hair—also known as hair contouring—is an easy way to add flair to any look, no matter the hair color, haircut, or face shape. It’s also low-maintenance, allowing your client to either let the highlights grow out naturally or refresh the color over time. Best of all, it’s a small but impactful change that doesn’t require a big investment.
HOW TO CREATE THE LOOK
As a rule, the money piece should follow the natural parting of the hair. Start by sectioning the area and determining your subsections based on how thick you want the face-framing highlights to be. Choose smaller weaves for a softer, more natural look, or take larger sections if you're aiming for a stronger hair-contouring effect. To achieve the signature money piece look, working with back-to-back sections has proven effective. Whether you paint freehand or use a weave-and-tease technique, it all depends on your desired result. For the boldest effect around the face, start applying your lightener further down the strand. If you're going for a more natural finish, opt for back-to-back babylights to create a soft yet noticeable glow.
COLOR PLACEMENT IDEAS
GOLDEN GLOW
Artist: John Sanchez @byjohnsanchez
Hello gorgeous! Check out this stunning look created by Wella Passionista John Sanchez. To #GetTheLook: Lighten with Blondor Multi-Blonde + Welloxon Perfect Developer 6% (20 volume); Roots: use Illumina Color 5/ + 6/16 + Welloxon Perfect Developer 6% (20 volume); and for Mids & Ends: apply Shinefinity 09/36 + 09/73 + Shinefinity Activator. Complete the look with Wella Professionals ColorMotion+ Post Color Treatment, Shampoo, and Conditioner to lock in color vibrancy and shine.
SUN-KISSED HIGHLIGHTS
Image Credit: @hairbyntash
A beachy, sun-kissed look wouldn’t be complete without a pair of face-framing highlights. The key to hair contouring is to avoid making them look too perfect—they should look like they’ve been naturally touched by the sun. For this look, Natasha Cameron beautifully blended golden blonde foilyage with babylights. Formula: Alternating foilyage and babylights with Blondor Multi-Blonde Powder and Welloxon Perfect Developer 6% (20 volume), followed by a toner mix of Color Touch 10/6 + 9/96 (1:1) with 1.9% (6 volume) Color Touch Emulsion.
COPPER ACCENT
Artist: Selah Lloyd @selahoceanhair
Something about Color Touch and an alkaline demi-permanent just hits different. Take a look at this gorgeous color created with Wella Professionals. Formula: Color Touch 7/43 + Color Touch Emulsion 4% (13 volume). #ProTip: Mix Color Touch with 4% Emulsion for an extra dose of vibrancy, pigment, and shine. Recommend INVIGO Brilliance Shampoo and Conditioner to your salon guests, along with the Color Fresh Mask in Copper Glow to keep the look bright until their next visit.
DIMENSIONAL BLONDE
Image Credit: @topknotbalayage
If you’re looking to create a dimensional blonde, look no further than this stunning, creamy blonde result by Amanda Leaman. She did a full paint with brighter ends and bold face-framing highlights, softly smudging the root to blend out the client’s previous banding and add dimension. Gloss formula: Color Touch 9/86 + 9/03, with a mini root smudge using 7/1, mixed with Color Touch Emulsio 1.9% (6 volume).
COPPER HAIR + HONEY
Image Credit:@wellahair
The face-framing effect isn’t just for blondes! We’re loving how the honey blonde money piece pops against this stunning copper brown hair. To sweeten up any look, try this toning formula from Illumina Color: 9/43 + 10/05 with 1.9% Welloxon Perfect Pastel (6 volume) developer. For at-home care, recommend ColorMotion+ Conditioner to help maintain those delicious honey tones, or the ColorMotion+ Structure+ Mask as the perfect deep conditioning treatment between salon visits.
BEACH BLONDE FACE-FRAME
Artist: @jess_acolabsalon
Bold dimension and bright pops of blonde in the most perfect places. Check out this gorgeous look created by @acolabsalon owner, Jessica Rowe @jess_acolabsalon, assisted by @kendallwordenhair. Lighten: with Blondor Multi Blonde + Welloxon Perfect Developer 6% (20 volume). Tone with Color Touch, Base: Color Touch 5/0 + Color Touch Emulsion 1.9% (6 volume), Mids: Color Touch 7/1 + Color Touch Emulsion 1.9% (6 volume), and Ends: Color Touch 10/6 + 10/03 + 10/81 + Color Touch Emulsion 1.9% (6 volume).
FACE-FRAMING LOB
Image Credit:@wellanordic
Hair contouring isn’t just for long hair, as demonstrated by this look created by Julia Dorofeeva and shared by Wella Nordic. By applying blonde face-framing highlights along each side, Julia adds dimension to this dark blonde lob, beautifully enhancing the client’s features. To keep this ultra-bright look from turning brassy, add INVIGO Blonde Recharge Shampoo to your at-home care regimen.
BRONDE FACE-FRAME
Image Credit: @wellahairusa
For a more natural vibe, get inspired by this bronde look created by Mika Rogerson. The golden blonde face-framing highlights add a striking contrast to the soft, flowy bronde locks. To maintain the brightness around the face, try this formula: 10/3 + 9/73 + 1.9% Welloxon Perfect Pastel Developer (6 volume), (1:2) from Koleston Perfect. Want more richness in the back? Add a bit of 7/43 to the formula above. To help protect this vibrant color from fading, the ColorMotion+ line is a must-have for your client!
MUSHROOM BLONDE
Image Credit: @harriakerberg
Another great example of how a money piece can work on short hair comes from Harriakerberg. He created beige blonde face-framing highlights on a short bob haircut in mushroom blonde — a combination of cool beige and silver blonde tones. Formula: Koleston Perfect 10/97 + 7/17; Koleston Perfect 10/8 + 9/16. Keep the bob straight and sleek with EIMI Perfect Me, which creates the ideal base for any style, improving hair manageability and styling control for smooth, responsive hair.
DARK BROWN FACE-FRAME
Image Credit: @danielleemilie
This hair contouring look is the ultimate hair goal! The soft money piece enhances the facial features and perfectly complements the brunette balayage created by Danielle Emilie. For this silky-smooth finish, get inspired by the Wella Professionals formula: Lighten: Blondor Multi-Blonde + 6% Welloxon Perfect Developer (20 volume), Balayage: Freelights + 12% Freelights Developer (40 volume), Tone: Color Touch 8/0 + /68 + Color Touch Emulsion 1.9% (6 volume).
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