Adding color to your hair is no longer a simple process that only lightens or alters your natural color. Instead, hair contouring makes it possible to change the form of your face without having to modify it physically.
It’s an exciting use of highlights, tones, and shadows that target specific parts of your face. The placement of shadows and highlights can draw attention, create illusions of a softer look, add or take away length, and create a broader or more narrow shape to your face.
The best part about contouring is that it is low maintenance and can be done on any base color.
So no matter what features you want to bring out, play up, or tone down, there is a contoured hairstyle that works perfectly for you.
What Is Hair Contouring?
Hair contouring is a highlighting technique that adds shadows and highlights to help complement the shape of your face. This customizable technique works for all face shapes, sizes, and types.
How Hair Contouring Is Done
Contouring essentially adds dimension and depth to some regions of the hair, thus resulting in the appearance of a smaller or bigger face. Depending on the tone of your highlights, it will also create a brighter appearance on the skin.
Like the balayage technique, this is applied using the freehand method. You can discuss with your stylist the correct placement, whether you prefer lighter or darker contouring, and the estimated cost, as custom hair contouring is typically priced as a premium color service.
It’s important to note that lighter tones highlight and expand, which can give your face a lengthened look if placed at the top of the head or ends. Conversely, darker hues give your face a short, narrowed appearance.
Foilayage (a technique combining traditional foils with hand-painted balayage) is often used for this process.
Learn How to Do Foilayage Hair Contouring
How to Contour Different Face Shapes
Where highlights are placed is essential when it comes to your face. That’s what makes hair contouring such a unique concept.
The use of color and shadows can bring attention to any part of the face. This technique works to focus on any features that you want to accentuate.
Although there are several face shapes, there is a way to contour hair to play up any features you want to pop the most. This brilliant hair coloring technique is the perfect addition to any hairstyle as it helps to change your look in the best way.
Oval
An oval face shape is highly versatile, meaning many different styles and contouring placements work well for it. For an oval face, add some depth, along with some shine and texture. These will all help accentuate and add a little flair to your features.
Square
Square faces typically have sharper jaw lines, broadened cheekbones, and a broad forehead. For this face shape, emphasize the corners of the face to balance it out properly.
To do this, add multi-tonal layers of dark and light shades along each corner of the face. This method can help to soften those corners, giving a less sharp appearance.
Round
Round face shapes are symmetrical but sometimes don’t have a sharpness to the chin area. These kinds of faces may also lack some definition in the cheekbones.
The best way to combat this with contoured hair is by adding lighter shades exclusively at the roots and top of the head to elongate, while keeping darker, shadowing tones along the sides of the face to slim the cheeks, creating the illusion of a narrower face and more defined cheekbones.
Heart
Heart-shaped faces are wider at the top of the head and narrow as you reach the cheekbones and the chin. You can help widen the jaw line by adding lighter shades to the bottom of your hair.
This placement of contour highlights with lighter shades will also help to give the face a more oval appearance.
Rectangular
A rectangular face shape is much like a square face shape, except longer. The entire face extends in length but not width. The forehead is broad, while the jawline and cheeks are the same width. They also have sharper angles that can be softened with lighter tones above the ears.
Darker roots can add a deeper tone, and darker shades at the facial corners can also help soften sharp angles.
Hair Contouring Vs. Money Piece Highlights
These two hair trends look similar, but they are very different in where they are put in the hair and the styling purpose they serve.
Money Piece Highlights
Money piece highlights were introduced in the ‘90s. This technique comprises chunky highlights placed at the front of the hair to frame the face.
These highlights are perfect if you’re looking for a fresh new look that requires little to no maintenance. Money piece highlights also grow out seamlessly, leaving the hairstyle to look nice and soft.
Hair Contouring
Hair contouring essentially blends highlights and shadows that help target and enhance certain facial features. It can also add length or shorten the overall appearance of the face.
Hair contouring is the route if you desire a completely different look for your hair without the hassle of a high-maintenance hairstyle. It’s ideal for anyone as it’s a customizable color placement that can add an entirely new and fresh style to your overall look.
