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Face Framing Highlights: 7 Stunning Styles to Brighten Your Look Instantly

Magenta Hair Studio

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Face framing highlights are taking the beauty industry by storm, and it’s easy to see why. This versatile technique brightens your appearance while adding dimension to your hair with strategically placed lighter strands around your face. We’re seeing celebrities and influencers everywhere embracing this trend for its ability to enhance facial features with minimal commitment.

What makes face framing highlights so popular is their adaptability to any hair color, length, or texture. Whether you’re looking for a subtle refresh or a bold transformation, these highlights can be customized to suit your unique style and complexion. We’ll guide you through everything you need to know about this game-changing hair technique that’s both low-maintenance and high-impact.

Table of Contents

What Are Face Framing Highlights and Why They’re So Popular

Face framing highlights are strategically placed lighter strands that contour the face, creating a brightening effect that enhances your natural features. They’re concentrated around the hairline and typically start at the roots, gradually blending into your natural hair color as they fall toward the ends. Unlike traditional highlights that are distributed throughout your entire head, face framing highlights focus specifically on the sections that surround your face.

These highlights have skyrocketed in popularity for several compelling reasons. First, they instantly illuminate your complexion, creating a sun-kissed glow that makes your skin appear more radiant. Many celebrities and influencers have embraced this trend, showcasing how these targeted highlights can transform your overall look with minimal commitment.

The versatility of face framing highlights makes them suitable for virtually everyone. They can be customized to complement any face shape, skin tone, or hair type. For those with round faces, face framing highlights can create the illusion of length, while people with angular features might opt for softer, blended highlights to balance their facial structure.

Hair stylists particularly love this technique because it requires less time and product than full highlights, making it more affordable for clients while still delivering dramatic results. The maintenance is remarkably low compared to other coloring techniques, with touch-ups needed only every 8-12 weeks depending on how quickly your hair grows.

Face framing highlights work wonderfully as a standalone treatment or as an addition to your existing color. They’re perfect for people wanting to experiment with lighter hair without committing to a full color change. The technique has evolved over the years, from chunky highlights in the 90s to today’s more subtle, dimensional approaches that mimic natural sun-lightened hair.

7 Types of Face Framing Highlights to Consider for Your Next Salon Visit

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Ready to brighten your look with face framing highlights? Here are seven stunning techniques to discuss with your stylist at your next appointment.

Money Piece Highlights

Money piece highlights create instant brightness by hand-painting or weaving lighter strands around the face, following your natural part. This technique strategically accentuates facial features while adding dimension to your overall look. Stylists typically apply these highlights using freehand painting or back-to-back sectioning methods. Money pieces work beautifully alone or can be combined with other techniques like balayage and babylights for a more customized effect.

Balayage Face Framing

Balayage face framing involves sweeping lightener or color onto select strands in a painterly motion, creating a sun-kissed, natural effect around the face. This technique delivers soft, seamlessly blended results without harsh lines or obvious grow-out. The customizable nature of balayage makes it suitable for all hair types and face shapes, offering that coveted “I just spent a week at the beach” glow without the sun damage.

Traditional Foil Highlights

Traditional foil highlights use precisely woven sections of hair wrapped in foil with lightener or color applied. This method creates more defined, noticeable brightness around the face compared to other techniques. Foil highlights deliver more controlled, consistent results and can achieve dramatic lightening effects. While not as subtle as balayage or babylights, this classic approach remains popular for clients who want more pronounced face framing elements.

Shadow Root with Face Frame

Shadow root with face frame combines darker roots with lighter face framing sections to create stunning depth and dimension. This technique intentionally maintains depth at the roots while brightening the face with strategic highlighting. The contrast between the darker root area and lighter face framing pieces enhances your facial features while maintaining a natural, lived-in look. This approach also extends the time between touch-ups as your natural roots grow in.

Ombré Face Framing

Ombré face framing features a gradual transition from darker to lighter shades, typically beginning at mid-lengths or ends. This technique applies the lighter portions around the front sections of hair, creating a seamless blend that brightens your face. The gradual color shift gives a modern, dimensional look that complements various skin tones. Ombré face framing offers a dramatic yet natural-looking transformation that grows out gracefully.

Chunky Face Framing Highlights

Chunky face framing highlights make a bold statement with thicker, more noticeable sections of lightened hair around the face. This technique involves applying lightener or color to larger sections of hair, creating striking, eye-catching streaks that instantly draw attention. Perfect for clients seeking a more dramatic transformation, these statement highlights can completely change your look. This style works particularly well for those who aren’t afraid to embrace a bolder aesthetic.

Subtle Face Framing Babylights

Subtle face framing babylights create the most natural-looking brightness through extremely fine woven sections of hair. This delicate technique mimics the sun-kissed highlights children naturally develop after a summer outdoors. Babylights add gentle illumination around the face without overwhelming your natural color. The fine, deliberate application creates an effortless, “born with it” look that enhances your features subtly. This approach works beautifully for clients seeking a refined, barely-there brightness that still makes an impact.

How Face Framing Highlights Enhance Different Face Shapes

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Face framing highlights offer more than just a color boost—they can strategically enhance your facial features based on your unique face shape. When placed correctly, these highlights can balance proportions, soften angles, or create dimension exactly where you need it.

Oval Face Shape

Oval faces already possess a naturally balanced proportion, making them incredibly versatile for face framing highlights. Placing lighter strands around the front hairline, especially near the eyes and cheekbones, adds brightness that accentuates these features without disrupting your face’s natural harmony. Since oval faces don’t require correction, you can experiment with highlight placement to draw attention to your favorite facial features while maintaining your balanced appearance.

Round Face Shape

Round faces benefit from strategic highlight placement that creates the illusion of length and definition. Focus highlights higher on the hairline and around the temples to draw the eye upward, effectively elongating your face shape. Avoid placing lighter strands too close to the jawline as this can emphasize fullness and make your face appear rounder. The vertical emphasis of properly positioned face framing highlights creates a slimming effect that adds definition to softer facial contours.

Square Face Shape

Square faces feature strong, angular jawlines and foreheads that can be softened with the right highlight approach. Placing face framing highlights around the hairline, particularly on the sides and front, creates a softer, more rounded appearance that balances angular features. Opt for a natural, subtle transition rather than harsh lines to complement your strong bone structure. Face framing techniques for square faces work best when they introduce curves and dimension that offset the natural angularity.

Heart-Shaped Face

Heart-shaped faces typically feature a broader forehead and temples with a narrower chin. Face framing highlights help balance these proportions by drawing attention away from the wider upper half. Placing lighter strands around the lower half of your face, particularly near the jawline and sides, creates visual harmony between your forehead and chin. Highlights positioned around eye level can also guide attention downward, creating a more balanced overall appearance.

Long Face Shape

Long faces gain the appearance of width with strategically placed face framing highlights. Focus the lighter strands around your temples and sides to draw the eye outward rather than vertically. Avoid highlighting too high on the crown as this creates unwanted elongation that can make your face appear even longer. The horizontal emphasis created by proper placement adds the illusion of width and fullness to longer face shapes, creating a more balanced oval appearance.

Choosing the Right Colors for Your Face Framing Highlights

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Selecting the perfect color for your face framing highlights can make all the difference in improving your features and creating a naturally flattering look. The right shade choices will complement your unique characteristics while delivering that coveted sun-kissed glow.

Complementing Your Skin Tone

Your skin’s undertones play a crucial role in determining which highlight colors will look most flattering. Individuals with warm skin tones (characterized by golden or olive undertones) should opt for honey, caramel, or golden blonde highlights that enhance their natural warmth. These shades work harmoniously with warm complexions, creating a cohesive and radiant appearance. Cool skin tones (with pink or blue undertones) pair beautifully with ash, platinum, or icy blonde highlight colors. These cooler tones balance and enhance naturally cool undertones, preventing any unwanted contrast that might wash out your complexion.

Working with Your Natural Hair Color

The most flattering face framing highlights work in harmony with your natural hair color rather than fighting against it. Select shades that enhance your natural base—darker hair benefits from lighter highlights that create striking contrast and draw attention to exact facial features. Lighter natural hair colors look stunning with subtle highlights that add dimension and depth without appearing too dramatic. Face framing techniques should create a seamless blend with your existing hair color, avoiding harsh lines of demarcation. This blending approach is particularly important in balayage face framing, where color is painted on in sweeping motions for that soft, graduated effect everyone loves.

Seasonal Color Considerations

Face framing highlights offer year-round versatility while still allowing for seasonal adjustments that keep your look fresh. Summer months often call for warmer tones that mimic that beautiful sun-kissed effect, creating the impression of hair naturally lightened by days spent outdoors. Winter seasons might inspire cooler tones for a fresh, crisp appearance that brightens complexions during darker months. Your maintenance preferences should influence your color choices—subtle, natural-looking highlights require less frequent touch-ups, making them perfect for low-maintenance lifestyles. Bolder, more dramatic highlights create stunning effects but typically need more regular salon visits to maintain their vibrant appearance. Consider how much time you’re willing to invest in upkeep when choosing your perfect face framing highlight color.

DIY vs. Professional Face Framing Highlights: Pros and Cons

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DIY Face Framing Highlights

Pros

  • Budget Friendly Option: DIY highlighting kits typically cost significantly less than professional salon services, making them an attractive option for those watching their budget.
  • Convenient Timing: You can apply your highlights whenever it fits your schedule without the need to book appointments or travel to a salon.
  • Complete Control: With DIY highlights, you’ll have full authority over the process, allowing you to adjust the application based on your preferences.

Cons

  • Limited Technical Knowledge: Without professional training, achieving your desired result can be challenging, and correcting mistakes often proves difficult.
  • Application Challenges: Creating even, well-placed highlights around the face requires precision that’s hard to achieve on your own, especially in those crucial framing areas.
  • One-Size-Fits-All Products: Most DIY kits offer pre-determined shades and standard application methods that aren’t customized to your unique skin tone, face shape, or hair type.

Professional Face Framing Highlights

Pros

  • Personalized Approach: Professional stylists tailor highlights specifically to complement your skin tone, facial structure, and hair type for the most flattering results possible.
  • Expert Application: Trained professionals apply highlights with precision and evenness, creating natural-looking, polished results that DIY methods rarely achieve.
  • Enhanced Facial Features: Skilled colorists strategically place highlights to accentuate your best features, whether it’s brightening your eyes, highlighting cheekbones, or defining your jawline.

Cons

  • Higher Investment: Professional face framing highlights come with a higher price tag than DIY options, reflecting the expertise and customization involved.
  • Scheduling Required: Salon visits demand advance planning and time commitment, which might be inconvenient for those with packed schedules.
  • Ongoing Maintenance: Professional highlights require periodic touch-ups to maintain their appearance, adding to the overall long-term cost and time commitment.

Key Considerations When Choosing

  • Result Quality: Professional services deliver a bespoke coloring experience that typically enhances your features more effectively than DIY methods can achieve.
  • Long-Term Value: While DIY options save money upfront, potential mistakes might require professional correction, potentially costing more than starting with a salon service.
  • Natural Appearance: Professional colorists excel at creating a natural, youthful glow with face framing highlights that blend seamlessly with your existing hair color.
  • Time Investment: Consider not just the application time but also the research and preparation needed for DIY approaches versus the waiting time at a salon.

Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Face Framing Highlights Fresh

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Keeping your face framing highlights looking vibrant and fresh requires dedicated maintenance and proper care. Here are essential tips to help you maintain that gorgeous highlight glow for weeks after your salon visit.

Touch-Up Schedule

Maintaining a consistent touch-up schedule is crucial for keeping your face framing highlights looking their best. Professional colorists recommend scheduling touch-ups every six to eight weeks to preserve the vibrancy and freshness of your highlights. This timeframe allows you to address regrowth before it becomes too noticeable while ensuring your color stays dimensional and bright. Regular salon visits help maintain the intentional placement that makes face framing highlights so flattering, preventing that awkward grow-out phase that can diminish your overall look.

Recommended Hair Products

Using the right products makes all the difference in extending the life of your face framing highlights:

  • Color-Safe and Sulfate-Free Shampoo and Conditioner: These specially formulated products gently cleanse without stripping away your color. They’re essential for preserving vibrancy and preventing premature fading of your highlights.
  • Deep-Conditioning Hair Mask: Apply a nourishing hair mask once weekly to keep your color-treated strands hydrated and healthy. This extra step helps combat dryness that often accompanies highlighted hair.
  • Heat Protectant Spray: Always apply before using any hot tools to shield your color from heat damage that can lead to fading and dullness.
  • UV Protection Products: Consider products with UV filters to prevent sun exposure from bleaching out your carefully crafted highlights.
  • Minimal Washing Routine: Reduce your hair washing frequency to prevent color fading. Try extending time between washes using dry shampoo when needed.

Heat Styling Precautions

Heat styling can significantly impact the longevity of your face framing highlights, so take these precautions:

  • Always Use Heat Protection: Apply a quality heat protectant product before using any hot tools. This creates a barrier between your highlighted strands and damaging heat.
  • Lower Temperature Settings: Reduce heat settings on your styling tools when possible. High temperatures accelerate color fading and can damage the hair cuticle.
  • Limit Heat Styling Frequency: Minimize how often you use curling irons, flat irons, and blow dryers. Give your highlights regular breaks from heat exposure to maintain their vibrancy.
  • Avoid Excessive Blow Drying: Let your hair air dry partially before finishing with a blow dryer to reduce overall heat exposure to your highlighted sections.
  • Regular Trims: Schedule trims every 6-8 weeks to remove split ends and keep your face framing highlights looking fresh and healthy at the ends.

Celebrity-Inspired Face Framing Highlight Looks to Show Your Stylist

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Natural and Sun-Kissed Dimension

Face framing highlights inspired by celebrities like Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence offer a subtle yet impactful enhancement to your overall look. These natural-looking highlights mimic the sun-kissed effect that occurs naturally when spending time outdoors. Your stylist can create this look by applying lighter shades around your face that are just 2-3 shades lighter than your base color. The placement focuses on framing your face with soft, blended transitions rather than stark lines of demarcation. Many clients find this approach perfect for first-time highlight enthusiasts or those wanting a low-maintenance option that still brightens their complexion.

Bold Statement Highlights

Celebrity trendsetters like Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber have popularized more dramatic face framing techniques that create striking contrasts. These statement-making highlights typically feature significantly lighter pieces at the front that stand out against your natural hair color. Your stylist will apply these bold highlights from root to tip, creating a dramatic framing effect that immediately draws attention to your facial features. The high-contrast look works particularly well for those wanting to make a fashion statement or drastically change their appearance without committing to all-over color.

Balayage-Integrated Face Frames

Many red carpet looks combine face framing highlights with balayage for a comprehensive dimensional effect. This technique adds brightness specifically around the face while improving the overall hair color with painted-on highlights throughout. Your stylist will hand-paint lighter strands strategically around your face, then blend these with balayage throughout the rest of your hair for a cohesive look. The result provides that coveted “I woke up like this” effortless appearance that many celebrities sport on and off camera. Balayage integration creates a multi-dimensional color that looks natural yet polished.

Face-Brightening Placement

Strategic placement of face framing highlights can enhance exact facial features just like your favorite celebrities. Your stylist can customize the exact positioning of lighter strands to accentuate your eyes, define your cheekbones, or highlight your jawline. The technique involves free-hand application of different tones to create highlight and shadow effects that flatter your unique facial structure. Bringing photos of celebrities with similar face shapes to your appointment helps your stylist understand exactly which features you want to enhance through strategic color placement.

Customized Color Intensity

Celebrity-inspired face framing highlights can be customized to suit your skin tone and desired level of maintenance. Your stylist can adjust the intensity from barely-there brightness to bold contrast based on your preference and lifestyle. The colors selected should complement your skin’s undertones while achieving your desired level of impact. Many celebrities alternate between subtle and dramatic face framing highlights depending on seasons or upcoming projects, demonstrating the versatility of this technique for transforming your look while maintaining healthy hair.

Common Mistakes to Avoid with Face Framing Highlights

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Incorrect Placement

Placing highlights in the wrong areas can completely undermine the face framing effect we’re trying to achieve. It’s absolutely essential to include highlights on top of the ear when doing face frame highlights to create that balanced, framed look around the face. Without proper placement, the highlights won’t effectively contour your features or provide the brightening effect that makes this technique so popular.

Uneven or Inconsistent Application

Applying highlighting products unevenly leads to blotchy, unprofessional results that can make your face framing highlights look amateur. We recommend ensuring consistent distribution by using appropriate techniques such as weaving, teasing, or painting freehand depending on your desired outcome. Each section should receive equal attention to create that seamless, natural transition between your base color and your highlights.

Incorrect Sectioning

Taking hair sections that are too small or too large dramatically affects your final result. Smaller weaves typically create a softer, more natural face framing effect, while larger sections produce stronger hair contouring. Finding the right balance for your exact face shape and style preference prevents highlights from appearing too streaky or too subtle to make an impact.

Insufficient Processing Time

Not allowing enough processing time is a common pitfall that results in highlights that barely show up. Your colorist should follow the recommended development time to achieve the desired level of lift and brightness. Cutting this time short might seem convenient in the moment, but leads to disappointing results that don’t provide the face brightening effect you’re looking for.

Incorrect Color Choice

Selecting the wrong color for your highlights can create harsh, unflattering results around your face. The highlight shade should complement your natural or base hair color rather than contrast too severely with it. Overly bright or dark highlights compared to your natural tone can look unnatural and draw attention for all the wrong reasons.

Inexperienced Stylist

Working with a stylist who lacks experience in face framing techniques can lead to all the mistakes mentioned above. Professional colorists trained specifically in highlighting techniques understand the nuances of placement, sectioning, color selection, and processing time. Their expertise ensures your face framing highlights enhance your features rather than detract from them.

Face Framing Highlights: A Timeless Technique That Continues to Evolve

Face framing highlights remain one of the most versatile and flattering hair techniques available today. We’ve seen how they can transform any look while requiring minimal maintenance compared to full-head coloring services.

Whether you opt for subtle babylights or bold money pieces you’ll enjoy the benefits of enhanced facial features personalized color and simplified upkeep. The right placement and shade choice makes all the difference in achieving that perfect illuminated glow.

Ready to try face framing highlights? Remember to consider your face shape skin tone and maintenance preferences. With proper care and the right stylist your face framing highlights will continue looking fresh and vibrant letting your natural beauty shine through for weeks to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are face framing highlights?

Face framing highlights are lighter strands of color strategically placed around the hairline and face to brighten your appearance and add dimension to your hair. They blend into your natural color while enhancing your facial features, creating a sun-kissed glow that illuminates your complexion.

How long do face framing highlights last?

Face framing highlights typically require touch-ups every 8-12 weeks, making them a relatively low-maintenance option. The exact timeframe depends on your hair growth rate and how noticeable you want the contrast between your natural roots and highlights to be.

Do face framing highlights work for all hair types?

Yes, face framing highlights work beautifully on all hair types, colors, lengths, and textures. They can be customized for subtle or bold transformations and tailored to complement your specific hair characteristics, making them universally flattering.

What’s the difference between balayage and face framing highlights?

While balayage is a freehand painting technique that creates a graduated, natural-looking highlight throughout the hair, face framing highlights specifically focus on brightening the strands around your face. Balayage face framing combines both techniques for a cohesive, multi-dimensional effect.

How do I choose the right highlight color for my skin tone?

For warm skin tones, opt for honey, caramel, or golden blonde highlights. Cool skin tones pair well with ash, platinum, or icy blonde shades. The most flattering highlights complement your natural hair color and create a seamless blend without harsh lines.

Can I do face framing highlights at home?

While DIY face framing highlights are possible and budget-friendly, they come with challenges including limited technical knowledge and application difficulties. Professional application provides expert placement, customized color selection, and better overall results, especially for those new to hair coloring.

How do face framing highlights enhance different face shapes?

Face framing highlights can be strategically placed to enhance any face shape. They add length to round faces, soften angular features on square faces, balance proportions for heart-shaped faces, and add width to long faces. For oval faces, they simply accentuate existing features.

How should I maintain my face framing highlights?

Maintain your highlights by using color-safe shampoos, deep-conditioning masks, heat protectants, and UV protection products. Schedule touch-ups every six to eight weeks, minimize heat styling with lower temperature settings, and get regular trims to keep your highlighted hair healthy and vibrant.

What are money piece highlights?

Money piece highlights are a bold variation of face framing highlights where the sections framing the face are significantly lighter than the rest of the hair. This high-contrast technique creates a striking frame that draws attention to your face and adds a dramatic pop of brightness.

What are common mistakes to avoid with face framing highlights?

Common mistakes include incorrect placement that doesn’t flatter your face shape, uneven application resulting in patchy color, and insufficient processing time leading to underwhelming results. Working with an experienced stylist and choosing colors that complement your skin tone will help avoid these issues.

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