Ever wondered how the stars like Bella Hadid, Blake Lively and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley have such flawless, natural-looking hair whether they’re on the red carpet or on their way to the gym? Contouring. Ever wondered how stars like Gigi Hadid, Emma Stone or Giselle Bundchen just seem to have the perfect natural colour? You guessed it, contouring.
Hair contouring takes its roots from Balayage (which most of us have tried at some point), and despite seeing a huge surge in the last few years, was actually invented in Paris in a L’Oréal Professionnel salon all the way back in 1974. While Balayage aims to bring lightness and brightness around the face, contouring has evolved from this idea and takes it to the next level.
"Contouring with balayage is a way of expressing individual colour. You can highlight your best features and even change the way your face shape looks with clever contouring. Creating depth and light to hair in the right zones gives multi-dimension, and understanding contouring definitely makes me a better colourist!"
Peter Thomsen, Chelsea Haircutters, NSW
So how does it work?
The salon-only colour ritual is completely tailored to the individual, with an initial consultation by your hairdresser, taking into consideration skin tone, eye colour and face shape. Your colourist will then use these to positively accentuate your features through the use of light and shade by creating contrast and volume.
Depending on your face shape, your colourist may create shadow or light using darker tones or lighter tones through a mix of free-hand application and highlights. Basically, it’s all about creating balance to bring out the best of what mother nature gave you.
Why choose contouring?
Well apart from bringing out your best features, it will also give you a completely individual look that you won't see anywhere else. No two clients will ever walk out of the salon with the same colour because this technique is custom-designed so it’s completely unique to you – and therefore this means contouring is for EVERYONE!
When done right, contouring should also mean you need to spend less time worrying about makeup – because your best features are already being accentuated – so that means less time getting ready in the morning which is a definite plus in our books.
Hair contouring is available at L'Oréal Professionnel salons nationwide. If you're keen to try the technique out for yourself head to L'Oréal Professionnel's salon locator.
