Blanca Suárez at 38: Why Light Strands Around the Face Do More Than Dyeing Your Whole Head

Spanish actress Blanca Suárez turned 38 on October 21, and hairdressers are analysing her highlights: balayage combined with the technique known as face contouring. Lighter strands frame the face, while darker tones give her hair depth and density.

The logic is as old as painting. "Light highlights, dark recedes," says hairdresser Edviga Bobocea of Edviga Hair Salon. Miguel Bling, make-up artist, hairdresser and director of You Glow Salon, explains why it works: "With light tones around the face we draw attention to the features and bring in light."

Don't lighten everything equally. This is rule number one. "If we lighten everything equally, the result is much flatter and more uniform," says Bling. Mixing shades gives movement and depth, and keeping part of the natural dark base makes the front strands stand out and stops the regrowth from being an eyesore.

Alejandro Presas, hairdresser and educator for Montibello, describes the illusion: "The hair isn't especially thick, but that's how it looks." And he adds a rule that holds regardless of age: "Colour that goes from less to more will always flatter." Victoria Petrova, a specialist in blonde shades, sums up the whole technique in one sentence: for colour to give the face youth and light, "it has to melt in, not be imposed."

There's no one-size-fits-all pattern. "There is no highlight placement that works the same for everyone," Bling warns. On a longer face, the light is placed so it doesn't lengthen it further. Layers and side-swept bangs can direct light toward the cheekbones. Even your parting and the way you style your hair every day change where the light falls. The shade is chosen according to skin undertone: warm, cool or neutral.

At the salon - with a photo, but not to copy. Bring a picture, but explain what exactly you like about it, so the hairdresser can judge what your hair and your base can do. Previous colouring and bleaching change the result, and already-treated sections, especially around the face, are easily damaged by new chemicals. The good news is for your wallet: if part of the natural root stays, salon visits can be spaced further apart.

The irony is that what looks most expensive is what shows the least. Suárez's highlights don't shout "I've been to the hairdresser" - they just make her face look rested. How many of us pay for fully blonde hair when that's what we actually want?