What is a blonde money piece?

If you're anything like us, you're long overdue for a trip to the salon out of sheer indecisiveness. We've spent every day dreaming of trying out the latest hair trends. Playground highlights? Sign us up. The sliced bob? Chop it all off. Even the modern mullet? Yep, there's no hair color or cut that we won't try (thanks, Miley). These days, we're looking for a slightly more subtle switch-up — something soft and flattering for autumn that doesn't require too much maintenance or upkeep.

Enter "money piece highlights," a happy medium between two-tone hair and super-soft balayage highlights that instantly brighten and frame your face. "Money piece highlights are a fuss-free way to change up your look without having to touch the whole head. It's all about face-framing and contouring the hair," says Natalia Romaniuc, a colorist at Windle London.

Money pieces were first popularized in the 1990s and have made a notable comeback lately. "The main inspiration for this throwback trend is probably '90s-era Geri Halliwell," Romaniuc says. "It's just been a little bit more refined and softened to suit the 2021 market."

"It's a super-flattering look because it brightens your face, accentuating your facial features, and your own base hair color," Romaniuc explains. "Best of all, this technique works on any color of hair and really can suit everyone, whether you're a warm blonde or a deep, cool, chocolate brown. The money pieces can pop by choosing a color three to four shades brighter to achieve the full impact  and usually require bleaching those specific areas of the hair beforehand."

Money piece highlights are a hotly emerging trend, as evidenced by their popularity on TikTok, with clients looking to embrace a new and exciting look in a fuss-free way, Romaniuc adds. "We are able now to work with the clients' more natural color and offer them services such as money piece highlights to immediately update their look with very little effort. And, of course, less time in the chair, meaning they're more affordable and maintainable," she says. And money pieces can serve as a quick add-on to your already-existing highlights. "My clients at Windle are incorporating this trend into their usual balayage colors where we just intensify the placement of highlights and freehand around the face."

So how does one maintain the look? "The level of lightening involved with money piece highlights mean you should use gentle, natural shampoo so as to not strip the hair or affect the color," Romaniuc advises. "After all, you wouldn't buy a Gucci dress then wash it with dish soap, would you?"

Ready to look like a million bucks? We thought so.

This story originally appeared on glamour.co.uk.

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• The "Playground Highlights" Trend Will Rule in 2022

Now, see how hair color trends have evolved within the past 100 years:

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Hoping to spice up your hair this season? Allow us to introduce you to so-called money piece hair highlights, a.k.a. the face-framing hair color technique that's more popular than ever among celebrities and influencers alike. It's a great option if you want to help define your facial features by framing your face with an alternative hue. This trending look is achieved by balayaging the front few strands of your hair with a different color than the rest of your strands. If you want to go bold, you can opt for a chunky money piece in a shade of blue, pink or red. A lot of celebs and trendsetters have also opted for subtler money piece highlights that are either a few shades darker or lighter than the rest of their hair.

Money piece highlights look phenomenal on any hairstyle or cut. From bobs to braids, having a stark, stand-alone shade framing your face is guaranteed to look glamorous and priceless — hence the name itself. Need evidence? Celebs like Beyoncé, Jennifer Lawrence and Khloe Kardashian have all sported this stunning look.

But don't be fooled by the name (or the stars sporting it), because this hair color is totally affordable and achievable — it just makes your hair look expensive. Just remember, after dying your hair, you'll want to use a color-safe shampoo and conditioner to maintain your new look, because the last thing you want is for your money piece to fade quickly. Ready to look like a million bucks? These are the best money piece hair highlight ideas to inspire your next color change!

1

Money Piece Highlights on Dark Hair

Singer Beyoncé is slaying honeycomb-colored money hair highlights. With thick blonde pieces framing her face, Queen B looks flawless, as usual.

2

Money Piece Highlights with Bangs

Cut with wispy bangs, actress Jennifer Lawrence looks classic and chic with these subtle money-piece highlights. Talk about a timeless look!

3

Balayage with Money Piece Highlights

For a natural look, combine a classic balayage style and frontal money piece highlights, like singer Perrie Edwards. This straight hair look is versatile, taking you from casual to elegant.

4

Blue Money Piece Hairstyle

Ready to spice up your style? Well, singer Meghan Trainor has all the inspo you need. Blue money piece highlights are perfect for anyone who doesn't want to do daring color all over.

5

Money Piece Highlights on Brunettes

These caramel money piece hair highlights on singer Rihanna are serving all the inspo needed for brunette babes. Plus, curling your hair helps show off the streaks.

6

Money Piece Highlights on Blondes

Blondes can pull off money pieces too. Model Gisele Bündchen looks refreshed with her light blonde frontal frames.

7

Copper Money Piece Hair

Leave it to media personality Khloe Kardashian to style her hair with money piece highlights before they were trending. The strong copper color works well with her skin tone and adds a ton of depth to her hair.

8

Pink Money Piece Highlights

Pretty in bubblegum pink, actress Rachel McAdams' money piece highlights are sexy and super bold. This retro 'do is a total show stopper.

9

Money Piece Highlights on Short Hair

Actress Sandra Bullock is glowing in a glam Old Hollywood hairstyle, perfected with chestnut-colored money piece highlights. The definition of short and sweet!

10

Braided Money Piece Hairstyle

For something fun, actress Margot Robbie styled her money piece-highlighted hair into two braids, framing her face and emphasizing the highlights even more. Genius!

11

Red Money Piece Hair Highlights

Forgoing the chunky money piece hair look, actress Olivia Wilde looks stunning with cool red undertones that highlight her facial features. Her beautiful green eyes really pop with this 'do!

12

Soft Blonde Money Piece Highlights

Sophisticated and subtle, actress Cameron Diaz is radiant with her multidimensional blonde money piece highlights.

13

Money Piece Highlights on Black Hair

Brown money piece highlights look fabulous on Black hair and actress Kerry Washington is all the proof you need. They help add contrast and depth to a single-tone shade.

14

All-in-One Money Piece Hair Highlights

Okay, Debby Ryan, we see you. The actress is effortlessly working bangs and light pink money piece highlights. So whimsical!

Marielle Marlys Freelance Writer Marielle Marlys is a freelance writer at Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan who graduated from New York University with a degree in Journalism and Global Liberal Studies, and with a Master of Arts in International Relations and Affairs.

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