It’s that time of year again when our complexions can start looking a little lacklustre. If it feels like you’ve already exhausted every glow-giving product in your makeup bag, there’s one beauty trick you may not have considered: your hair colour.
The evidence lies in Kristin Scott Thomas' gleaming grey locks. The 66-year-old actress has been embracing her silver-blonde strands for years, and she proves that strategic colour placement can make all the difference.
Kristin looked incredible last night, posing in the Harold Pinter Theatre
Her latest look is a perfect example. Last night, Kristin looked radiant as she promoted her return to the West End in The Cherry Orchard. Her boyfriend bob was swept into a deep side parting, revealing an icy ‘silver swoop’ around the hairline — which, according to the hair pros, is a very clever complexion-brightening technique.
‘Kristin looks absolutely incredible here,’ says Melissa Timperley, Celebrity Hair Stylist & Founder of Melissa Salons. ‘The combination of her natural silver tone with those lighter, face framing pieces creates such a soft, luminous effect. She’s an elegant and modern example of how embracing your natural silver can actually enhance radiance rather than looking dull.’
The clever placement of lighter tones can lift the complexion
It all comes down to placement. She explains, ‘when you add lighter pieces around the face, it acts almost like a built-in reflector. It will bounce light onto the skin, soften shadows and make the complexion look fresher and more lifted.’
As Melissa tells us, it’s what makes a ‘silver swoop’ particularly beneficial for mature women, since it adds brightness exactly where the face will benefit the most: the eyes, the cheekbones and the jaw.
‘When placed well, they can brighten the eyes, enhance bone structure and give the whole face a more youthful, energised appearance. It’s one of the simplest ways to boost radiance after 60 because it works with your natural tones rather than masking them,’ she says.
It instantly brightens the complexion
It’s also a brilliant yet subtle way to update your grey without working against your natural hair colour. ‘You don’t need heavy highlights,’ Melissa says. ‘Just a few well-placed, finely woven pieces is all that’s needed to lift the face.’
‘To recreate Kristin’s look, ask your colourist for soft, face framing highlights that blend seamlessly into your natural silver or grey. Ask for the lightest pieces to be placed around the parting and the front hairline, sweeping down through the fringe area to create that ‘swoop’,’ she says.
It’s a technique that pairs brilliantly with a clever side parting
She also points out it works beautifully with a side-parting, like Kristin’s, too. ‘Just by switching up the parting, it really helps the colour fall in a flattering arc, giving it that effortless, luminous finish.’ Besides, there’s the bonus of a side-parting boosting volume at the roots too.
Consider Kristin’s look a sign to make your silver work harder.