Want to Skip the Shadow Root? Try These 2 Placement Tips
A shadow root can help soften a blonde—but according to Ana Karla Remon Suarez (@anitabeautypage), Blonding and Extension Specialist, educator and ULTA Beauty Artistic Collective member, strategic placement can help create that softness from the start.
During a BTC Live, Ana shared how she builds softness directly into the blonding service through strategic placement, backcombing and preserved depth. The result? More seamless regrowth and the flexibility to go straight into a global toner when the hair doesn’t need additional root shading. Ahead, she breaks down the two techniques behind the approach.
Let The Hairline Guide Your Placement
For Ana, creating a natural-looking money piece starts with both strategic placement and controlled lift around the face frame. To maintain brightness without overprocessing the hairline, she starts with Wella Professionals Blondor and a 15-volume developer.
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Because the money piece is typically the first section she foils—and one of the areas clients heat style most often—Ana opts for a lower developer to account for the longer processing time. “We want to make sure that they still process enough, but that’s why I’m using a lower developer since they’re going to be just sitting there for a while,” she says.
Around the money piece, Ana alternates between babylights, teased sections and varying levels of lift to create brightness without harsh lines. Rather than relying on the same foil pattern every time, she follows the client’s natural hairline and places foils wherever the hairline changes direction to keep the lightener tight to the scalp and maintain a natural-looking result.
“The reasoning behind this technique is to make sure that, yes, she does get the brightness that she wants around her money piece, but that it makes our life easier after to maybe not even have to do a shadow root and just go straight in with a global toner.”
Preserve Depth For Softer Regrowth
Low Impact Blonde
According to Ana, maintaining depth isn’t just about dimension—it’s also what helps the blonde look brighter in the end. “Sometimes, when we’re going blonde, we think that we should put a million foils, but we have to remember that we need to have some depth to make sure that the blonde pops,” she says.
Instead of overloading the hair with lightened pieces, Ana strategically alternates her foil patterns and incorporates backcombing to preserve depth throughout the service. The contrast helps create the appearance of a brighter blonde while maintaining dimension and movement.
Watch the full video to see how Ana builds brightness, blend and softer regrowth directly into her foil placement:
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