Balayage pronounced bah-lee-ahj) is a fairly low-maintenance way to go lighter, as it preserves your base color and often blends your natural roots for softer grow out.
**What is Balayage?
Balayage is a color application technique, rather than a specific color itself. The word itself is actually French, and means to sweep or paint. Bright around the face, blended at the roots, lighter ends, and effortlessly natural are all descriptors to balayage hair.
The balayage technique is used to achieve a very naturally blended, lightened look, and while we typically associate balayage with becoming blonde, the same technique can be used to create caramel, espresso, or even pastel strands.
Balayage is usually executed with bleach, and will typically involve a round of toner or gloss as well. It’s recommended to have a consultation first before booking your balayage appointment so that you both have plenty of time to discuss the best fit for you before the bleaching day. Every appointment is a little different based on the current state of your hair and what you’d like your end result to look like, but here’s a general framework for what you can expect at your balayage appointment, which can take anywhere from 3-5 hours.
The Difference Between Balayage and Ombré Hair
**While balayage is a technique, ombré is a desired effect or outcome.
Ombré, also a french term, means shaded or graduated in tone. That in mind, balayage could technically be used to achieve the ombré color effect. But balayage start closer to the root. What happens at the roots is one of the main differences between the two outcomes. With the ombre gradient going from typically darker roots to lightened ends, there isn’t much color applied near the roots at all. Ombré almost appears to be perfectly grown out hair color, whereas balayage is used to achieve more of an all-over color from roots to ends.
**The Difference Between Balayage and Highlights
Balayage gives a multidimensional highlight, which can appear more natural because it creates different levels of lightness,traditional foils gives a more uniform and even finish, creating a single dimensional highlight.
If your ultimate goal is to go from dark to light all over, then traditional foil highlights might be the routeI think when choosing a technique, it all depends on your hair and what their desired look is.
**The Benefits of Balayage
Looks more natural than traditional highlights: The nature of balayage is to paint specifically selected strands and blending them with your natural base. As such, balayage looks much softer than traditional foil highlights, which tend to have more obvious lines of demarcation.
Low-maintenance: Because the lightened strokes are painted on so softly to achieve that natural look, they leave no trace of harsh, blunt lines or obvious regrowth, allowing for more time between your appointments. Your roots will also grow in more softly than they would with foil highlights.
**The Drawbacks
Sometimes people with very dark hair can pull very red/orange warm tones when getting balayage done,” “If you’re someone who doesn’t like warm tones, then balayage is probably not for you. The hair can turn brassy more quickly than with traditional highlights (depending on your natural hair color).
**For your frist Balayage Appointment
Always bring multiple photos that represent your goal:
There are so many techniques and names for things that all have different meanings to stylists. Photos make it easier to get on the same page because we can all agree on things by visually pointing out certain details.
Come with clean hair: I love to balayage on clean hair so I know there isn’t a buildup of product, dirt or oil that may hinder the lifting process.
Try a conditioning treatment a few days before your appointment:
You can prep your hair by using either or HEALING BLONDE
FOR YOUR BEST & BRIGHTEST BLONDE or hair products to add strength to your hair at home a few weeks leading up to your appointment.
This way you can help strengthen your hair to ensure minimal damage when lightening.
Arrive to your appointment how you’d normally style your hair: if you wear your natural curls or a stick-straight style. It’s extremely tempting to roll out of bed and not even run a brush through your hair before heading to the salon (since your hair is about to get done anyway), but arriving with your hair styled how you would normally wear it helps your hairstylist better lighten the right parts of your hair.
What Can You Expect to Pay for Balayage Hair?
The cost of balayage varies vastly depending on the current state of your hair and where you’re having it done.
For example, if you have brown to dark blonde hair, you could come in for two “full” services a year
Price: from 85,00 to 210 (All highlights include recovery treatment, glossing, blow-dry, and styling).
