What is Balayage?
Balayage Hair color is a French technique that is the latest dye trend to gain international popularity.
The goal is to create soft natural-looking highlights that look more modern than traditional coloring methods.
Balayage is strictly freehand where the color is painted on.
You can amplify the hue to vary from a soft wash to bright and bold depending on your personal preference.
Outside of very short cropped hair, it can work on a variety of hair length, textures, and colors, making it truly universal and flattering for all women.
BALAYAGE, THE History.
BALAYAGE ( ba-lie-azhe), also spelled balayage or baliage, appeared in France sometime in the mid-’60s and was largely adopted by hair salons in the ‘70s. At that time it was called Balayage a’ Cotton, for the cotton that was used to isolate the balayage highlights from the non highlighted sections. Balayage, as the word itself, reveals means to sweep and in the case of balayage color, it essentially means hair painting. Balayage highlights appeared in the U.S. sometime in the ’80s but were largely adopted by the best hair salons in NYC sometime in the ‘90s as a hair color technique to create sun-kissed blonde highlights on the long hairstyles for the celebrity and early adopters clientele. Sun-kissed blonde highlights like the ones we had as little toddlers after spending all summer in the South Of France i.e “baby lights”
BALAYAGE, The Appeal.
Balayage color is not ombre and ombre is not balayage. Balayage color is offered by many hair salons in NYC nowadays and it is fair to say, not always with the best results. That is because of the many variations of balayage color such as blonde balayage, brunette balayage, balayage ombre highlights and more. In order to achieve the best balayage, expertise is required. Only a first-rate balayage specialist can achieve the best balayage highlights but nowadays every hairstylist with a little training on balayage color can profess that they are balayage color specialists.
In pursuit of achieving the best balayage highlights that they can, the best hair salons in NYC take pride in the ongoing education and mentorship of the hair colorists. The hair colorists must be well-trained and have a keen sense of different hair textures and movement because at the end, it’s just them and their balayage brush. Yep, specific balayage color brush is used in order to achieve seamless balayage highlights that grow out as naturally as possible. When getting balayage hair color for years, you’ll love it because the highlights appear more natural and you’ll discover that balayage color requires very little maintenance as well. You’ll love balayage highlights because they look random and yet the placement is so specific and strategic. Balayage highlights look natural because within a single stroke of the balayage brush, the highlights transition from thin to thick. It’s really hair painting that flows with the texture of the hair.
BALAYAGE, The Technique.
For the best balayage color results, the lightener is applied just on the surface of each section and fully saturating as we progress towards the very tips. It is essentially a freehand hair painting and highlighting technique. Balayage color is best when done on natural hair colors and it’s even better when finished with loose beachy waves in order to see the different dimensions of the highlights coming through. The most natural looking results are usually those that look the most random, which calls for a very specific and strategic placement.
BALAYAGE Q&A
Does balayage color require a lot of maintenance?
Remember that balayage color, whether blonde balayage highlights or caramel balayage highlights, is supposed to look natural and sun-kissed so you should only go 2-3 shades lighter than your natural hair color. Because the color is painted on the hair vertically, balayage color will grow out without the demarcation line seen on the traditional regular highlights.
Is there an expiration date for the blonde balayage highlights?
It’s timeless and low maintenance. Looks more bespoke but modern and is very flattering. Balayage gives a gorgeous, nature-enhanced look that can be natural or strong.
Balayage vs Ombre, what are balayage ombre highlights?
Balayage color is not ombre and ombre is not balayage. Balayage technique is not synonymous with ombre. Ombre is a trend and style which means graduated as used in fashion. In hair highlighting and hair coloring means graduated hair color from dark to light, where the balayage technique is a way in which you can create ombre highlights.
Is balayage just for blondes with long hairstyles?
Although, balayage blonde highlights on long hair with beachy waves are by far the most popular, “hence the sun-kissed effect” balayage can be utilized on brown, dark, red or on every other hair color for that matter and different lengths. It’s important to always keep in mind basic color theory rules in order to achieve the best balayage color and highlights for brunettes, dark or redheads and also aesthetics and visual effects when applied on different lengths.