Balayage: a salon coloring trend for all times

In salons, batik has grown to be one of the most popular hair coloring methods. Its ability to produce a softly transitioning, natural, sun-kissed look is what makes it so appealing. For people who wish to give their hair more depth and dimension without having to deal with the maintenance of traditional highlights, this technique is ideal.

In contrast to other techniques, balayage entails hand-painting the hair, enabling stylists to personalize the style for every client. This method works for all hair types, whether it is curly, straight, or long, making it a flexible option.

The ease with which balayage unfolds is what makes it unique. Less trips to the salon are necessary because of the softer roots, and the color itself stays bright and fresh for months. It’s a classic style that will never go out of style and gives anyone looking to update their appearance a contemporary yet low-maintenance option.

Aspect	Description
What is Balayage?	A hair coloring technique where dye is applied by hand to create a natural, sun-kissed look.
Key Benefit	Grows out beautifully without harsh regrowth lines.
Best for	All hair types and lengths, especially medium to long hair.
Maintenance	Requires less frequent touch-ups compared to other coloring techniques.
Popular Shades	Blonde, caramel, brown, and red.

Balayage hair coloring – what is it: features of the technique

Many people think that balayage only results from sun-burned hair strands with highlights in natural tones that are dispersed throughout the hair with a root zone indent. However, in a contemporary interpretation, colorists employ a variety of dye shades, such as vivid ones like pink, blue, purple, and others, that contrast with the natural color of the hair. To achieve the most harmonious color combination, the master considers the features of appearance, skin tone, and eye color, regardless of the tone they choose—natural or creative.

Today, there are countless options for creating balayage: with a variety of dyes and lightening products, you can fulfill any client’s dream in this visa-free area. These days, balayage can appear bright, soft, contrasting, or natural. The colorist applies lightning to the entire head of hair or just the areas closest to the face. Additionally, the primary objective of the technique’s modern interpretation is to highlight each client’s uniqueness, including their style, hair texture, and even personality.

Elena Komissarova

• helps to refresh the hairstyle without drastic changes in hair color;

• gives the shade visual depth and relief;

• visually corrects the shape of the face, makes the oval more expressive or soft;

• focuses on the advantages of appearance;

• gives curls visual volume and thickness;

• does not affect the roots, so does not require frequent renewal;

• looks good on any hair, regardless of its structure – both curly and straight;

• suitable for all haircuts – from ultra-short to long;

• creates a modern look, stylish and natural (if toning is based on a natural palette).

The word "balayage," which translates to "sweeping" from French, describes the technique used to apply the dye. In fact, the master uses light brushstrokes to distribute the luminous composition while coloring, producing a gradient in the process.

Who is suitable for balayage coloring

The balayage technique of hair coloring has the unique quality of being suitable for all hair types. Professional colorists have made some pertinent observations that are worth considering when discussing recommended shades.

• Warm light brown color looks truly luxurious in combination with beige, golden, honey and wheat strands. Light brown hair with a cool undertone is a great base for platinum or ash balayage.

• For icy blondes ash-pink or peach balayage is in fashion now, and for warm ones – light golden.

• On brown-haired women walnut balayage looks very stylish, as well as caramel, wine and bronze tints.

• Brunettes can safely try contrasting balayage – bright red, eggplant, platinum or smoky.

• Red hair colorists suggest diluting with red-gold, orange, copper or milky chocolate highlights.

As you can see, the method is completely universal. It will be especially helpful for people with thin hair or, on the other hand, hair that is extremely dense and heavy and lacks volume.

The classic hair coloring method known as "balayage" is still a favorite in salons because of its effortless, sun-kissed look. All hair types and lengths can benefit from the gentle color blend made possible by this freehand technique, which also provides a low-maintenance style that develops beautifully. Whether you want dramatic contrasts or delicate highlights, balayage creates a flexible, customized look that works for a variety of tastes and styles.

Balayage technique on different hair lengths and structures

We describe and demonstrate how the balayage coloring technique appears on various types of hair.

On long

The colorist’s imagination is genuinely unrestricted by the length of the strands from the shoulder blades and below, which enables him to fully reveal every shade. However, balayage on long hair requires a lot of skill and patience, so be ready to invest a lot of money and time in coloring. But the outcome is worthwhile!

Experts at SalonSecret provide a life hack. The ends of your hair suffer during the lightening process even though balayage is a gentle coloring technique and does not affect the entire mass of hair; therefore, you should pay special attention to them after the procedure.

Try using the L’Oréal Professionnel Pro Longer range, which features cutting-edge Filler-A100 technology, to avoid split ends. When used together, the products repair the hair’s cortex and cuticle, minimizing split ends and fragility. Another effect that matters for long hairstyles is that Pro Longer makes the strands uniformly dense all the way down the length.

On medium

Medium-length hair styled with balayage adds visual volume and a lovely summertime resort vibe to the haircut. Wavy styling should be "attached" to the coloring in order to achieve a bright texture on hairstyles with an even cut line. This looks best when done on a cascade or ladder, for example.

Experts from SalonSecret share a lifehack. The most troublesome aspect of curly hair might be its propensity to frizz. Our recommendation for contouring curls is to use mousse L’Oréal Professionnel Spiral Queen, which leaves strands flexible and light.

Use L’Oréal Professionnel Pli spray before blow-drying and curling your hair if it’s too thin and doesn’t hold the style well. It has a stronger fixation and thickening effect.

Shoulder-length hair

Only bob, long bob, and shaggy hair types benefit from balayage; the hair appears healthier and gains visual thickness. Assuming, naturally, that meticulous at-home maintenance is undertaken after the salon procedure. You can replicate both a bright colored balayage and a very natural version on shoulder-length hair, with highlights that only differ a few tones from the main color, depending on the desired effect.

Experts from SalonSecret share a lifehack. It is recommended to apply a tint treatment a few times a week to counteract the reddish tones that emerge if you have selected a cool beige or ash medium-blond balayage. A shampoo that has pigment in it and can "cool" the color is the perfect helper in this situation.

Our knowledgeable staff frequently uses Brass Off from Matrix, ColorLast Purple from Biolage, or Chroma Crème from L’Oréal Professionnel.

On short hair

Mistakenly, a lot of people with short hairstyles think they’re not cut out for color stretching experiments. We must dispel this myth quickly! It is evident even from the pre- and post-balayage photos that the coloring technique’s outcome can occasionally look significantly better on shorter strands.

Experts from SalonSecret share a lifehack. After balayage, short, thin hair typically doesn’t need intensely nourishing care. However, the ends shouldn’t be overlooked! Use a light conditioner on them after washing to make it easier to comb the strands before styling and to avoid split ends.

Biolage HydraSource with moisturizing aloe extract is our selection.

For straight hair

If your straight hair lacks volume and dynamics, you need a shiny and relieving balayage. But remember that intricate coloring can draw attention to split ends and damage. Two options exist: either cut off the damaged length without showing sympathy or concentrate on restorative at-home and salon procedures two to three months prior to coloring your hair in a balayage style.

Experts at SalonSecret provide a life hack. A mask that contains concentrated Biolage Recovery Deep Treatment can be one of the helpers in the process of repairing damaged strands.

Its formula, which includes proteins and amino acids, has both an immediate cosmetic effect that makes hair look smooth and shiny and a deep restorative effect that has a cumulative effect.

For the curly

The Balayage staining technique accentuates the natural curls of curly hair in a stunning way. It goes well with curly hair. Some features of the staining process itself resulted in curls in the porous structure. For instance, curls are heavily moistened with a mask or spray before the paint is applied, and the dye is typically emulsified twice as long when washing off as it would be on straight hair. The colorist will raise the tone by one level and lower the oxidation concentration to get the desired shade.

Experts at SalonSecret provide a life hack. Curly hair can maintain its vibrant, saturated color for an extended period of time by using a smoothing product.

As an illustration, Biolage’s All-in-on coconut fluid In order to improve the strands’ ability to reflect light and shine, he tightly seals the cutting scales. The benefit of smoothness is clear: less pigment will be removed by washing.

Photo ideas for balayage coloring

It’s time to examine some gorgeous examples of balayage highlighting in various tones. Make sure to store your favorite pictures so your stylist has access to them as references.

• Scandinavian white balayage looks very beautiful on black or brown hair – coloring radically changes the image and refreshes it.

• Those who strive for a more natural aesthetics can do American balayage, emphasizing the natural hair color with several light strands near the face.

• Stylists recommend blondes to try reverse balayage, in which instead of lightening there is darkening – the technique will revive your blond, make the shade deeper and more voluminous.

• Gray balayage on gray hair is a modern coloring method that allows you to emphasize the natural silver color of gray hair, give it a well-groomed and elegant look.

• Balayage with a transition to beige – the best choice when you need to give the light brown base depth and expressiveness.

Our experts have noticed that in recent years, cold platinum blond has somewhat lost its popularity in highlighting. Warm or neutral balayage is in right now.

How balayage coloring is done in a beauty salon

We advise you to read the instructions, which go into great detail about how balayage coloring is done in a salon.

• Before lightening, the head is washed with a technical shampoo that prepares the hair for the procedure. At this stage, it will not be superfluous to neutralize the metal in the cuticle and cortex using a spray Metal Detox from L’Oréal Professionnel, since copper particles tend to unpredictably change the shade of the coloring.

• Using a comb, the entire mass of hair is divided into four or more sections. The colorist separates a thin strand using the darning method, places a tablet under it and applies a bleaching agent in the shape of the letter V: for example, powder with bonding Blond Studio from L’Oréal Professionnel.

• All strands taken into account by the master in the coloristic drawing are processed sequentially. The distance from the root zone can vary.

• After some time, the lightener is washed off with shampoo, also special, stopping the alkaline reaction. Bleach Finder from Matrix simultaneously, by changing the color, it indicates where the composition has not been completely washed off.

• Then toning is carried out – a dye of the selected shade is applied to the hair. The duration of its exposure, as a rule, does not exceed 30 minutes.

• The procedure ends with washing the hair and drying.

Other intricate balayage coloring techniques exist, and each uses a different technique to apply the lightening composition. The set of strands occurs more often through horizontal darning, but a diagonal veil set is possible; highlighting is frequently combined with darkening or lightening of the root zone with a permanent dye. Some colorists, for example, prefer lazy balayage, where the strand is completely covered with a lightener without drawing a "tick."

Is it possible to do balayage coloring at home

Although it may seem simple to perform balayage at home, SalonSecret experts advise against it. First of all, making a lightening mixture without the requisite experience is challenging, but applying it carelessly or leaving it on your hair for an extended period of time is incredibly simple.

Second, you need to be well-versed in coloristics and possess a trained eye in order to competently contour and independently select a gorgeous shade that complements your appearance.

It is extremely rare for colorists to dye themselves using intricate techniques on their own, which speaks volumes about the labor-intensive nature of the process.

Features of caring for colored hair using the balayage technique

After coloring with lightening, home care serves two purposes: it preserves the new shade while restoring the hair, as sensitivity increases.

Ranges designed for intricate beauty rituals on highlighted strands lessen the sensitivity of the strands. Certain products, like Matrix’s Unbreak My Blonde, help to prevent breakage by fortifying the weak keratin bonds in the hair structure.

Others repair damaged areas; one such product is L’Oréal Professionnel’s Blondifier Gloss. Both should seal the fluffy cuticle and give the curls a smooth texture.

How well the color holds up depends largely on how warm or cold it is. In the first scenario, you’ll need to take gentle measures to preserve the color’s brightness. In the second scenario, seek out compositions that incorporate pigments. For example, blue can counteract undesired redness in cool balayage from tone levels 5 to 8, while purple can eliminate yellowness in blondes from tone levels 9 to 10. Our team of experts highly recommends the professional ranges Blondifier Cool and So Silver, which you might find appealing.

The inclusion of antioxidants and thermal protective materials in care products is also beneficial because they will lessen the effect of adverse environmental factors on the hoodie’s shading.

A common option for those looking for a natural, sun-kissed hair color is still Balayage. Many people choose it because of its adaptability to fit a variety of hair types, lengths, and personal styles.

Compared to other coloring techniques, balayage requires less maintenance, which is one of the main reasons it has remained popular. Touch-ups can be spaced out, providing convenience without compromising style, because the roots aren’t as damaged.

Balayage offers countless options to attain the desired look, whether you’re going for a more dramatic or subtle change. It’s an ageless coloring technique that fits right in with current styles.

Video on the topic

Coloring is done using the Airtouch technique

Coloring that does not require frequent correction 😍

Top 10 fashionable hair coloring techniques. Balayage, Air Touch, Ombre, Hand Touch, Folaage, Melt Color.

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