What Is Balayage?

Here are the most asked questions about this freehand technique:

How to Do Balayage?

The process varies depending on the length of the hair and the desired result. You can expect to have individual strands coloured with a brush and a backing board. Some colourists like to separate their sections with cotton wool or foil, others tease the hair in sections first then freehand colour the ends.

Our friend, Emily Freybler, will show you how you can dye your hair Balayage style:

Is It Suitable for All Hair Types/lengths?

It works on both light and dark hair, so anyone really. Both Rihanna and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley are great examples of balayage poster girls. Balayage pretty much works for all lengths except very short cropped hair.

Can You Do Balayage With Any Colors?

Balayage is not just for blonde hair, is a technique, so it is about any color that you like: brunettes, redheads, and so on. Even pink and purples will do – if that’s your style, go along with it!

What About the Maintenance?

Blondes will need to top a little more because the hair will grow more on the roots, so maybe you will need 8-12 weeks between the process. Brunettes are going to be more light on that, maybe 2-3 times a year.

Can You Create Balayage on Grey Hair?

If you embrace your grey hair, it is fine, you can Balayage it! Or maybe you can tinsel it, and you can still Balayage it.

What Are the Common Mistakes With Balayage?

One of the myths is that the Balayage is all about the ends – that is not necessary true. The other one is to over-saturate the sections and what it happens is that it goes all the way through and you get “bleed marks”. Quite often, the Balayage is done on cold hair.

What Celebrities Have Great Balayage?

The celebrities embraced right away this hairstyle and now is the most “en vogue” trend of the Hollywood. So, we picked around 20 celebrities to show you how this style fits them and we invite you to choose one of your own. Be inspired!

Celebrities with Balayage hairstyle: Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Taylor Swift, Gisele Bundhen, Olivia Wilde, Sarah Jessica Parker, Catherine – Duchess of Cambridge, Chrissy Teigen, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Burciaga, Amber Heard, Monica Cruz – sister of Penelope Cruz, Jamie Chung, Nicole Scherzinger, Jessica Biel, Lily Aldridge, Cara Delevingne.

Here is a slideshow we put together for that:

The Best Way to Communicate the Hair Color You Want to Your Hairdresser?

It’s dead simple: pick up your Pinterest board and show it to your hairdresser than talk about the ideas. Take into considerations that if you wear more silver, consider more cooler colors; if you like to wear more gold, then consider more wormer colors.

Common terms that relates to Balayage are:

Layage – is a hairpainting, same as Balayage technique but with more subtle coloring.

Fuid Hair Painting – is that “rainbow” effect, more dramatic and sometimes more aggressive than Balayage.