With 2021 quickly approaching, you may want to switch up your style. Changing your hair color is a fantastic way to get a fresh new look, but if you’d prefer to take a more subtle approach, the balayage technique may be the right choice. The guide below looks closer at this method for highlighting hair.
Defining Balayage
Balayage is French for “to sweep,” which describes how the hair colorist applies the dye. They will paint the color onto the hair in a graduated pattern. It gives you a more natural appearance instead of creating noticeably bold stripes within your strands. Balayage enhances women’s hair color while giving it dimension.
How to Achieve the Style
When you visit the hair salon, your stylist will ask you several questions about your favorite and least favorite aspects of your hair and how you style it daily. With this information, they will give your locks contour and highlights to frame your face. This process involves painting parts of your hair with bleach using left-handed strokes beginning at the bottom of the hair towards the root. This application creates a deeper saturation at the ends and mimics the way hair naturally lightens in sunlight. Balayage works on all hair types, including straight and kinky curly. It also creates stunning looks on those with both light and dark hair color.
How to Maintain It
Because this hair highlighting technique creates lighter color at the ends of the hair instead of the roots, people can go longer between treatments—usually eight to 12 weeks. It also doesn’t leave behind a root line. If you want to get the most time out of your treatment, ask for babylight, which is the most subtle coloring available. You can also extend its life span by avoiding washing your hair every day.