Balayage is a French word meaning 'to sweep'. In this hair coloring technique, highlights are drawn by hand, or 'swept' across the surface of random sections of the hair. Image a worker paints a wall, the normal highlight is to paint the whole wall the same color evenly, but balayage tries to brush the surface from the middle to the bottom, followed by heart, freehanded and vivifying. Because the color is swept onto the surface of the hair, the effect is a natural sun-kissed color, not as rigidly patterned as normal highlights. Hair dyes or brighteners are usually applied to the hair, starting in the middle and progressing from darker to lighter as the hair progresses down to the tips, and the further down the hair the lighter the color.
Misunderstanding of balayage
Balayage is not a hairstyle but a hair color technique. Contrary to traditional highlights which need a foil to increase hair gloss, balayage adds highlight without foil. Balayage seeks lower lights and less dramatic color than common highlights.
What are the advantages of balayage?
1. Natural, sunlit dimensions
Balayage creates a natural, sunlit dimension that gives your a sun-kissed visual experience due to the color of hair subtly piece by piece.
Stylists sweep new color, which is always just a few shades lighter than your natural color so which results in a hair dimension.
Of course, light colors impress people and catch the vision extremely, but coins have two sides, too shiny highlights look unnatural and sharp. Balayage will satisfy you by giving a great blended color and be elegant and delicate.
2. Various color inspiration
Balayage can do a full balayage on your hair, giving you an overall light look without the need to maintain the inevitable root growth you would do with other brightening methods. Partial or mini balayage can also be done, such as only around the face or on the upper part of the hair.
And balayage does not limit hair color to a small range. If your hair is black, it is okay to balayage your hair. If you dye your hair red, a less reddish color will provide to apply. Even though the hair color is blonde, there is also a way to balayage hair into stunning platinum tips. It can also be used for human hair wigs.
Cons of balayage:
1. High budget
Balayage is specialized, oftentimes requiring a higher beauty budget in the salon.
2. More time required
Balayage as a complicated technique requires more time than traditional highlights to achieve the best effect.
3. Hard to do at home
Although balayage means sweeping color randomly, it is not easy to do it yourself. Because stylists section hair and flatten it to sweep color, we are hard to totally flatten our hair, especially the hair on the nape to paint it.
How to maintain your balayage hair?
1. Avoid frequent hair wash
Balayage just colors the surface of own hair, which indicates its features that are easy to fade. Through the special styling process, the color of hair would last more than three months with good care. And avoid unnecessary, too frequent hair washing is one of the useful tips we should follow to take care of hair.
Hair color fade when the first time you wash it after the salon is common. Excessive dirty ingredients, such as oil, dust, and so on, will clean up in this process to keep balayage hair healthy.
There is no need to reschedule the wash day, just avoid too much hair wash.
2. Reduce hair friction
Hair friction damages hair texture and increases the risk of hair breakage at the same time. To keep balayage hair glossy and healthy, please keep in mind to reduce hair friction.
When you are washing hair, do not rub it strongly by force.
Wear smooth clothes instead of coarse ones.
Throw away straw hats or decrease the times you wear them.
Apply a silk scarf at night to protect hair from friction between hair and the pillow.
3. Pay attention to shampoo
Use a hair mask for blonde hair to protect lightened locks from further damage. If your hair tone is red, orange, or brassy in your new highlights, try a purple shampoo to help neutralize warm tones in blonde hair.
Some shampoos contain strong ingredients that can damage the PH of natural hair. You can apply apple cider vinegar, however, has a pH level of 2-3.5, which helps to balance the pH level of natural hair and keep hair smooth.