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The ‘70s are known for many things: thigh-high boots, flower power, the words groovy and rad—and, as it turns out, it also happens to be the decade that balayage highlights was developed. Balayage is a freehand hair highlighting technique created by French colorists—and we’re here to tell you that it looks absolutely stunning. Even if you’re not sure what balayage is, chances are you’ve definitely seen these highlights on A-listers as they’ve strutted down the red carpet. That’s right, it’s still going strong decades later! You might even say it’s overtaken the ombré hair trend. If you’re looking for a low-maintenance way to change your hair color and give yourself a new beauty look, here’s everything you need to know about balayage, from what it looks like, how to get it, and how to maintain your color.
Let’s start with the basics, shall we? As we mentioned earlier, balayage is a highlighting technique that was created by French colorists back in the 1970s. In French, the word balayage means to sweep. Rather than traditional foiling or cap techniques, balayage is a freehand technique. The good news is, it doesn’t matter whether you have a short pixie cut or waist-length hair—this highlighting method can be used on anyone. The whole goal of balayage highlights is to leave you with natural-looking, sun-kissed hair. If you have longer locks, balayage can add serious movement to your strands.
If you’re a color newbie, then balayage is for you! It’s a subtle highlighting technique that isn’t as drastic as completely changing your hair color. Balayage works on any hair color, so it doesn’t matter whether you have brown, blonde, or red hair. Also, if you’re looking for highlights that are as low maintenance as you can get, then balayage is the way to go. With these highlights, you won’t have to run to the salon for touchups every couple of weeks since you’re not dyeing the entire length of your hair. As the highlights grow out, it’ll look totally intentional. Less touchups? Yes, please!
Balayage is done freehand rather than using tools like foiling and caps that are often used during other highlighting techniques. That means the color is applied by hand on an individual. As you now know, balayage stands for sweeping in French. This technique gets its name because of the process of sweeping the color through the hair with a brush and a backing board. As you may have already guessed, this is a technique best left to professionals, as it requires a certain skill to do. To find the right colorist, look for one who specializes in the balayage technique, and go in for a consultation before actually having your hair dyed. Make sure to bring inspiration pics with you so that your colorist knows exactly what you want. When your colorist sees and hears what you want out of your balayage highlights, they’ll be able to create a custom look that flatters you.
No! While traditional balayage features blonde highlights, you can totally experiment with color. For example, reverse balayage is trending these days—this look features light hair on top and darker hair woven throughout from your mid-lengths to ends. Which leads us to…
If you’re a color newbie, then balayage is for you! It’s a subtle highlighting technique that isn’t as drastic as completely changing your hair color. Balayage works on any hair color, so it doesn’t matter whether you have brown, blonde, or red hair. Also, if you’re looking for highlights that are as low maintenance as you can get, then balayage is the way to go. With these highlights, you won’t have to run to the salon for touchups every couple of weeks since you’re not dyeing the entire length of your hair. As the highlights grow out, it’ll look totally intentional. Less touchups? Yes, please!
Besides reverse balayage, there are plenty of trendy balayage hair color ideas to try. Here are some of our favorites of the moment: Pearly balayage. This pearlescent balayage hair color features a sandy brown base with light pinkish purple ends, reminiscent of, well, you guessed it, a pearl! Get the look temporarily with the Viral Celeb Luxury Light Pink, and Pastel Lavender, which wash out after one shampoo. Rose quartz balayage. One of the most popular beauty trends of 2018 is crystals, so give this trend a spin on your hair with rose quartz balayage. A pop of color can be beautiful and a lot easier to maintain than allover color. Peach balayage. Peach hair is perfect for summer, but you don’t have to dye your entire head of hair—for a subtler look, opt for peach balayage instead. If you fall in love with the color, you can always go for allover color later.
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