Let's talk about hair painting....AKA balayage!

Balayage has been a trend for several years now and I don't think it is going anywhere soon. So I think it is high time I share the basics of balayage!
Let's start with a bit of terminology- 

Balayage- what is it and why does everyone want it?

Balayage is a french word it means to sweep. It is also a hilighting technique where usually a clay based lightner is used and painted onto the hair and left to process at room temperature. The result is a very natural gradual effect that is lower maintanance than a traditionoal fiol highlight because there is no clear line of demarcation. That is not to say that you cannot get a balayage look with a foil highlight application because you can and that my friend is our next term!

Foilyage- a combination of foil highlights and balayage for dark hair

When a person has been getting dark hair color applied to their hair over the years they will enevitably have a harder time acheiving the light gradient sun kissed colors that people that have either lighter hair naturally or as we call it in the biz "virgin hair" that is hair that has never been colored. There is no getting around the warm or brassy tones that come up when dark hair color is lifted. Sometimes it needs more than one application of a traditional lightener to get out of the orange zone. The clay based lightner that I mentioned above is very gentle and not powerful enough to do this. So often times I will use my go to bleach in a foil where it will not dry out and I can have more control of the hair that I am lightening.