Balayage | Highlights
FAQ
Q . What is Balayage?
A. Balayage is a highlighting technique that the lightener or the color is hand painted. It is invented in France and comes from a word, "balayer" meaning to sweep.
The color is blended with the brush-stroke like finish and it looks more natural than the traditional highlights.
Q . How long do they last?
A. Unlike the traditional highlights, since it is blended into your natural color / base color with the brush-stroke like finish, when the roots grow out, it continues to look natural.
There will be no obvious line of regrowth like most all-over color and highlights leave. Balayage should only be touched up when the client wants the highlighted part higher, and that depends on each client's preference.
Most of our balayage clients come back for a touch up after 4 to 6 months, some even waits longer. We do recommend clients who have had double-process balayage using bleach, to come back in between just for toner, which is the second part of the double-process.
Q . How long does it take?
A. Single-process balayage that uses permanent color can be done in 2 hours or so. Single-process balayage is only suitable for clients who have never done any color before or who has had same service before. It cannot be done on the previously colored hair, especially dark colors or gray coverage.
Double-process balayage using bleach take about 4 to 5 hours to process, depending on the desired color, it could be longer.
Q . How much does it cost?
A. The pricing depends on the client's desired color. Single-process balayage that doesn't use bleach could be from $150 to $250 but the color variation is very limited. Single-process balayage is for clients who are looking for a very subtle result.
Double-process balayage using bleach cost anywhere from $300 to $500. Balayage with the cool tone such as ash, beige, and silver can be costly since the hair needs to be lightened more and the process takes longer. Some cool tones can only be achieved by triple-process, which require applying bleach twice. Triple-process balayage cost around $400 to $600 or more.
We recommend all of our balayage clients to fill out our consultation form prior to booking an appointment. That would help us determine the service duration and we would be able to give the clients the more detailed estimated cost.
Q . I have colored my hair dark before or I have been covering my gray. Is my desired color achievable?
A. For clients who are thinking of getting balayage with cool tones such as ash, beige, and silver, the desired color may not be achievable if they have darkened their hair before, or they have been coloring their gray. Dark artificial colors including ones that covers gray, contains the large amount of red pigment which is necessary for those colors to appear dark. Red is the opposite of cool tone and when those previous colored hair is lightened with bleach, they usually turns very orange because of the remaining pigment in the hair. We would recommend those clients to choose warm tone such as red, chocolate brown, and some gold. If the clients are okay with dark ash, or dark beige, it may still be achievable. Therefore, we recommend all of our balayage clients to fill out our consultation form prior to booking an appointment. We would be able to determine whether the desired color is achievable or not, that way.