A Guide to Literally Everything You Need to Know About Balayage

What in the world is balayage?

You may have heard the term balayage tossed around a few times when referring to hair color, but what exactly is balayage? The word balayage comes from the French word for “sweep” as you would paint on a canvas or nail polish across nails. Christopher describes the balayage technique as “a hand-painted, more organic way to create a natural sun-kissed look." The technique offers stylists and colorists a way to create "custom, low-maintenance highlights" for their clients. With balayage, no two looks will ever be the same. And you're able to achieve that lived-in, sun-kissed color no matter where you live.

How does balayage differ from highlights? From ombré?

Balayage delivers highlights that are less maintenance through a hand-painting technique, so how do they differ from more traditional highlights? "Balayage is more organic," says Christopher. "Balayage is a more boho, natural look. Where highlights can create a high-contrast in the hair, true balayage application creates a softer, more sun-kissed, beachy look."

What about ombré hair? Balayage and ombré tend to be compared, though they aren't as similar as balayage and traditional highlights. Still, the comparisons are enough to leave anyone confused. Christopher shares that "ombré is a gradient hair color technique" that goes from "dark to light or light to dark. Balayage is a hand-painted highlight technique. I would use the term ombré more when referring to glossing or the finished tonality of the look."

Can you DIY balayage at home?

We've all resorted to dyeing our hair at home once or twice in our lives, especially this past year with everything being shut down. But can the balayage highlighting technique be done at home? Christopher advises otherwise. "As a professional stylist of 15 years, I would not recommend this. Hair color in general is an art. And I believe that should be left up to a professional who has studied the art of color."

The entire balayage process has many steps that require a professional's touch. Just because it looks effortless, doesn't mean it is. Between needing to prep the hair for a chemical service to knowing how to properly paint lightener on your strands to achieve the desired look, it's safe to say trying to achieve balayage highlights yourself isn't the best idea. You likely haven't mastered the freehand technique required for this hair color trend, so instead, call up your colorist to have them help you achieve this hairstyle. There is so much room for error when doing balayage on your own hair, which is why Christopher is rightfully hesitant in recommending anyone DIY this hair color technique.

How do you know if balayage is right for you?

Now that you know just about everything there is to know about the balayage technique, how do you decide whether or not it's right for you? Does it depend on your hair type? Whether you have long hair or short hair? What your base color is? More than anything, Christopher shares that it depends on the overall look you're hoping to achieve. "If my guest wants a more high-impact, high-contrast look, then balayage would not be my first choice in technique. If my guest wants a more sun-kissed natural look, then balayage is my go-to."

Sometimes a technique similar to balayage also works best to get the hair color of your dreams. "If you have really dark hair and want to achieve a really blonde balayage, I will opt for another technique I have called my sunbeam technique, which uses a combo of teasylights and babylights. This creates a faux balayage look, but has the lightening power of foil highlights," Christopher says. Ultimately, it depends on what you want your final look to be and whether or not your stylist believes balayage will help you achieve it.

All the balayage hair inspo you need

Again, the hair coloring technique is unique to everyone, but that doesn't mean we can't share some balayage hair color ideas for you to use as inspiration. We've rounded up a few celebrity red carpet looks we absolutely love. Be sure to screenshot your favorite!

1. Lived-In Balayage Highlights

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is often our balayage muse. Her long, blonde hair is accentuated with stunning balayage highlights to give her the ultimate sun-kissed look. Beachy hair has never looked better, or more achievable.

2. Caramel Balayage on Natural Hair

When we said balayage was achievable on every hair type, we meant it. Natural, curly hair is no exception. These swirls of caramel in Power star Naturi Naughton's coils add some dimension and shine to her dark hair.

3. Brown Balayage Beauty

People often think balayage needs to be blonde, but that's not the case. Supermodel Joan Smalls proves brown balayage is just as fun with her subtle take on the hair color technique.

4. Bold Balayage

Even though balayage is designed to look more natural, it doesn't mean you can't take it to the extreme. Singer Ciara's bold blonde balayage is the perfect example. Her hair color really pops, while still being relatively low-maintenance.

5. Balayage Bob

Actress and director Olivia Wilde highlights (pun intended) how balayage can still be done on short hair. Long layers aren't needed to achieve this hair color, so don't feel as if your strands are too short. Balayage blends seamlessly into any length.

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