Balayage Highlighting is it really for you?

Do you know what Balayage highlighting, ombre’ highlighting, Freelights handpainting, copacabana highlights and more can be confusing.  Just not sure which is right for you? Read on….

Here is a few of our favorite explanations which will clear up the misconceptions for you. The first to cover is FREELIGHTS handpainting which is a version of balayage. It was created in France with the creativity of passionate artists that handpainted highlights onto the strands of hair creating an airy feel that looked natural and sunkissed.Tthe FREELIGHTS version is an off shoot from Wella professionals that have created a product made of a clay base which easily spreads but stays put. The strands can be thick or thin depending on the look that you are going for.

Our favorite balayage highlighting technique is the handpainted natural look as shown in this image courtesy of Loreal Professionele. These are thicker handpainted highlights that take some finesse in application from top to bottom. It looks easier than it is. I train all of my staff on these techniques in order for us to deliver consistent results time after time. The hardest part is the maintenance of these techniques so that they don’t look over done when growing out. We prevent overlapping of color which can break the hair off at the point of many bleachings time after time at the same spot. Having a professional provide this service that has many years of experience is essential to your balayage success. Balayage is designed to look very natural fine pieces at the top with zero lines of demarcation such as a foiled highlight. Balayage can be done with a partial and full highlights.

Ombre’ highlights are designed to have the majority of the color dark at the top which diffuses to a lighter color mid length to ends with either a slightly lighter color or a very light color. Again, the result from a professional will give you a blended and diffused effect vs the line from an inexperienced hairstylist. Still wanting some darker pieces intertwined into the lighter pieces is possible but has to be done separately and will require more time.

Keep in mind when having your balayage services done that we have to consider the type of hair, texture of your hair, the hair color that was done previously before we start any service. We will talk about the price of your color whether its done on colored hair or natural hair. We will have to consider this before we even start. If you have a budget for your highlights please talk with our stylists about this before we start our consultation. We aim to please and want to be respectful of what you can financially manage from your first appointment to on going appointments. Our haircuts are not included.

Time for the appointment? this is a frequently asked question that we often answer with regards to the length and thickness of your hair. the longer and thicker will take longer because of the penetration of the product we use for you, previous color used and the overall look you are trying to achieve. Please all about 1 – 3 hours depending on how light you want to go with your hair. Feel free to set up a consultation to be more exact on time and price. Call 717.846.4424.

BALAYAGE HIGHLIGHTS UPDATED WITH NEW PRODUCTS

This month we hosted an educator from Wella, an industry giant in the beauty industry taught us some new innovative information about the newest products that have been researched and developed over a span of years to bring us a product called FREELIGHTS. This is revolutionary clay based product that doesn’t move and she told us that foil highlights are moving to “out-of-date” techniques. My personal opinion is that we will always have a special place in our hearts for foils and appropriately used but balayage and freelights are the way to go because the techniques are natural looking, grow out natural without the lines and ultimately are low maintenance for our clients.

Every month we have advanced training at Indulge Salon on our South George Street location. Sometimes, we will host an event with a gathering of our beginning stylists to teach them the chemical break down of the type of advanced hair color we use and then we teach them how to use and when to use for color situations. A situation would be when a client comes in that wants highlights and used box color what the adverse reaction can be if not handled properly. We may train on balayage highlights that would require our stylists to train on technique. We have about 25 different techniques in highlighting but our stylists want to push our training to the edge by knowing how to get the best results for their clients.

Other advanced trainings may include professionalism in the workplace, culture and the “behind the scenes” systems that make our salon work the way it was designed. We review many of our cultural items privately and not in front of public view. With our technique trainings’ we love having our clients that are in for services see us in action with the result being “I never knew that there was so much involved with what you do”. That is a pretty cool statement because we put a lot of work and knowledge behind the decisions we make for every one of our clients that visit us.

Just the simple idea of putting a color on the hair has to be well thought out in the sense that questions need answers:

1. is the color great for their skin tone

2. is the hair color technique low maintenance

3. can the client maintain it every 4 weeks as scheduled

4. will the client take care of their hair the way we show them with products such as the right shampoo, the right conditioner for their hair type and the right styling products.

After we have those questions answered, we have many more that are designed to fit your lifestyle and faceshape which we cover in your consultation. We actually can customize the type of color used on your hair to give your hair more moisture, shine or if you are looking to have a gloss or more of a blending of grey hair this is totally achievable. At Indulge Salon, we appreciate when our clients bring photos in or pull up Pinterest to see if we can help them achieve a new look for the season.

If you would like to learn more information from us about your hair, call 717.846.4424 call for a consultation at any of our locations.

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To beautiful hair color and highlights!