Photo courtesy of Dean Hochman under Creative Commons
Balayage is alive and well for clients wanting the “natural hair” look, which is why you can find balayage tips in every corner of the internet. Most of it is really good, and we won't try to add to the words of the experts offering this advice, but they don’t often take much time to explain their tips in much detail. But we would like to point out a few mistakes that we've found common among newer stylists that can be easily fixed with a little self discipline.
Planning the Cut After Painting
This might be the most technically difficult one: Learn how to color with a plan for a finishing cut in mind, because it's the essential secret to accentuating the best in your colors. Color often distracts from cut, especially if the cut is done well, so not many people talk about it with balayage. It really can make all the difference, though. It's those framing highlights around the face, the tinge of shifting caramel to blonde around the ear that can make the whole style stand out. If you wait until after you’ve finished processing and drying the hair to figure out how you’re going to cut it you’ll end up cutting up more of your color to get the look your client asked for.
Too much Product at the Roots
Most experts will tell you even consistency and saturation are important for good balayage. When you glob a bunch of product at the root you're not going to get an even spread down the section. You could think of it like chewing food. When you really want to taste a good meal, you take it in small pieces so you can savor all the flavors. When you just shove half the meal in your mouth you only get a clumps of flavor and lose out on the full experience. In the same way, a tsunami of your mixture on top of the head will result in a bulky spread, making you lose subtlety of color in your end result.
Foils versus Plastic Wrap
Foils have their place, but the balayage is a delicate process. You need to be able to see what's happening under there. Each client's hair will react differently with developers and bleach, so it's important to keep a close eye on how the color is progressing. Otherwise you’ll just be doing educated guesswork. If you take special care to apply the product correctly, you still owe it to your client and your own work to watch it correctly.
The Wrong Brush
Don't underestimate the effect a color brush can have on your painting. If you use something too wide or too thin it can have pretty far reaching effects. Your layers can come out uneven if the brush is too angled, or spotty if the bristles are too hard or too soft. Brushes can depend a lot on personal preference as well since every artist develops their own technique for painting, so this is something you just need to take time experimenting with.