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HairColor
| 05/11/2021 TOPICS:

Ombre? Balayage? Which Popular Haircolor Technique Should You Try Next?

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Being stuck in a hair rut is the absolute worst. One way to breathe new life into your hair is by changing up the color. For fun ideas, check out this roundup of top haircolor techniques and haircolors below. Who knows? One of them might just be what you’ve been looking for all along. Remember to take an image to your local salon so your colorist can help you achieve the look!

Balayage

colorbymarina-Balayage
Photo Credit: @colorbymarina
This pretty-sounding French term, which means to sweep or paint, also has a very pretty effect on hair. During a Balayage service, which is a highlighting technique, a colorist paints bleach or haircolor just on the surface of your hair freehand; he or she doesn’t saturate the entire section with hairdye. The result is soft, natural-looking, sun-kissed highlights that easily blend in as hair grows longer.

Curlyage

Jamal-UGC2
Photo Credit: @lamajbackwards

Created by Redken Brand Ambassador and texture expert Jamal Edmonds, the Curlyage technique is an alternative take on the Balayage technique that creates soft hair color results that can be customized by curl and texture type. This is a beautiful choice for curly and textured hair. 

“This technique is different from classic balayage because you can customize it based on curl and texture type. You have to be mindful that the light will reflect differently on straight hair versus textured hair, which makes customized placement of the lightener so important. Curlyage is unique because of the customized placement and focus on protecting the integrity of the curls.”

Ombre

chrisstinalara24-ombre
Photo Credit: @chrisstinalara24
In this haircolor technique, your root haircolor gradually fades into a much lighter haircolor at the ends, such as blonde. If your hair isn’t already dark, you may want your colorist to deepen your natural shade at the roots for a more dramatic Ombre. Hair stylist tip: Balayage is the technique while ombre is an end look. Your colorist will use the balayage technique to achieve an ombre.

Babylights

rachel_redd-BABYLIGHTS
Photo Credit: @rachel_redd
The Babylight or baby blonde highlighted look consists of tiny subtle highlights that resemble the sun-kissed highlights you’d get around your hairline as a child. They get their delicate appearance due to the very small amounts of dyed hair that are separated and placed in each foil.

Hair Gloss

adina_pignatare-GLOSSED
Photo Credit: @adina_pignatare
A hair gloss treatment closes the cuticle and the hair, leading to smoother, shinier and less frizzy hair. In tinted form, it’s a great ammonia-free, semi-permanent alternative to classic hair dye. If you already have colored hair, applying a gloss can help maintain your haircolor, correct brassiness and deepen or tone down color. If you don’t want to change your haircolor but want to reap the shiny benefits, you can use clear gloss, instead.

The Redken Shades EQ hair gloss service uses demi-permanent haircolor and features the Shades EQ Equalizing Conditioning Color Gloss to condition hair and revive faded haircolor.

Highlights

christinechavezhair_highlights
Photo Credit: @christinechavezhair
Highlights are sections of hair dyed lighter than your natural shade. They can be used to give hair dimension, accentuate facial features or slim down your face. They’re the opposite of lowlights, which are strands of hair that are dyed darker than your natural shade. To add highlights to your hair, your colorist may use one of two techniques: foil highlighting and Balayage.

Since coloring your hair can take a toll on the appearance and health of your hair, consider adding a bond protecting service to your haircolor or lightening service. For example, Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate will provide intense moisture and repair to color-treated hair. 

And of course, once you get the haircolor you’ve been wanting, focus on ways to maintain it. Make sure to use a color-safe sulfate free shampoo so you don’t wash your new haircolor down the drain. Redken Color Extend Magnetics Sulfate Free Shampoo gently cleanses the hair without stripping the scalp of essential oils or fading your new haircolor.

Now go off and embark on your next haircolor adventure. Cher Horowitz would be proud.

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