Colouring techniques: what they all mean and what's right for you

Thinking about changing up your hair colour but not sure where to start? With terms like highlights, balayage and ombre being thrown around, it can all get a little confusing. Here’s a few things you should consider, what colour will suit your skin tone, the overall look you want to achieve and your personality type. It’s important that you get the look you want with the level of maintenance you’d be happy to keep up with. We’re here to help!
 
Highlights
 
What are highlights?
Highlights refers to the process of using bleach to lighten sections of your hair. The most common method is foil highlighting which involves using a brush to apply the bleach to small sections of your hair and then using foils to separate those sections from the rest of your hair. You can customise how light you want your highlights to be and the number of highlights you have – the more you go for, the lighter your hair will appear. Unlike other techniques, highlights go right from the root to the ends of your hair.
 
Should you get highlights?
If you want to add dimension, add colour to the root of your hair, make you hair appear thicker, or disguise those pesky greys, highlights might be for you.
 
Highlights give a neat, uniformed look but bear in mind that because they start at the root, you’ll need to visit the salon more regularly for root touch ups.
 
Balayage
 
What is balayage?
Balayage is a French word meaning to sweep or to paint. It's a freehand hair lightening technique that gives a blended look with no harsh or obvious regrowth lines. It gives a more natural, lived in look than highlights do. The beauty of balayage is that you can choose to have a close root balayage that sits closer to your scalp or start lower down. Again, you can customise how light you want to go and how subtle or bold you want the balayage.
 
Should you get balayage?
Just like highlights, balayage can work for anyone, it just depends on the look you want to go for. If you are after something slightly more effortless with less maintenance, balayage might be perfect for you. Since the technique is more natural, regrowth is less noticeable, so you won’t need to visit the salon as often for root touch ups.
 
Ombre
 
What is ombre?
Often confused with balayage, ombre involves a similar technique but produces a bolder finish. Ombre hair is darker at the roots and lighter at the ends but with a less natural and more sudden change in colour.
 
Should you get ombre?
Ombre is balayage’s more edgy sister, so if this is the look you want, it’s a good bet with low maintenance. It also takes less time to grow out as colour tends to be concentrated to the bottom of your hair, so if you fancy something temporary, this would be ideal. If you get bored, you can simply cut your hair.
 
If you’re still unsure, gather up some pictures of looks that you love and bring them to salon! We can help you chose a technique and colour that will suit you and your lifestyle. Book an appointment online.