Brighten Up Your Summer

 Now that summer is in full swing let us brighten up your color with a beautiful Balayage or Ombre. What is a Balayage?  It is a technique for highlighting or lightening the hair in which the color or lightener is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect more commonly used to add lightness. The word Balayage comes from the French word “to sweep” or “sweeping”. The color or lightener is sometimes separated with plastic wrap, cotton or even foil. Now if you see this being done in the salon this will now make sense to you. When creating a Balayage color or lightener is applied in a sweeping motion where the color transitions smoothly from dark to light. In a Balayage there are dark pieces left behind to create dimension and a more natural look. This technique is extremely popular at the moment and can be seen and found all over Pinterest and Instagram. I like to think of Jennifer Aniston or Jennifer Lopez. The beauty of this technique is that the hair can look natural and sun-kissed making it less maintenance when done on your natural hair color.
Balayages can also be done with fun colors like purples, pinks and grays, the only thing is that the hair has to be lightened first then the fun color can be applied. What is the difference between a Balayage and an Ombre?  The two are similar, but there is an obvious difference between the two. Ombre comes from the French word “shadow”. Ombre is tones of color that shade into each other, graduating from dark to light. In general, Ombres work best on darker hair like brunettes and red heads. The reason for that is because it is more of a contrast between dark and light, the top is darker (more rooted) and the bottom is more solid light or blonde. Can Ombres be done on blondes? Why yes! of course! But it is more of a Sombre or a soft ombre. It blends softly from a dark blonde to light or platinum blonde. Ombres are more “pow” because the color is so noticeable. A true Ombre is darker on the top and lighter on the bottom. The Ombre is a beautiful look when done properly, think color blocking or two tones, there are no dark pieces on the bottom unlike a balayage but there is a seamless blend (no lines).  A bad Ombre has lines and that is hombre (at home Ombre) and no one needs that. Can fun colors be done with Ombres? Yes, they can!  Again, the hair must be lightened before doing so. These are techniques that must be learned and mastered and they take time to do, but once done beautifully your hair will be your crown.
Balayage or Ombre appointments are not the kind of appointments that can be squeezed in on a busy Saturday like a haircut or root touch up. They take time especially if you have colored your hair darker or if it needs to be corrected. So now that you know the difference you can decide if you’re in a hair rut and want a change. We look forward to seeing you and brightening up your day.
To make an appointment or set up a consultation, please call Lavish Salon at 661-253-3483.  We are located at 25269 N. The Old Road, Suite K. in Stevenson Ranch.