While mistakes are not uncommon in any colour process but it is certainly more challenging to achieve a perfectly blended balayage. Our colourists have contributed to us their valuable professional opinions on what goes wrong in balayage, and how to control and mitigate them from their experience.

balayage singapore

Lightener Bleeding Over

Hot spots and bleeding over of colour or lightener are the most common mistakes in balayage process. This is usually fixed by separating the painted areas from the negative space, and creating balance overall (as in fine art). It is a well-known practice to use cotton, foil, or a plastic sheet to cover the top layer of hair. Then paint the sections below the sheet to stop the lightener bleeds over or travels uncontrollably.

Uncontrolled Levels of Saturation

Controlling the saturation level is one of the most easy things to forget or make mistakes in balayage. The level of saturation is determined by the amount of pressure when applying the lightener to the root regions. This ensures that the product penetrates the ends and mid-sections of the hair. The ultimate aim is to achieve the perfect gradient that is the key to a balayage colour.

Attaining a Heat Equilibrium

The balayage look can be challenging to attain and aside from the obvious problems with applying the colour correctly, there are many variables that must be controlled. One of the keys is that the colourists must be able to control the heat in order to achieve the desired lift but not so much that the balayaged hair becomes dry.

Consistent Colour: Increase the developer

Colourists must also increase the volume of colour developer as they go. This is to ensure that the final colour swept will stay consistent. However, this is a tedious process because it is not easy to wash areas that have been finished without causing disrupt to other areas.

How To Tell if it’s Right

“Perfect” Balayage should result in “pronounced look but also blended lights ribbons with the harmonious gradient as balayage’s roots are dimmer and towards the hair ends get brighter, creating the beautiful classic grown-out summer highlights look.

For hair salons providing balayage services, it is a good idea to practice the technique on doll heads until the confidence level of the colourists allows them to apply it to on the clients. Balayage is an artistic skill that requires practice. It is not difficult to make a mess and get it right eventually.

Talk to your colourist if you have a balayage that does not look like what you envisioned on IG. Instead of hating them, you can let them know what you dislike about the results and look. It is important to avoid any at-home remedies that could worsen the problem. A professional colourist will be able to help you fix the problem, depending on what is your issue and dissatisfaction.

Tip them Out

Some colourists may have stopped doing dull balayage, but others will still give their clients a pop of colour or even paint the hairlines at the sink to lighten baby locks. A colourist should have a great sense of dimension, shadows and depth as well as highlight in a 2D image. It will take a while of few months for those colourists who have been practicing balayage to develop that sense and combine it with those chemical products and dyes on the 3D canvas.

Balayage is certainly a popular flattering technique and it’s also the best for clients who want a natural look that is sun-kissed and real beachy. If there is challenge to achieve the perfect balayage look, the colourists can also cheat to achieve the same look by foiling the highlights for highest precision at the same time using a lower volume as well as using mid light method. For those with darker base colours who don’t want highlights to have a life of its own and seeking for a ultimate blended results, subtle highlights or balayage are great options.