What am I asking for at the hair dressers?!

[wildwestjilly]

I'm late 20's and have long thick dark hair. I want highlights but kind of beachy, outgrown highlights.. kind of like an ombre but when I think of ombre I think of a solid block of colour fading out and I think that would be too harsh. Does anyone know what I'm on about, or what I should ask for at the salon?

Also if anyone knows of a reasonably priced salon in Highbury or Islington please do let me know!

Thanks in advance.

Balayage?

Something like this?

Yes - it's Balayage you want - a kind of slightly grown out lightened by the sun effect. They are applied "freehand" by the hairdresser for a natural look - applied where the sun would naturally catch and lighten your hair.

Something like this? Not sure what it's called I'd just take the pic in!

I knew you lot would come up with the goods. Balayage it is!

Some salons will call it a root stretch on their menu, we do on ours but if you do get balayage done it'll likely be cheaper than the listed price. There's a slight difference. Balayage is much more subtle. It basically is just hand painted highlights, a root stretch is where your root colour blends in to the end colour seamlessly and is done with foils and a few different colours. It's not as harsh as a 'dipdye' and is referred to as a 'sombré' in mags and stuff which stands for subtle ombre. Deffo take a picture so you don't end up with too much or too little! I usually do a mix of foils in the bottom layers and freehand highlights through the top personally.

Oh wow. This is like witchcraft with hair dyes.

That's amazing, I didn't even know it could be done probably can't within my budget.

Now hankering after such loveliness.

How does it work with repeat applications as your hair grows? Does it get progressively lighter as it might with repeated highlights?

You can do it that way Patilla but what most clients do is get their roots done, or not depending on their natural colour or greys etc. and then get the blondie bits brought further up the hair to make up for the inch or two they get chopped off. I have some clients who won't get their hair recoloured for a year, or if you want to go blonde it's a good way to start transitioning gradually.

Oh thank you. At the moment I'm
Using a semi permanent dye to cover my greys though I don't think it's working any more but am scared to admit it as I suspect it will cost me more so I don't get roots done so much as overall dye but I'll chat to my hairdresser.

It's a lovely effect.

Can I ask how one would pronounce balayage? My salon specialises in it & I have been thinking about a new colour for a while to give my hair a bit of a lift, but I don't want to embarrass myself on the phone!

I am thinking bally-aahj but I have a strong regional accent & may sound ridiculous. Anyone in the know?

I say Bal like pal, ey like hay-ahj. I'm from Yorkshire though so most things sound ridiculous