Balayage or Ombré – Which one is best for you?

Deciding on a new hair colour can be one of the most daunting times. Endlessly scrolling on Pinterest for inspiration, turning to your favourite influencers for guidance, and at the end, you end up getting utterly confused with all the technical jargon flying about. Half or Full Saturation Balayage, Ombré, Highlights, Foliage, Sombre, Reverse Balayage, Lowlights etc.… All these terms can really confuse you.

Let us talk about the most common colour techniques that confuse the best of us.

Balayage or Ombré – The Difference?

Balayage (baa-lee-ahge): Originates from the French word that means “to sweep”/” to paint”; it’s exactly the way the colour is applied. Balayage doesn’t need traditional foils; it’s a freehand painting onto the hair. With a balayage, you can expect your hair to look natural with a gradual transition with no harsh lines. Colouring your hair with the balayage technique will make your hair have depth and dimension, giving you that subtle highlight effect, making it look like you have been on a long summer vacation by the beach.

Balayage is completely customised to your face shape, hair type and the colour you desire. Our stylists use a variety of light and dark tones giving your hair multiple dimensions of colour and leaving your hair blended, natural with a sunkissed glow.

This technique requires the utmost creativity and training, which our stylists have. They are trained and qualified in the balayage techniques by experts in the field.

Gone are the days of stripe highlights; freehand painting allows you to transition from dark to light so seamlessly. Our stylists are known for highlighting your best features and giving you a more customised look that is different from anyone else. We make sure that the colour works with your haircut, natural movement and growth patterns giving you the most beautiful multi-toned hair colour.

Ombré: It’s a French word that means “shadow”; this is more of a style of colour than an applying technique. Ombré leaves your hair with a clear contrast between dark and light. The hair is blended from a darker root and mid-length to a gradual transition to a lighter mid-shaft and ends. (The opposite result is a reverse ombré). With this style, let’s just say your hair will look dip-dyed.

Ombré is still super trendy; it can brighten up your face, add dimension, multi-toned and give you the perfect sun-kissed look. Ombré starts to lightning around the ears, providing an illuminating and head-turning look.

Our stylists are experts with this technique and if you want to have a little fun with your hair, try adding a fun contrast shade to the ombré. Ombré hair accentuates details of your face and hair that bring dimension & life to your beautiful hair.

Ombré, like balayage, is entirely customisable depending on how stark or subtle you would want the contrast to be. You can also add fun colours like red, blue, green etc. and have fun with your ombré.

Balayage or Ombré – Which one should I choose?

Let’s just get the similarities out of the way before we choose. Both styles are low maintenance and easy to grow out of. Both don’t touch the roots, so they grow out without going to the salons for regular touch-ups. Both styles work with practically every hair colour, and the care maintenance is also the same.

If you are new to the world of hair colouring, then both are good techniques for you to try out, depending on how much colour you would like to see on your hair. While balayage is a more vertical colour technique, an ombré is more horizontal. The creative possibilities with both are endless, depending on what kind of look you are going for and how bold you want to be with your hair.

Balayage works for most hair lengths except pixies, but if you have a strong, sharp bob haircut or straight hair, then you might want to try an ombré instead. How you style your hair usually plays an essential part in your decision-making process. Balayage looks the best with beachy waves or a slight curl, but an ombré looks good on all hair types.

Before you come to the salon always see some references and if you are confused talk to our expert stylists. They will help you clear your mind and give you the best colour suited to your hair. The best thing about both these techniques is that you can choose either look or even both, yeah! They can be used together as well.