Balayage is a French word that means “to sweep”. In this hair color technique, highlights are hand-painted or “swept” on the surface of random sections of hair.
Technique: Stylists will often use a variety of techniques to achieve a balayage look. Some will use a traditional highlight technique just placed an inch or more away from the root, while others will literally hand paint highlights on to your hair. The technique used will all depend on your desired look.
Blending: One of the benefits of balayage is “the blend.” Stylists often use a sweeping motion so that you don’t have a harsh line of demarcation. A lot of time the goal is to have a beautiful gradient of dark to light with a lot of lighter pieces placed on top where the sun would hit as well as in the front of your face.
Low Maintenance: The best part about balayage is the tendency to be lower maintenance than solid color or other highlighting techniques. The blending/sweeping motion will help so that you don’t have to keep coming back every 8-10 weeks to get your roots done. I am a busy woman,kids,2 jobs and I don’t have time to sit in a salon every 8-12 weeks. So I get a balayage and I have even waited 6 months to redo because it is no line of demarcation. It’s also healthier because you need to wait months to redo your hair.