What is ombré?

In French, ombré means “shade” or “shadow.” In the hair color world, ombré is a dramatic, two-toned hair color effect that is typically darker at the top and lighter on the bottom. Often the dark, top section is your natural hair color shade and the bottom section is lightened with hair lightener. An ombré hairstyle can also be any color combination—natural blonde, brown or red, or something unconventional like pink, blue, green or purple. It’s versatile, customizable and suitable for most long and medium hair lengths. A big plus with ombré hair color is that it’s easy on the budget. You don’t have to touch it up very often since the top section remains dark. The overall look of ombré hair color can change as your hair grows out, which many clients enjoy!

The different types of ombré:

A subtler version of ombré is called sombré. In a sombré hairstyle, the contrast between the two tones is softer. Another variation is called color melting. In color melting, two or three hair color shades may be used on each strand, and each shade is blended with the side of the hair color brush so that they appear to melt into each other. Like ombré, color melting can be done with natural-looking hair color shades or with any of the fun colors of the rainbow!

Is ombré for you?

If you like to make a statement with your hair, if you’re creative and adventurous with your personal style, go for it! Just be sure your hair is healthy to begin with, otherwise your hair color will look dull and will fade quickly. If necessary, spend some time using healthy, healing conditioning treatments and hair masks to improve the condition of your hair before heading to the salon for your ombré hair color!

What is balayage?

In French, balayage means “sweeping.” In the hair color world, balayage highlights are hand-painted or swept along the surface of the hair. The application begins away from the roots and gradually becomes heavier as it travels along the section, culminating in the heaviest application of lightener or hair color at the ends. Because the hair color or lightener is concentrated on the surface of each section, the underside remains darker, which gives the hair a very natural, dimensional effect. The resulting subtle balayage hairstyle mimics a natural, sun-kissed effect that has been in high demand from celebrities, models and high profile “it” girls for some time now. Balayage can be done on any hair color, from blonde hair to red hair to brown hair, although it’s typically not the first choice for super dark brunettes. It’s beautiful on long hair and on medium-length hair. Like ombré, balayage highlights are cost-effective because they don’t require frequent touchups, since the hair at the top is kept darker.

The different types of balayage:

Because balayage is a hand-painting technique, the artistry of your hair stylist comes into play and allows for many variations and beautiful color compositions. Hair color artists might combine several shades, for example, for a shimmering, dimensional result. If your hair is dark, they may opt for a foilayage technique. In foilayage, instead of allowing the balayage highlights to process in the air after they’re applied, they’re wrapped in foil, which provides more heat, and therefore amplifies the lightening process. Balayage may also be combined with conventional highlights placed closer to the face, or with fine, baby-lights placed around the face and hairline for a complexion-boosting glow.

Is balayage for you?

If you love sexy, natural-looking hair color (and who doesn’t?) balayage is a beautiful choice! Balayage hair color will bring nearly every hairstyle to life!
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1. Embrace the “bond” difference.

Whether you’re going for a subtle glow or a major hair color transformation with your ombré or balayage hair color, new bonding technology can make all the difference between hair that emerges damaged and hair that stays healthy, shiny and lustrous. It starts in the salon, with professional hair bond repair additives that protect the structural bonds of your hair during the highlighting process, and prevent additional damage from occurring. It continues at home with a revolutionary, three-step Re-Bonding system that continues to reconstruct damaged hair at the deepest level—fortifying, strengthening and smoothing your colored or lightened locks.

2. Keep up your good work.

Once the Re-Bonding system has repaired your hair, maintain your hair color investment with hair-color-friendly, sulfate-free, natural-origin hair care products that gently bathe the hair, leaving your hair color shiny; extending color vibrancy and resulting in hair that’s supple, conditioned and soft to the touch. It’s also a good idea to protect your hair from too much exposure to UV light, from chlorine or saltwater and from frequent, direct contact with hot tools—all of which can alter your hue or cause premature fading.

This article first appeared on Matrix

What Is Hygge Hair?
Only The Warmest, Most Comforting
Color Trend Ever
By Ariana Marsh

Considering autumn and winter are the perfect seasons to embrace a newer, more fiery hair color (unless you prefer to look like an ice queen, which I think is totally rad, too), there’s no better time than the present to get your hygge on. Head to the salon in a cashmere sweater, lambswool boots (again, Uggs are the optimal choice), and a hot drink in hand, for an especially cozy effect once your dye job is done.


This article first appeared on  Elite Daily

Nowadays, whether or not you actually request balayage hair color in the salon, chances are you’re going to get it. That’s because balayage is one of the most modern, natural-looking, gorgeous hair color techniques around and more and more hair stylists are adding the service to their repertoires. If you have any doubts about the popularity of balayage, take a close look at any celebrity “It girl”—Hadids, Kardashians, Jenners, Swift, etc. On all of those constantly-scrutinized heads of hair, you’ll see evidence of carefully crafted balayage highlights. So if you ask your stylist for sunkissed, dimensional hair color, chances are he or she will incorporate balayage into your color service.

So what exactly is balayage?  Matrix Celebrity Spokesperson George Papanikolas is a balayage expert—his work can be seen on the tresses of Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Hailey Baldwin, Hannah Jeter and loads more. “Balayage is actually a French word for painting,” says George. “And the technique originated in France. It’s a method of hand-painting sections of hair with lightener or hair color in order to create highlights that look as if the sun had lightened the hair naturally.” 

Typically, balayage highlights are concentrated on the center and ends of the hair, for the most natural-looking result. Many hair color experts also like to frame the face with balayage highlights. Because they’re not placed right at the root, regrowth is not noticeable, so frequent touch-ups aren’t necessary, making balayage a cost-effective hair color service. However, sometimes color artists like to combine balayage highlights with traditional, foil highlights for a more substantial lightening effect.

The best part about balayage highlights is that they are completely customized. That means your colorist will place them in the precise sections that will make your hair and your complexion look their very best.

You may think balayage is just for blondes, but that’s not the case. Balayage can be done on any color—blonde, brunette, red and more—and it can also be adapted for any length.

So — ready for hand-painted hair color?  Here are 10 of our favorite balayage hair color designs.

Platinum Balayage
Ice princesses rejoice! This clean, clear blonde balayage is completely Frozen-worthy, and has the cool impact of a Scandinavian blizzard. The roots are light, beige blonde and the wide balayage highlights in the center and on the ends are snowy pale.

Light Blonde Balayage
It’s blonde hair shot through with moonlight. Champagne strands are embellished with glistening silver balayage highlights to produce this shimmering effect. Applying the highlights with a delicate touch produces the all-over, gleaming result.

Medium Blonde Balayage
Also referred to as “bronde,” this medium blonde confection combines the best of both palettes. It’s a mélange of milk chocolate and cocoa brown, plus mocha and light cream highlights.

Dark Blonde Balayage
Perfect if your hair is on the dark side naturally, this combo maintains some of your rich, natural hue, then enlivens it with streaks of smoky blonde. Highlights should be heavier on a darker base, and for the most natural-looking results, your stylist will mix up the sizes, making some highlights thicker and some finer.

Light Brown Balayage
As innocent as a little kid, these subtle tones of sandy brown and buttery blonde will look like you spent the summer building sandcastles on the beach—even if you never left your desk! The key to placing these balayage highlights is to aim for the spots where the sun would hit your hair—around the face, on the crests of the waves and on the tips.

Medium Brown Balayage
Warm brown haircolor is lovely on its own. But add a few golden blonde highlights and, whoa! The results turn heads! Subtlety is the key to highlighting this hue. George Papanikolas recommends placing highlights in a v-shape on select sections, leaving the center of the “v” un-highlighted, for delicately beautiful results.

Dark Brown Balayage
Chocolate, caramel and honey work beautifully on the dessert tray, and the combination is equally delicious when it comes to balayage. These dramatic hues are bold and glamorous, and they reflect your confident approach to style and fashion.

Watercolor Balayage
If you’re looking for a cross between natural and high fashion, unconventional color, consider Watercolor balayage. Here, pale moss highlights are nestled in a smoky base, for a result that’s fashion forward yet still classic.

Grey Balayage
Grey is the new black. Rather than running screaming at the onset of a few greys, fashionistas are flocking to their color pros for cool versions of slate, steel, violet and blue-grey shades. One of the most popular “grey-dient” approaches is balayage. A deep base gradually morphs into lighter tones on the midlengths and ends. For example, if the base is inky blue, the lighter sections may be pale blue-grey and blue-silver.  If the base is deep violet, the ends could be done in variations of steely lavender.

Red Balayage
Think balayage is just for blondes and brunettes? Nuh-uh! It’s a gorgeous technique for redheads, too! Balayage provides the natural-looking dimension that redheads need, and the results are super subtle. For the most realistic results, your stylist will create a warm base color of auburn or chestnut, and then add balayage highlights in lighter tones of strawberry and toffee.