Balayage vs. Foils

Balayage is all the rage. Why? What makes it better than foils? Is it better than foils? In our humble opinion, they’re just different and serve a different purpose.

Foiled highlights seem like a thing of the past, but we are in fact still doing a lot of it. We aren’t necessarily saying goodbye to foils, however balayage is sweeping the hair industry almost as fast as pokemon hit everyone’s cellphones this past month.

So people are asking, why balayage? It’s low upkeep for one. When you feel like you need to get your highlights touched up every 8 weeks, balayage could be done every 12-14 weeks or maybe even longer depending on the look you’re going for! Balayage has a softer line of demarcation, as it doesn’t have a hard stop at the scalp, it is brushed up softer then a foil line. It may not leave it as dramatic as a foil will, but it can still create a statement.

Foils are great for a heavy, high lift blonde. If you’re determined to get rid of an old existing darker color rather quickly, foils could be for you. Balayage can also get you there, but it’s going to go at a slower pace than foils and may take a few visits.

Balayage can be custom for you, painting higher, lower, contouring the hair, adding custom dimension. Foils are great too for dimension, but it will look a little more structured where balayage is more lived-in, sometimes you can’t really tell where the color stops and starts as it’s more natural.

Foiled highlights can also give you a dramatic burst of color around your face, where maybe you can have balayage in the back to keep a “rooty” look. There are no limits with color now a days, and to be honest, both foil and hair painting can help you achieve different looks. We recommend bringing in pictures on your appointment day, things you love and things you really don’t. This helps us determine which would be good for you, foils or balayage.

Why is the price of balayage higher? Balayage uses a different product, formulated specifically for free-hand hairpainting. This product is priced higher and we have to use more of it. Balayage also takes more time, brain power and creativity used for placement and a custom color just for you with lower maintenance so you’ll be seeing us less. However, we’re finding that it’s worth every penny.

You will notice our balayage prices are now different from our foiled highlight prices. Truth be told we’ve been priced poorly for years. We have had ample amounts of training and advanced education in balayage and feel its time for a little price hike to compensate for the price of product we’ve been using.

Julianne’s color prices in general are going to raise up to “Elite Designer” prices starting in the 4th Quarter of the year. She has worked very hard in continued education, in and out of the hair studio. Please take note of this now as it will be effective October 1.

Thank you for reading and being a part of the CUT movement. We love you guys and look forward to painting, loving and serving you! xo
-Danielle