Little Miss Ombre'

A lot of people have been asking me about my new hair colour of late. So I thought instead of explaining it individually to each of you, why don’t I just share my experience and answer your questions on hereJ

Balayage what?

Below is a photo of a model with amazing sunkissed, beachy looking hair.  Anybody who didn’t know better, would say it’s naturally sunkissed. Probably assuming that her hair has naturally lightenend from being on the beach all day in the sun. I am here to tell you her’s and the rest of hollywood’s secret ;)

 First things first, what the flip am I talking about when I say Ombre’ (om-bray) or also known as Balayage (ba-lee-arge) hair? These are really just fancy words or hairdresser jargon for describing the technique they use to get that sunkissed look on hair. Think Leighton Meester, Rachel Bilson and Lauren Conrad.

I was reading on Vouge.au and they gave quite a nice little explanation. “Balayage is a French colouring technique that was developed in the 1970s. It’s a freehand technique where the colour is applied by hand rather than using the traditional foiling or cap highlighting techniques.” That’s right girls, no more ugly foils!!! Some also refer to it as Ombre’. This is a French term for a technique used to colour material that graduates from dark to light.

Ombre' originates from the dying of material in a way that the colour
graduates from dark to light.

Balayage is allows you to look fashionable and feel great without having to shell out loads of cash every month. Yes, noted, your first balayage session will be pricy. But after that, you don’t have to go back for months. The more re-growth the better! This look is also really low maintenance. So for people who have little time to go to the salon each month, this is for you.  And if you have naturally wavy hair, then you practically don’t have to do anything after you balayage colour to get the beachy look, besides a few hair treatments to ease the damage caused by bleach. Check the video out below, to see the balayage technique

 

  My Balayage voyage

So here I was, 3 days before my graduation, trying to decide who entrust with Balayage voyageJ  The decision was easy for me, as I have been going to the same hair stylist for a year now, and have only had good results. His name is Warren Shultz, and although a junior stylist at Bliss Hair Design in 9^th Avenue Walmer, there’s nothing junior about his skills and techniques for hair. He understands hair, and he listens to what I want. And he’ll tell me if I’m crazy too. Haha.

Yay for Champagne!

So I made my appointment for highlights…thinking that’s all it really was. Little did I know, there was a name for what I wanted, and a process for what I wanted. And that process took about 5 hours! Of which I hadn’t actually planned for, and neither had Warren.  But as Warren does best, he calmed me down, and made me feel at home. Home meaning, throughout the 5 hours, I was given a cuppachino, 2 Lindt choices, lemon water and champagne to to celebrate the conclusion of my 5 hour session at the salon. So all in all, I had a really fun time.

Firstly, Warren applied the bleach to my hair in the balayage technique. So no foils, no cap, just creative application by your stylist. He placed more bleach on the ends of my hair and gradually used less and less towards my roots, stopping about 3-5cm from my roots. After each section he placed clingwrap over the hair with product, so as to not disturb the other hair. I had so much clingwrap in my hair, I told Warren my hair smelt like a sandwich. (5 hours in a salon makes you think of weird things_haha)  Heat was applied to my hair for about an hour then washed out. I freaked out a little when I seen the resultant colour, which was yellow! But Warren told me that they still had to put a glaze treatment on, to take away the yellowness. Phew!!! (Graduation photo, graduation photo!)

To find out how it went and to see the results (of course you do!), follow the the link. 

Now, because I have naturally auburn hair, my roots had to be touched up as well. So Warren applied an Inna hair dye to my roots. This is an oil based dye, which provides a rich natural tint to your hair. It gradually fades, so you don’t get those tint lines when your roots come through. This dye darkens into quite a black like colour when its on. So there I was, looking at myself in the mirror with yellow tips and black roots. And all I could think of was, Wiz Khalifa’s single- Black and Yellow. (AH HUH, YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS, BALCK AND YELLOW, BLACK AND YELLOW) Once again, 5 hours in a salon makes you do weird things.

So after about 30 minutes, the Inna hair dye was washed out. And the “GLAZE” that I had been hearing about all day, that was going to save my hair from looking like a bumble bee or me looking like a obsessive fan of the Kaiser Chiefs, was eventually applied and cling wrap was wrapped around my head once again. It looked like I had a condom on my head, luckily the result was worth the embarrassment. After 15 minutes of glazzzing (sounds like I’m a gammon being glazed_haha)  I was taken to the whisper room where I was treated to thee most amazing head and neck massage by Warren’s assistant and a full body massage by the vibrating chair. (Get your mind out of the gutter girls_haha)

Out of the whisper room I came, and finally it was time for my blow dry and beachy curls. My jaw dropped from amazement as my hair started to dry. The balayage colour was stunning!!! Then Warrencurled my hair loosely to created tousled, beachy hair. I looked like I had just come back from a holiday in the Seychelles or Bali, with my super sunkissed, wavy hair.

Before (left) and after (right)

 The cost

I paid R380 for my balayage and R200 for the glaze treatment (which is a must!) at Bliss Hair Salon in 9th Avenue, Walmer park (R580 all together)

I applied an Inna root tint as well (my choice, not compulsory) which I got for R400, but get my second root tint free. The blow dry finish is R80 and if you're looking to cut your hair, its about R210 for long hair, with a junior stylist.

Find prices on the Bliss Website:

Bliss Hair Design and Skincare

My advice

If you want sunkissed Balayage hair, first make sure you go to a hair-stylist that knows what Balayage/Ombre is! If they don’t know what you’re taking about…run! Half of Hollywood has it, you’re hairdresser should be up to date with the latest trends! (So I’m basically telling you that if you are in the Port Elizabeth area, do yourself and your hair a favour and make an appointment with Warren at Bliss) You don’t want a bad Balayage people!

Secondly, go to a hair stylist that understands the balayage technique and the natural flow of hair. And lastly, make sure that you go to a hairstylist that you trust. You don’t want to be stressing for 5 hours in the salon. You want to be made to feel at ease. If you trust your hair stylist, you will have an amazing balayage experience.

Have a look at this video to get a better understanding of the Balayage process:

A video on Balayage / ombre' technique