Balayage VS Highlights: What’s the difference?

Want to know the best highlights for black hair? Or just confused about hair highlights shades? Don’t know which is the best hair highlighting kit? We have the answer to all your questions. Read on to find out the types of ways in which you can add highlights to your hair.

There are many ways in which you can add color to your hair. You can go for an ombre or money pieces. But the most common and most well-known hair color styles are balayage and highlights. They look very similar but there is a difference between the two techniques.

In brief, a balayage is more random and applied towards the ends of your hair, it’s more free-flowing and artistic. Highlights are global and are done starting from your roots to your ends in a uniform manner. It is tricky to get the perfect highlights as they need to be precise and equally spaced out.

The real dilemma is which hair color technique should you go for. It depends on the look that you are trying to achieve. It also depends on the texture and length of your hair. If you have straight hair or waves, you can opt for a balayage or random highlights. But if you have curly hair then uniform highlights will pop out more. Furthermore, if you have long hair then you should go for a balayage as you can get highlights towards the ends of your hair. Whereas if your hair is short then you should go for highlights that will start from the roots itself.

Balayage Hair Coloring Technique

Balayage is basically a painting technique for a more blended hair color look. The application is extremely fine and it becomes thick towards the ends of your hair. For a voluminous hair coloring look, you can go for a Balayage. These highlights would ideally show up as you sweep your fingers through your hair for that perfect sun-kissed photograph. This is a low-maintenance technique as it blends in and fades out gradually.

Traditional Highlights Hair Coloring Technique

Thin sub-sections of your hair are first separated and then foil is used to allow the heating process to work faster. These sections should be equal for getting the perfect highlights. They are more visible naturally and they stand out. You need to refresh your hair more often as the foiling technique makes the color fade faster.

The Key Difference Between the 2 Styles

It is mostly the results that you get with both the techniques and the way these styles are executed that are different. So you should make sure that you look at enough photos of the two styles before you decide which one you want to pick. If you have never colored your hair before then definitely opt for a balayage. Go for some funky highlights if you have already been experimenting with hair colors!

Pooja is a highly proficient content writer with 6+ years of experience writing engaging articles about natural haircare topics. Pooja holds a Master's degree in journalism from Mumbai University.