Foilayage: 3 Strategic Sectioning Cheats For Bright Brunettes

3 Key Sectioning Tips for Foilayage

The key to flawless blends is sectioning. BTC Team Member and colorist, Farhana Premji (xo.farhana.balayage), expertly demonstrates on BTC University how to section for a natural-looking balayage, specialized to each client. Her secret? Less foils! Her 211k followers are on the edge of their seats.

Your client wanted expensive brunette for winter, but now wants brighter tones for summer. They want warmth without brassiness and ash without dullness. They want to keep their natural color, but sprinkle in some brightness. Now what? Keep scrolling for Farhana’s hot tips to achieve the look!

Need to know all of Farhana’s hot tips? Click HERE to become a BTC-U member and receive unlimited access to every class, including Farhana’s!

Swipe for the before and after!

1. Map Out Your Sections

Don’t get lost in long hair. Make a plan before you start, mapping out strategic sections that will all fall together seamlessly. Highlights aren’t one-size-fits-all, they should be customized for each client. 

• The back: Take diagonal sections that are thicker toward the back of the head. Keep a lot of hair out of the foils.
• The front: Foil a bit more to create a bold, face-framing pop of brightness.

Pro Tip: Before starting, remove the dead ends for clean sectioning with ARC™ Scissors Paragon II.

2. Keep The Money Piece Separate

The face-framing section should be set apart and saved for last. These pieces will lighten the quickest. This will produce blended, subtle front pieces, for a more natural style. Look for the natural curvature of the head and weave out a veil that will fall above the highlights, keeping the original color present. The colored sections will peek out from underneath, subtly. 

With your comb, stitch sections away from the root, keeping your comb end further from the scalp. Weave closer to the midshaft of the hair. This will avoid blunt sectioning.

3. Section Using Density

Instead of thinking about how many inches each section is, divide the hair based on the density of the amount of hair in your hand. This will customize the sections to the individual client, to get a very personalized foilayage. 

Pro Tip: When a client is a Level 4 to 5, lift them to a 9. Then, use a toner to bring them down to an 8. It’s hard to tone brass out of a Level 8, plus, it’s easier to tone orange than it is to tone yellow. This will give your client that bright, honey brunette that they crave!

Click the beaker below to see the color formulas of Farhana’s masterpiece!

• Formula A (lightener)

  Redken Flash Lift Lightening Powder + 20-volume developer

• Formula B (root melt)

  Redken Shades EQ Gloss 3N + a drop of 8C + processing solution

• Formula C (all-over gloss)

  Shades EQ 60g 8VG + 10g 08C + processing solution

Farhana’s 90 minutes of balayage education: Watch now!