We’ve all had that moment—the hair is processing and looks great. You rinse, you dry and….WHAAAT?!? How did these splotches happen?!

Well, there’s a couple things that might have occurred, according to balayage badass Jamie Sea, aka @prettylittleombre, the #ONESHOT Hotshot Winner of Ombré Shot of the Year in 2016! Her 342k Instagram followers totally trust her with all things balayage, so we had to ask—how can you avoid a splotchy balayage? Here are her tips!

Top 7 Tips From @prettylittleombre

1. Avoid a too-runny product. If it’s too runny, it will seep in between strands.

2. ALWAYS have a smooth and taut surface.

3. Look underneath your painted piece—is it just as blurred as the top? Make it a habit to always check under your section.

4. Apply in a light, sweeping motion to avoid pushing product into the deeper strands underneath.

5. For retouches, when you reach the line of demarcation, lightly feather your lightener over the line to connect it—but don’t heavily saturate the area.

6. Make sure the product is consistent down the hair shaft.

7. Practice is key! Don’t give up!

Check out this quickie video to see how Jamie handles this color correction!

 

A video posted by JAMIE SEA (@prettylittleombre) on Jan 3, 2017 at 4:32pm PST

And because we know you can’t get enough…watch Jamie tackle a balayage retouch!

 

A video posted by JAMIE SEA (@prettylittleombre) on Dec 12, 2016 at 5:30pm PST