Balayage Waterfall
When you’ve been in the industry for 15 years, you learn valuable lessons from your peers. Entering her 15th year of hairstyling, Sarah Mastandrea of FABU Salon and Spa in Newton, MA honed her balayage skills with help from L’Oréal Professionnel Educator, Sebastian Langman-Kirtley, who opened her up to endless possibilities. For this client, Sarah decided to show off those skills by enhancing brightness around her client’s face, offset by a rich gold canvas. The result? A stunning, multi-tonal balayage waterfall.
Want more expert balayage tips? Check out renowned L’Oreal Professionnel Artist, Nancy Braun, and her step-by-step techniques to perfecting the balayage, and some of her signature looks! Click here for more details!
Who Did It
COLOR FORMULAS 
FORMULA STEPS
1. Beginning in the back, section the hair from ear to ear. Take diagonal sections across from side to side, following the round of the head. Sections should vary in the degree of slant and amount of hair—that is what you want! Doing this creates the most natural, shattered appearance for the color.
2. Take your first diagonal from the bottom in the back and hold taut at 45 degrees. Begin by applying Formula A approximately ¾ of the way up the diagonal. Carefully begin painting vertically. You do not want to pierce through to the underside of this section. Feather up to the roots. Continue using Formula A on the surface of Zones 1 and 2.
3. Set the ends on a balayage paddle and saturate entirely with Formula A, throughout Zone 3. Wrap the ends in plastic and let the color sit.
4. Apply Formula B in the same fashion as Formula A, feathering it out and avoiding Zone 3. Alternate high and low throughout the back. Once finished, wrap sections in plastic.
5. Section the sides as you did the back—diagonally, varying in slant and amount of hair. For guidance, use the rounds of the head to create soft diagonal sections that frame the face.
6. Apply Formula C in the same fashion as you applied Formula A.
7. Once arriving at the natural part, follow the natural flow to enhance brightness around the face. Place plastic over the side sections, and process for 35 minutes.
8. Remove all plastic. Rinse, towel-dry and apply Formula D from root to ends for 7 minutes. Rinse again and apply Olaplex #2. Process for 10 minutes.
9. Shampoo, condition and style.
