Your brown-haired beauty wants to go lighter but isn’t quite ready to find out if blondes have more fun. What do you do? Subtly lighten up her strands with a low-maintenance brunette balayage and then add a pearl blonde money piece for a pop of dimension, of course! Find out how BTC Team Member Mallery Share (@hellobalayage) created this dreamy blend in the how-to steps below.
Pricing: “My balayage pricing starts at $300 with a custom tone,” shares Mallery. “Prices vary though—it can go up depending on the difficulty and complexity of the color.”
1. Working off her natural part, start by sectioning the hair from her ear up to the part.
2. Take a diagonal section and balayage with Formula A, saturating both the top and bottom to create a ribbon effect. “I choose a vertical pattern because it creates points of light that will appear bolder,” says Mallery.
Pro Tip: Horizontal patterns break up color while vertical patterns show strong points that give more of a 3D look.
3. Continue painting Formula A on each side of the head, staggering the diagonal sections so the balayage lives in different parts of the head and allows her natural color to come through. This will create that beautiful dimension.
Pro Tip: Don’t paint every piece of hair. Mallery left some of the natural hair uncolored because brunettes need their darker strands to really show the vibrancy of the blonde balayage.
4. Once both sides are balayaged, move to the back and paint Formula A on V-shaped sections in a bricklay pattern. Be sure to leave some of her natural hair out to create a lowlight.
5. Wrap each painted section in film wrap to ensure maximum lift and let process for 45 minutes.
Note: When painting blondes vs. brunettes, sometimes it’s about saturation and not placement. When balayaging brunettes, Mallery paints the top and bottom of each section because it allows the hair to lift more than three levels.
6. Rinse, then apply GKhair Lock Me Color Masque and let sit for 15 minutes. This will add hydration back into the hair and lock in the newly formed bonds from the Shield Additive+.
7. Rinse again, then tone with Formula B and let process for 20 minutes.
8. Shampoo and condition, blow-dry and style as desired. Then, make sure to send your client home with GKhair Silver Shampoo (it has a violet base) to help prolong her color and rebook her for a touch up in 12 weeks.