Beauty can be a process, but if you know the tricks, you can get it right! On a beauty scale of 1 to ten, I would confidently assert that you can get an easy 8 from an outfit alone. However, for women, the trick is even more interesting: the hair!
Your hair has it all. It is your greatest accessory without which your beauty is incomplete. In fact, a number of guys will simply go for the hair; your hair alone is enough to drive them completely out of control.
This is, perhaps, the reality that has dawned on the 2014 generation. The hair styles that were not even imagined less than a year ago are now taking hold in the beauty industry. Dominating the stage now are some of the bold hair color and hair forms that would not have been offered in even the most avant garde salons even a year ago.
Balayage, If You Value the Natural Look
Interestingly, just a while back, you would be surprised at how difficult it was to get your hair colored if balayage was your preference, even in downtown Texas and on the West Coast. But not anymore! The trend has changed, and this is now the new order in town. Folks are fast going for balayage, and a lot of salons are offering the service.
This latest art of hair painting is taking the hair industry by storm. It is now becoming one of the most popular requested highlighting services for 2015. Compared to foils, balayage is fast becoming not just an alternative, but the option for those who consider having a touch of natural look above their shoulders.
An Atlanta hair expert, David Barron, observes that balayage works on all hair colors. Though he stresses that the style is especially awesome with blondes. And when there is a beautiful base color to work with, the outcome is gorgeous. “I would recommend a mix of highlights and lowlights,” David adds. This is the process commonly used in salons for most of the hairstyles that are dominating the stage this year.
But what is Balayage?
Balayage is the process of sweeping color into your hair by the use of a color brush. The colorist has the liberty to place color where they so choose. This is in contrast to the traditional highlighting technique using foils. Traditional foiling is a precision technique for the specific placement of highlights, where balayage allows for the freedom of placement with less precision.
With balayage, the stylist basically applies color onto randomly selected sections of hair to make it lighter, creating a contrast. They refer to the process as ‘sweeping’ in New York, and the other areas where the style is common, since they use a sweeping motion when applying the color. Pieces of hair from the head are carefully taken instead of just taking an entire section of hair in form of a square foil. At times, balayage can involve applying the product to the hair roots only.
Unlike the foil, balayage does not utilize the same bleach product. Here, different bleach agents achieve different consistencies. This consistency allows the colorist to leave the lightener on longer in order to provide the desired amount of lift.
The Perfect Time for Balayage
A conversation with a balayage colorist provides some useful tips regarding when it is most appropriate to choose this coloring technique. Experts like this process, especially with a first time highlight client who is requesting subtle, natural highlights on any hair shade. This is a client who is looking to have color that is not obvious. Not something that is going to shout: ‘Hey, look! I just got colored!’
Another case where balayage is a good option, involves a client, whether male or female, with very short hair. Foils may not provide a very desirable outcome for such a client. You don’t want someone to see obvious stripes of bleached hair standing out on their head. So, in such a case, balayage gives you the most desirable natural finish that speaks for itself.
When maintenance is the focal point again, balayage has the final answer. Clients who have previously had their hair foiled, often decide to having balayage for a more maintainable outcome. Balayage can allow clients to get a more natural look that doesn’t originate at the scalp so growing the look out is easier because the strak contrast at the roots compared to the highlights isn’t as obvious.
Balayage will also solve the problem of dark color around the hairline. Sometimes, stylists are simply unable to get foilos right at the hairline, and this may frustrate the client. In such cases, balayage is a perfect solution to blend the fine hairs at the root or hairline with the rest of the hair.
For curly hair, balayage can be magical. The technique guarantees added dimension and interest to curls. The greatest part is how natural it looks! It is like you were born with that hair color! Balayage allows the stylist to select thick and thin sections to flow with a client’s natural curl pattern. Adding multiple colors to curly hair using balayage also allows a stylist to create unique patterns that compliment and accent the hair’s wave. A combination of all of these will give a magical touch to naturally curly hair.
Ombré, Dominating 2014
One of the most common trends, the ombré, is sweeping the hair industy. Aside from platinum, bright hues and dip-dyes, ombré, is appearing quite commonly on the heads of many women, with celebrities leading the pack. With its diverse variety of options, this style is hardly ever a miss. A traditional ombre is darker on top blended to lighter on the bottom of the hair, and can be customized to whatever works best for a client. Regardless of your lifestyle or maintenance preferences, there is an ombre that fits!. You’ll find it in magazines, on television, across the streets, and all over the city walkways. Let’s have a look at some of these options and what you need to know about the ombre:
The Chocolate Cherry
One factor that gives the ombré its diverse popularity is the ability to fall in place and give that perfect look with a wide range of hair colors and forms. The Chocolate Cherry is a great look for brunettes, and you can go darker chocolate on top or lighter chocolate to match your skin tone and eye color. The chocolate color blends into the lighter cherry color to give you gives you a hint of red popping through the ends. For those brunettes who are not looking for something lighter all over, this is their ultimate answer. It will fit perfectly with those whose skin is fair or of medium tones. For darker skin tones, a darker contrast on top with a lighter contrast on the bottom will work too.
Those who decide on this ombre look recommend the use of sulfate-free shampoo. This is proven to be safe with color. You do not want to reduce the depth of your hair color tone by stripping your hair with the improper shampoo.
Honey Clouds
Glowing and delicate in appearance, this type of ombré gives you a soft look that complements the straight on top and curls on bottom style. The color and the curls together leave you with a complete set of glowing beauty. The secret is the softness of the transition. A light skin tone will go well with this color selection. So will medium tone skin, especially with warmer undertones.
Short and Sassy Ombré
Who said the short haired women should miss out on the latest ombré trend taking the stage in 2015? Here is an ombré hair style that will match both men and women alike. The blonde strokes bring in a bright hue on the ends that brings out the texture of the haircut.
And the best part of it? Regardless of your skin tone, this hair will work! Hand placing lighter pieces on the ends of the hair allow you to choose whatever lighter tone best suits your current hair color and skin. Do you wonder what is best for you? Well, it is your turn to pick out the style and get trendy this year.
The Reverse Ombré
Another ombre look that stands out in a crowd is the reverse ombré. With this version of the ombre, color goes from light on top to progressively darker on the bottom. For example, You can add a glowing brown transition to a base of bright blonde , which keeps lightness around your face but adds interest to your look. The reverse ombre is also a form of beauty trick too! It will help to conceal damaged ends, typical of over-lightened hair.
Pastel Hues
Not all the hair colors you will see in 2015 are found naturally on someone’s head. The popular pastel hues are hand mixed and created especially for that other-worldly feel. The good thing about pastel colors is they are contemporary and not seen everywhere, yet You may just be among the few icons of this hair trend that is driving its popularity. Nothing feels better than being at the top of a fashion and setting a trend! You often see trend setting styles on rock stars, who are known for being ahead of the curve with their unique looks. Who says you can’t have that look as well?
Made up your mind yet? Want some of these? Well, there are now a variety of them you can go for, depending with your skin tone and preference. You may consider applying a few strands of color to your hair from the wide range of the pastel colors this year is offering. The highlights may amaze you with how cool they look when put right. While deciding, you may try it out at first with a few colors that are temporary, then proceed to settle on what most works for you.
Baby-lights
Just like the rare pastels, you realize that the hair color you love seeing on babies could never actually be on your head. Think of that blonde baby hair color that you rarely see on the head of anyone above the age of 3. With the newest 2015 trend “baby-lights”, you can look exactly like that again, even now that you are fully grown.
These baby-lights are actually super-fine highlights, which usually take quite some time to get right. When you go for the baby-lights, get prepared to spend some quality time at your colorists chair. They usually take a little longer than the normal processes to get complete.
What makes the baby-lights that time consuming to put together is their intricate structure. The coloring takes really tiny sections of highlights, which are painted on, with some strands thicker as compared to the others. You will have to part with some good amount of dollars to get this done as the process is quite tedious and may last for well more than an hour. What you get to have at the end of the process is, however, breathtaking. With baby-lights you get your money’s worth.
Sombré
Sounds new, huh? We are not talking a foreign concept here. Sombré is a subtle form of ombré. This is a smart 2015 shift from the obvious ombré hairstyles you meet everywhere. Even the name ‘sombré’ is a trendy term that you would not likely have heard before, unless you were referring to something completely apart from the subtle ombré of 2014. With this, you get a few pieces smoothly fading with the ends highlighted only partially. The secret about having the sombré hair color is about being less concrete with the shading. It involves skillfully avoiding the obviousness that is likely to come with hair coloring.
Brunette Hair with Some Twist
Brunette hair is one of the types of hair that has received the most criticism. While someone will most directly look at blonde and marvel at its sexy tone, brunettes might just get the opposite. Some people may just expressly view brunettes as being unexciting. Others, though, find it beautiful and prefer to keep it that natural with their heads raised high.
That said, you may need something more than the obvious, more than the natural form. With its variety that includes the light brown, medium brown, dark brown and darkest brown , a number of options are trending this year. Several brunettes are going for the ombré options, balayage, baby-lights; you name it. Yet with this hair type, when styled with a stream of curls or twists, you may just be the center of attention whenever you go out. This option is quite appropriate with a wide range of skin color tones, so you do not have to be restricted or fall out of fashion.
Platinum
Another 2015 ground breaker! Platinum blonde hair! It is smashing and radiant. The 2014 blondes have decided to gravitate toward lighter hair. in the new year The golden tones with honey colors are losing ground and being traded for a lighter, icy look. If matched with the right skin tone, this hair color is just amazing.
The Blonde
The blonde in question is the lighter and medium blondes that live on the light brunette edge. A good stylist will give you a perfect shade falling between blonde and brunette, yet is neither. The only thing that is not intermediate is the beauty that comes with this blonde hair.
Most of these trending hair colors or styles are likely to look quite natural. This is not purely a result of aesthetic design; the idea is borrowed from natural hair itself. Natural human hair is never a single complete color. Rather, it is a collection of several color strands. You may easily observe this by examining a baby’s hair. You will notice it has a range of strands, some of which appear lighter and others darker. The smooth tone with which the strands merge into each other is what makes it hard to notice the difference. This is the same idea that inspires the 2015 hair designs and the different coloring styles available. This is what your stylist strives to achieve by mixing lowlights and the highlights.