There are many different ways to place hair color. You can have your whole head of hair colored in a solid shade. You can have foil highlights placed either just around your face or all over your head. Or, you could go for a balayage. This is a newer hair color placement option, and it's taking the world by storm. Balayage means "sweeping" in French, and indeed, the color is swept into the hair, vertically, creating a gradual change in color from the top of the head to the ends of the hair. Why is balayage so popular, and why might it also be the ultimate hair color placement option for you? Well, there are a few reasons.

Balayage looks good while it grows out

If you have your whole head of hair dyed, you will eventually end up with a "stripe" at your roots as the color grows out. The same thing happens with foil highlights, and actually with most other color application techniques. But with balayage, your roots are never colored in the first place. The color typically starts, very gradually, a few inches down from the hair roots. As your hair grows out, the non-colored root portion just gets a little longer, but it never looks like a distinct stripe. Because of this, you can wait longer between balayage appointments, and your hair will continue to look great between appointments.

Balayage has a gentle look

Foil highlights can look harsh. Even if your stylist does their best to make the highlights thin and small, they are still coloring specific "stripes" of hair. There is a distinct contrast between the highlighted hairs and the natural hairs. With balayage, you get a much gentler, more gradual look. Some strands of hair are colored just a little. Others are colored more strongly. The color slowly changes from root to end, resulting in a soft appearance.

Balayage reduces exposure to hair color products

With balayage, the color product is not applied near your scalp, which means your skin and scalp are not exposed to the product. This makes balayage a safer choice than other hair color techniques, which do result in hair color coming into contact with your scalp. If you're sensitive to hair dye, pregnant, or simply want to limit chemical exposure, this application option is perfect.

Balayage is only becoming more and more popular as time goes on. Visit a salon near you to learn more about the balayage look.