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CONTENTS HAIR COLOUR FOR HAIRSTYLISTS: LEVEL 2

Chapter 6 – Hair Painting

6.1 Hair Painting Methods

Hair painting is a very organic, visual technique in which the stylist customizes the colour
placement to enhance the client’s facial features and natural hair colour and texture. The three
most popular hair painting techniques today are free-hand, balayage, and ombré. These terms
are sometimes used interchangeably by clients and stylists, but each has its own unique appli-
cation process, and each can be done alone or combined with other techniques for a truly
unique result.

So, what are the distinguishing factors of each technique?

Hair Painting Techniques

Free-Hand Painting Balayage Ombré

Images

Panels Thin Panels/ Horizontal or

Sectioning Subsections diagonal slices/
Triangles Subsections

Selected strands are Product is lightly

well saturated swept over the Hair is fully
Application surface of the hair saturated at the mid-
Vertical brush Vertical brush lengths to ends
strokes strokes

Open-air processing Open-air processing Open-air processing

Separation Tools Foils, meches, Foils, meches,
thermal papers Cotton thermal papers

Ribbons of blonde or Progressive blend of

Natural dark root to lighter
colour against ends
Final Result deeper dimension Subtle blend
High contrast Sun-kissed Medium – high
contrast

All of these hair painting techniques will give you a lived-in look that requires minimal main-
tenance, yet, each one requires a specific skill set and a deeper understanding of the intended
outcomes. Before you can select the correct procedure for your client, let’s go into each tech-
nique a little further.

Free-Hand Hair Painting

Free-hand hair painting vs Balayage: Are they the same?

Free-hand hair painting is often referred to as Balayage, or vice versa. Balayage is in fact a
method of free-hand hair painting, but the distinction between the two is in the application.

With classic free-hand painting, strategic pieces of hair are saturated through with colour or
lightener for a pop of contrast. It is a more organic alternative to foils, since the product is
placed while the hair is at its natural fall.

As seen in the images below, the colour or lightener can applied as:

A ½ V-shape.
A ribbon. A W-shape. A V-shape.

Note: A ½ V-shape is a popular application to use on the sides, as it focuses the pop of
colour around the face.

Balayage

With balayage, the colour or lightener is swept lightly over the surface of the section, with the
saturation through the section focused more towards the ends (if desired), as seen below:

Balayage is literally translated as “to sweep,” so light brush pressure and surface-only satura-
tion are key. Generally, this technique is processed in open-air for subtle lift and a more natural
“sun-kissed” result.

The photo below illustrates how much depth is left underneath your lightly painted sections.
This is what results in a natural, subtle result.

Ombré

Alternately, Ombré is a look of gradation of colour used in everything from home décor, to
fashion, to nails.

When it comes to hair, ombré is not a technique of hair painting, as balayage is, but rather a
look or result.

To achieve an ombré effect on hair, the colour or lightener is applied in more of a horizontal
placement, with full saturation. Generally the regrowth area is darker and the ends are lighter,
with a transition in the mid-strands.

This look can be achieved on virgin hair by blending progressing levels of different colour for-
mulas down the hair strand, or on virgin or coloured hair using lightener to lift, and toners to
achieve the blended transition.

Ombré hair colour.

All three techniques can be used to achieve beautiful, low maintenance results. Next we will
explore how to create a seamless blend in whichever method of hair painting you choose to
use.

Media Attributions

“Woman with long hair” by Rachel is used with permission under the Adobe Stock Ex-
tended Licence. It may not be reproduced.

“Blonde Painted Hair on Dark Hair” by Kylie is used with permission under the Adobe
Stock Extended Licence. It may not be reproduced.

“Beautiful ombré hair coloring on a girl with long hair, view from the back” by
Oksy001 is used with permission under the Adobe Stock Extended Licence. It may not be
reproduced.

“Other Examples of Ombre” by A. Magtiza is under a CC BY 2.0 Licence. It includes the

following images:

Fabric image (Ombré) by Rosmarie Voegtli is under a CC BY 2.0 Licence.

Ombré Portriat image on Piqsels is in the public domain.

Ombré nails image (Degradê) by Lelê Breveglieri is under a CC BY 2.0 Licence.

Ombré hair image (Green Hair) by xiclography is under the Pixabay licence.

All of mannequins in this chapter are by A. Magtiza and are under a CC BY 4.0 Licence.

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Hair Colour for Hairstylists: Level 2 by Arden Magtiza is licensed

under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
except where otherwise noted.

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Previous: Chapter 6 – Hair Painting Next: 6.2 Blending Techniques