Chemical Exposure and Hair Health Balayage, while generally gentler than traditional hair coloring methods, still involves the use of chemicals. These chemicals can strip your hair of its natural oils, leading to dryness and potential breakage.
Potential Risks of Balayage
Balayage is known for being a gentler option compared to the traditional highlighting methods, but it still involves using chemicals. These chemicals can sometimes strip your hair of its natural oils, leading to dryness and even breakage.
Hair is stressed by dyeing because it loses natural oils, lipids, and nutrients, causing it to weaken and break. Excessive hair coloring can leave your scalp irritated and damaged. This might also lead to your scalp being unable to produce healthy hair.
People that use hair bleach will experience their hair appearing thinner after the treatment. This reaction happens because bleached hair generally feels thinner. After all, it has lost its lipids, fatty acids, and keratin protein, giving it structure, strength, and elasticity.
"The best way to grow out your natural color, especially coming from a highlight or balayage look, is to have your colorist gloss your hair back to the natural level of the roots to allow the natural root to blend as it grows," says IGK Hair Care founder Chase Kusero.
Does balayage damage hair? Balayage isn't as potentially-damaging as bleaching your hair, or getting your roots done every six weeks, as foils and heat aren't used. However, it's still a chemical treatment, so it's best to take care of your hair after having it coloured.
The downside is that balayage can be expensive and if not done correctly, it will not result in the best look for your hair.
Potential Damage from Balayage
The lightener used in balayage can dry out your hair, making it more prone to breakage and split ends. It's essential to follow a good hair care routine to minimize these effects.
Bleached hair will only fall out if it's been overprocessed to the max or the bleach is left on for far too long, which shouldn't happen with a trained professional. What's more likely to happen is breakage. A lot of people get this confused with their hair falling out, but it's actually very different.
The good news is that in most cases, hair loss from hair dye is reversible. Once the underlying cause of hair loss is addressed and the scalp and hair follicles are given time to recover, hair growth typically resumes.
Damage: If your hair is already damaged or fragile, you may want to avoid coloring it altogether or consider a more gentle coloring technique. Balayage can potentially be less damaging than traditional highlights, but it is still a chemical process that can strip the hair of its natural oils and weaken the hair shaft.
Look for products with keratin, coconut oil, or shea butter as these ingredients are great for nourishing damaged hair. Additionally, you can also try using hair masks or leave-in conditioners for extra nourishment. PLus, these products also help to protect your colored hair from external damage.
SUITABLE FOR ALL HAIR TYPES
The main advantage of balayage is that it is suitable for most people and their hair condition. Whether you have thin hair, thick hair, or brittle hair, balayage is for you. The painting technique leaves very little dye on your hair, which leads to minor or minimal damage.
Don't Wash Your Hair For 3 Days After The Balayage Treatment
This is because the color pigments require time to settle into your hair and washing hair with water or any shampoo or conditioner will interfere with the quantity of the toner on your hair.
“Space out the highlights at the root area so that you get a softer demarcation line,” advises Stenson to those growing out highlights or balayage. “You can also add a base color and pull through the mid sections for more depth.”
Although gentler than some other techniques, balayage can still cause damage if not done correctly. Choosing a skilled stylist and high-quality products can help minimize potential harm. Proper hair care before and after balayage is essential to maintain hair health.
Root melting creates depth and dimension within your color, creating a 'lived in' look. This look is low maintenance as it lets you embrace your roots and natural color while also having the lightness and brightness of highlights or balayage lower down. A root melt is for clients who love a deep-rooted look.
This is a great option for dark hair and cool-toned brunettes. Adding caramel highlights can help to warm and soften facial features; and the balayage technique ensures your highlights grow out without a demarcation line. These things all lead to a more youthful appearance.
Balayage is a classic technique, but in 2025, it's getting a subtle update. Minimal balayage is all about soft, natural highlights that gently frame the face and add just a hint of contrast.
If you have balayage or are looking to get it then stay tuned! Balayage is less maintenance than traditional full foil highlights that needs to be retouched every 4-8 weeks while balayage highlights don't need to be touched up for at least 8-10 weeks.
A weekly hair gloss or glaze is the perfect treatment to keep your balayage highlights shiny and bright. The Heart of Glass sheer hair glaze for blondes provides hydration, shine, and heat protection, and restores elasticity to the hair. Once a week apply it to towel dried hair, comb through and proceed with styling.