Behind The Chair.com

Thursday November 21, 2013

The Global Issue

Something Borrowed, Something Blue, something Balayaged-A Wedding Highlight How-To

When BTC Editor Erin Chambers arrived at the BTC Chicago Academy to cover Candy Shaw's balayage class, she had no idea that she would become one of the recipients of the technique. But after meeting Erin, attendee Colorist of Chicago's Maxine Salon declared her an ideal balayage candidate. What's more, Erin was a brid-to-be at the time (she's now a blissful newlywed)-and she was eager to fine-tune her wedding day hue.

Without further ado, the colorist sat Erin down for a consultation. "She told me she wanted her color to be bright and blonde, and also natural," Maxine's Colorist reports. "I knew the best strategy would be a full balayage hightlight with lightener."

To get the look, the colorist gathered the majority of Erin's hair into a topknot and began workin in the nape area. "This way, there would be plenty of brightness in case she decided to wear her hair up," she comments. The colorist applied the lightener in a v-shape, carefully spacing her placement in order to create "high-low" dimmension and separating sections with plastic to prevent bleeding.

In the front, she switched to a heavier application. "The front highlights are always the most important," Maxine's Colorist comments. "They surround the face, which is where everyone is looking! I always keep the highlights tight and bright around the face, especially when the client is blonde."

When working with brides, Maxine Salon Colorist asks for details on how the hair will be worn on the wedding day so that she can identify the sections that will benefit most from the pop of a highlight. "And generally," she adds, "I advise my brides to book their color about a week before the wedding. That way there is time to make adjustments if necessary, plus I feel the color looks most natural after about a week of growth."