Balayage how-to with Alex PF Jackson

An exceptional hair colour can go beyond the whole "change-is-as-good-as-a-holiday" thing.

Yes, a hair colour where a) you surrender and trust your hairdresser, and b) it changes your perception of a colouring process you thought you knew is a rare experience.

And that's what happened at the hands of my new main [hair] man, Alex PF Jackson.

Here is what my colour looked like after Alex worked his magic.

And here, Alex explains how he did what he did to my hair, in simple layman's terms [so you can ask for the same at your salon. Better still, go and see Alex yourself... I don't mind sharing him!]

What is your preferred method of balayage?

"In the beginning, I was sectioning the hair in large foil-like sections, teasing the root area and putting it in foil packets. This gave a great result but I have been looking for even more of a natural, grown-out look so I did a little research into the balayage/ombre techniques and came up with a new one learnt from my co-worker.

This technique involves using a toothbrush, applying the colour from the ends up to the mid-lengths and teasing the colour product into the hair as you get closer to the root area."

What hair type suits balayage the most?

"Looser, longer hair styles can be better for this technique. Shorter styles can have balayage pieces to create a similar look. Balayage can be translated into different lengths and style, once your hair colour history is considered."

What kind of upkeep do you recommend?

"After you have had your balayage established, you will need to have a toner every 4-6 weeks according to the desired result and the tone required, which you can do at  your next haircut service. Every 10 - 12 weeks after the first application, you will need to have the balayage re-established because your hair will have grown. You can also tone your hair with a lighter shade, similar to the root colour.

I recommend La Biosthetique professional treatments and products, according to your hair type and condition after your balayage service."

What are the steps you took with my particular balayage, and why?

"Consultation about hair colour history. This is one of the most important steps as I really need to know what other colour processes have been preformed prior to your request for a balayage service.

With this in mind I proceeded to analyse hair condition, texture and porosity.

Your existing colour [mine, when I turned up at Alex’s salon chair] was a copper brown, and we decided to make it a little richer, but not darker. These shades are more suited to your skin tone.

Using La Biosthetique colour range, the root area was the first step for application making sure I covered the regrowth and brushing the colour a little further out, so then the new colour blended with the existing colour, keeping some of the existing colour in the mid-lengths. This mid-lengths colour was a little lighter which made the transition for balayage more appealing.

Considering your hair history [again, my hair history – I gave Alex the whooole rundown] I decided to use the La Biosthetique X.Dream cream lightener, with 3% developer. This was the best way to reduce the colour on the ends/mid-lengths and keeping the hair condition. This is similar to your conventional bleach, but is a lot gentler on the hair, applying the product to the ends/mid-lengths, working it up the section with my toothbrush. Teasing the colour product into my section as I get just past the mid-lengths but not as far as the root colour where I have brushed it out past the regrowth.

As I was concerned about your hair condition I did not contain each section in foil packets, as this would have enclosed heat from the product. 

After 45 minutes, I mixed up some more X.Dream cream and applied it just to the ends to get a little more lightness in this area.

Next, I shampooed twice, towel dried, and applied the toner. The toner was used to reduce the warmth in the ends/mid-lengths, which comes out when lightening hair.

All La Biosthetique colour products used were chosen to create a beautiful balayage service without compromising hair condition."

And there you have it!

If you'd like to have Alex [below] transform your hair [he's also exceptional at makeup - he gave me a rundown on his techniques by demoing them on me], you can contact him right here: alexpfjackson@gmail.com        

And you can see his work - and 'like' him and what he does - by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexpfjackson/186069688179876