*This* is How You Create the Balayage Bob of Dreams
What do you get when you merge the hottest highlighting technique with this summer’s must-have haircut? It can only be the balayage bob; a style so seamlessly sun-kissed, everyone will want it. While you might be used to seeing freehand blonde highlights swathed through longer, mermaid-like locks, a shorter take is just as ‘Gram-worthy, and requires some serious coloring skills.
After all, your challenge is to make those ‘lights look natural with only a little bit of length to work with. So, how do you perfect your client’s balayage bob? Here’s everything you need to know…
How to Create a Balayage Bob
How to Cut a Bob Haircut
- If you’re lopping off a lot of length to give your client a balayage bob, you’ll need to do the cut first, so you can see exactly how much hair there is to highlight. On mid-length or long hair, go ahead and chop the length so it skims shoulders for a lob (long bob) or use the chin as your guide for a shorter style.
- On very thick hair, remove some of the weight with texturizing shears. Go slow at first, so you don’t take too much volume away. Bonus: reducing the excess length and weight before the coloring service will save you time and money, as you will have less hair to apply color to.
- When you’ve reached the right length, neaten the style by gently point-cutting the ends. You could also add layers or some feathering through the front to give the bob extra texture and dimension.
How to Do the Balayage Bob
- The best balayage technique always starts with our freehand hair lightener, Blondor Freelights. It allows for the most precise highlights, with an adhesive mass that ensures it stays exactly where you apply it. Mix it up, keeping in mind that, when you’re doing balayage foil-free, you might want to increase the volume of the hair developer to get plenty of lightness and lift.
- When it comes to placement, you should always start by sweeping Blondor Freelights where you want balayage to appear most intense. These sections of hair will end up having the lightener on them for the longest, so they’ll experience more of a lift. With a bob, extra brightness through the face-framing layers is ultra-flattering, as it frames the cut flawlessly and makes the complexion glow. Try this as a starting point.
- Around the face, start sweeping the lightener about an inch down from the root. For the rest of the hair, take a painterly approach, gliding your brush through the mid-lengths and ends at varying heights. Just keep in mind that, the lower you apply balayage on a bob, the sooner it gets cut out. That’s why we tend to start highlights higher than we would on mid-length or longer hair.
- Once the lightener has developed, rinse out and – if needed – tone the hair to the perfect shade. Then it’s time to blow-dry and style… PSA: a wavy bob always gets plenty of Insta likes.
11 Balayage Bob Ideas
Blonde Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @kir.hair
A blonde-on-blonde balayage is all about adding ‘spotlights’ of brightness through the mid-lengths and tips, helping to lend some extra shimmer to an already-light base. These soft-focus, diffused highlights, by Kirstine Rechnagel, are a perfect example of seamless blending, and you can bump up the glow even further by spritzing EIMI Glam Mist shine spray after styling.
Brown Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @eupedronascimento
Who said blondes get to have all the fun? We love a brunette balayage, and this modern creation by Pedro Nascimento flawlessly demonstrates why. Every balayaged ribbon – perfected using Blondor – works to give the bob even more depth and volume, but the shift in shade is so subtle, it could pass for a natural, born-with-it hue. We’re obsessed.
Caramel Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @topknotbalayage
How delicious is this caramel blonde balayage bob? The shade is brimming with luster and gloss, and the wavy styling only adds to the high-shine effect. If your clients are craving a rich, toasted hue like this, point them in the direction of INVIGO Blonde Recharge Warm Blonde Conditioner, which they can use between appointments to ensure their balayage doesn’t steer too warm.
Copper Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @brianacisneros
Created by Wella Hair Color Global Ambassador Briana Cisneros, this copper hair creation relies on razor cut ends, face-framing layers and pure-pigment Koleston Perfect. She went for 5/43 + 6/71 + 6/34 on the roots, 7/43 + 8/41 through the mid-lengths, and 8/34 + 99/44 on pre-lightened ends. Try foilyage through the front for this flaming red technique, creating extra lift and brightness near the hairline.
Ash Blonde Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @lift_lob_love
This isn’t your average ash blonde. Instead of an all-over cool, ashy tone, it pops up in subtle babylights, intertwined with hints of ivory, vanilla and beige blonde. The result? A multi-tonal mane that takes a bob from glossy to glossier, lending the appearance of bountiful bouncy volume and depth. To get the look, Laura Marie lifted hair with Blondor + 6%, then toned using demi-permanent Color Touch with 10/6 + 10/03 + 4 % developer.
Balayage Lob
Image Credit: @topknotbalayage
A balayage lob brushes the shoulders, giving you a little more length to lift and lighten, and offering the chance to start your highlights a few inches further down from the roots. Case in point: this bronde hair look by Amanda Leaman, which was lightened from the mid-lengths to ends, then toned using Color Touch 8/71 + 8/0 + a line of 8/43.
Beach Blonde Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @ambiente_by_pablo
Beach blonde shades are set for a summer ‘21 resurgence, as clients head back out into the world – and the sun – with a renewed love for all things outdoorsy. Surfer-inspired, hand-swept highlights reflect their hot-weather ambitions, so create golden blonde chunky high-lights with Blondor Freelights to bump up texture and dimension. Here, Pablo Acosta has then mixed up a blend of Color Touch Relights /18 + /86 + /00 to tone the hair for the perfect lived-in blonde result.
Brunette Bob with Twilighting
Image Credit: @fiona_coiffure
Heard of twilighting? It’s a little like sun-kissed hair but deeper. In fact, with its dark brunette base and gilded, glowy ribbons, you might describe it as ‘moonlit’. Here’s a soft and subtle example that sees toffee tones balayage-d through chocolate locks. Enhance the hues when freshly-styled with a dose of gloss. A touch of EIMI Oil Spritz has you covered.
Ice Blonde Balayage Bob
Image Credit: @konstantinos_hair
Ice blonde hair isn’t going anywhere. In this balayage lob, it’s layered over a baby blonde base to leave locks with a subtle root shadow. And, guess what? We’re obsessed. If you’re adding freehand highlights to naturally blonde hair, consider strokes of Koleston Perfect 12/81 or 12/96. These hues are part of our Special Blondes collection, allowing you to lighten and tone in a single step.
Balayage On a Straight Bob
Image Credit: @joanaportal
Look at that bob. With a blunt cut, straight styling, and golden tones swept through the mid-lengths, it requires a little more maintenance than your average freehand creation. Healthy ends are key to perfecting balayage on straight hair, which is why your clients will need to step up their care routine to keep it fresh. Recommend that, as well as a heat protection spray (we love EIMI Thermal Image), they add a color-kind treatment to their weekly routine. The nourishing ColorMotion+ Structure+ Mask is our go-to.
Dirty Blonde Balayage
Image Credit: @house_of_balayage
Dirty blonde hair sees the cleanest cool tones combine with deeper lowlights or a soft root smudge, resulting in a multi-tonal look that’s brimming with movement. To create this balay-age on a brunette bob, Blondor Freelights + 9% was left on for 45 minutes, before the ‘lights were toned using Color Touch 9/73 + 9/16 + 1.9%.
Balayage Bob Formulas
Vanilla Balayage
By toni Bish
Color Formulas:
Blondor Freelights, Freelights Developer,
Color Touch, Color Touch Emulsion
Sections:
Balayage: 30g Freelights + 60g 9%
Lowlights: 20g 7/1 + 40g 1.9% (isolated in foil)%
Tone: 30g 10/6 + 60g 1.9%
Ash Balayage
By Tamica W
Color Formulas:
Blondor Freelights, Freelights Developer,
Color Touch, Color Touch Emulsion
Lighten: 30g Freelights + 60g 9%
Tone:
Roots: 10g 7/0 + 10g 7/1 + 40g 1.9% %
Lengths and ends: 15g 7/89 + 15g 8/71 + 60g 1.9%
Peach Cobbler Balayage
By Amanda Leaman
Color Formulas:
Blondor Freelights, Freelights Developer, Color Touch,
Color Touch Emulsion, Service Post Color Treatment
Lighten: 30g Freelights + 60g 9%
Gloss: 15g 7/0 + 15g 7/73 + 30g Post Color Treatment + 30g 1.9%
Golden Balayage
By Rebecca Baxter
Color Formulas:
Blondor Freelights, Freelights Developer, Koleston Perfect,
Welloxon Perfect, Service Post Color Treatment
Lighten: 30g Freelights + 60g 6%
Lowlights: 20g 8/97 + 20g 6/97 + 40g 4%
Multi-Tonal Balayage
By Danijela Ilic
Color Formulas:
Magma by Blondor, Freelights Developer, Magma Post Treatment,
Illumina Color, Welloxon Perfect, Service Post Color Treatment
Freehand:
A: 30g /89 + 60g 12%
B: 20g /07 + 40g 9%
Gloss: 15g 8/05 + 15g Service + 15g 1.9%
How to Maintain a Balayage Bob
1. Lift the Line
It goes without saying that regular trims – every six to eight weeks – are a must with a bob. But how do you also keep that breezy balayage looking fresh? Quite simply, by lifting the (subtle, seamless) line at every other appointment, shortening a grown-out root stretch by blending the lightener further up the hair shaft.
2. Get the Gloss
Another way of maintaining balayage is by glossing or toning the mid-lengths and ends. Try a Pure Glossing Service for clients in need of a quick fix; it can be done in the space of a lunch break. Not only will a gloss help to eliminate any unwanted brassy tones, but it will also pump locks with some much-needed shine and gently refresh the color.
3. Share Top Tips
If your client is new to balayage, make sure they leave the salon with plenty of advice on how to care for their high-lights. Top of the list is a shampoo and conditioner routine that’s kind to their color and prevents fading. For all shades, ColorMotion+ Color Protection Shampoo and Color Reflection Conditioner are both must-haves, while the INVIGO Blonde Recharge Cool Blonde Shampoo and Color Recharge collections feature targeted treatments tailored to blondes.
