@ombrestudio
@ombrestudio

Claudia Cruz (@_claudiacruz_) of Marlene Weber Day Spa in Poughkeepsie, New York, clearly has an expertise in balayage.

After sectioning the hair in quadrants, she starts in the back applying color in 1 inch sections. "I heavily weave each section and paint in a V's or W's where I want the color to transition and then saturate the ends for a flawless blend. The tension in which you hold each section and the heaviness of your hand when painting is critical in leaving a blended color transition. I lay foil in between each section to help process and to also keep it neat." 

Here Cruz shares the formulas to create these two gorgeous balayage finishes:

BLONDE SOMBRE:

"The one on the left is a balayage using Schwarzkopf Blonde Me Bleach with 30 volume on level 7 natural hair. I balayage the entire head with the above technique. The bleach stays on the hair a total time of about 1 hour. In this case I toned with Goldwell 10P to keep it looking natural but also cancelling out the brassiness."

CARAMEL SOMBRE:

"The one on the right is also a balayage on naturally level 5 hair. I put Goldwell 6N with 20 volume on her root then combed it down. I then applied Schwarzkopf Blonde Me Bleach with 30 volume to paint, lifting to a orange-yellow. This took about 45 minutes since the hair was virgin. The hair was toned with Goldwell 7N, with the goal being a more subtle caramel balayage." 

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