Almost three years ago I started doing balayage and haven’t looked back since. I’ve been through self-inflicted hell and back with my hair (more on that below), and after years of not coloring it I decided to dip my toes back in with a “lived in” alternative to traditional highlights.
A little background
About four or five years ago I stopped coloring my hair. Throughout high school and college I pretty much destroyed it. My saint of a mother spent hundreds of dollars letting me professionally highlight my hair in high school and then I’d ruin it with Sun-In (#tbt) and hydrogen peroxide (yes, you read that right) all summer long. My friends still make fun of me for this period in my life. My hair was white…
College wasn’t much better. Like any freshman 4+ hours away from their mom I decided to let a friend box dye my hair in the bathroom of our sorority house. It didn’t go well, and after that I only let professionals touch my hair. I transitioned back to my normal blonde highlights, but after college I decided that I wanted to go back to my natural light brown hair color. Eventually all of the color grew out and my natural color was completely back.
Enter Balayage…
I was loving my natural color, but after a few years of it I was starting to get bored (lol). Around the same time I started to see a ton of balayage photos on Instagram. Everyone in these photos had gorgeous looking hair, and I was inspired to give it a try. After doing some research, I found a salon in Connecticut and scheduled my first appointment. I was immediately hooked on the process and the look, but I wasn’t 100% sold on my colorist.
A few months later a friend connected me with Erin Coyle of Hair Canvas and we clicked! Not only is Erin the sweetest person ever, she is also one of the most talented balayage specialists in the game.
If you’re new to balayage, it’s basically having your hair painted. This process makes for a very “lived in” look because there aren’t a million highlights starting at the top of your head. I personally love this because when the color starts to grow out you don’t notice. Personally, I think the color looks even better once it starts to grow out! My hair looks sunkissed, but the upkeep is minimal. I really only go to Erin twice a year unless I want to go lighter.
Balayage is the best of both worlds because you get great color, but you don’t need to constantly be at the salon. My hair feels healthy and the color always looks incredibly natural. If you’re in Connecticut I highly recommend Erin and her salon Hair Canvas. Check out Erin’s salon website here and her Instagram account here. Be warned, Erin’s feed is full of #hairinspo and it’s going to make you want to color your hair immediately.
Pretty much everyone I work with goes to Hair Canvas. I’ve only ever seen Erin for color, but Alyssa styled my hair in the photos above (in the blue dress) and I love how she curled it.
I want to go a little bit lighter this summer (ahhh), so I’m planing on making an appointment with Erin soon. If you have any questions for Erin about balayage or her salon leave a comment below/DM me on Instagram so we can answer them the next time I’m with her!
Photos by Julia Dags