What is the difference between tips and foils

Need a little more help with the lingo? When booking in for highlights, first decide if you want the whole shebang, or would prefer to keep your colour a little more subtle.

If you tend to mostly wear your hair down, then a half head should suffice. Kinder on both your wallet and your busy schedule unsurprisingly, a half head takes a lot less time! Alternatively, if you regularly wear your hair up and want your colour to pack more of a punch, book in for a full head of highlights. Just what it says on the box, a full head of foils covers the entire head, and takes substantially longer — so be sure to set aside at least a few hours depending on the length of your hair.

Still not sure which style to go for? In this instance, instead of foils being placed directly under the root of the hair to separate the different tones of dye, they are simply placed midway down the length of your hair to seal in the colour while it sets. Always take your lifestyle into account when choosing your hair colour. Are you a regular salon goer, or do you struggle to find the time or money to keep your hair looking fresh? And why not bring along some examples with you?

All told, this leads to a more intense look. Though foiling can sometimes result in harder lines of demarcation, there are ways around this. Using the correct color melt with your foils, for example, will eliminate foil lines but keep the effect of brightness near the root area. Bear in mind that foiling tends to use more product and takes a longer time to complete compared to balayage, which tends to raise the price of the service.

During a foilyage treatment, product is painted onto hair as in balayage, and the treated sections are then covered with foil for processing.

This can result in the more natural, painted look of balayage paired with the more intense coloring of foils. Ultimately, whether you should use balayage, foiling, or foilyage for your client will depend on a number of factors. Clients are new to highlighting and want to ease into the look: Balayage is so popular because of the natural look that it creates in hair, making it perfect for those who are newer to highlights and who are perhaps worried about a too-intense look.

Clients with foiled hair will need to come in more frequently for touch ups to preserve their look. As stylists, we should always tailor the technique that we use to achieve the effect that our clients are looking for.

Foil highlights also allow the colourist to use more than one colour on the hair, and many clients like to mix their colours according to the season or just when they feel like a change! For a more subtle highlight effect, we use more foils on smaller sections of hair. A full-head or half-head refers to the amount of hair to be foiled. A half-head usually includes the top of the head and some of the sides.