Ombre, shatush and balayazh: what is the difference between staining techniques and which one is better to choose?

Hair coloring has become so popular in recent decades that about 8 out of 10 women use it on a regular basis. And it is not surprising - after all, by changing the color of the hair, we completely change our color type, and therefore our entire appearance. Dyed hair looks youthful, healthy and full of vitality. Fashion trends in dyeing focus on creating a play of hair color shades.

To achieve this, experts use various methods of radical coloring or light toning. Before you go to a hairdressing salon for a new hairstyle, experts advise you to think over not only the shape of the haircut, but also the shades of color that can most advantageously highlight all the advantages of your hair in your hairstyle.

Experts believe that at the peak of popularity today, such staining techniques as shatush, balayazh and ombre have firmly taken the leading positions. Based on these techniques, you can apply the most unexpected options for the use of color shades, creating various options for images - from delicate and romantic to bright and bold. But in order to understand which staining technique to choose for yourself, you need to have a clear idea of ​​what their essence is and what are the differences between these techniques.

Such romantic names as ombre, balayazh, shatush, Californian highlighting, bronding, sombre and many others are capable of confusing anyone and suggesting that they are not much different from each other. But this is far from the case. The crux of the difference is that all these types have their own special schemes for applying dyes, stretching of the dye is performed in different ways, the time of exposure of the dye on the hair is different. Thus, with the help of various nuances in the technique, hair dyeing is obtained differently. Let's take a closer look at each type of staining.

The technique received such an unusual name for a reason. The French word "ombre" means "shadow", and France has always been considered a trendsetter. The essence of ombre dyeing precisely implies the creation of a very blurry, shadow-like transition from one color to another on the general hair canvas. Initially, it was conceived that with a dark root zone, the color, gradually moving to the ends of the strands, changes to a light tone. But stylists subsequently began to use not only natural shades, but also rather bright multi-colored tones. Thus, ombre today is of the following types:

• classical - the transition of color shades is kept in the border of 1–2 tones, no more, therefore, such a color difference turns out to be very soft and natural;

• with contrast stripe - the essence of coloring is that if you visually divide the hair strip into three parts in the horizontal direction, then the upper and lower parts will be lighter, and the part between them will be slightly darker;

• partial staining - this method is used if the haircut is made in layers, and in order to emphasize each layer, certain strands are made a little lighter than the rest;

• highlighting - such an ombre implies the creation of light glare areas, which seem to highlight some strands in the total mass of hair; this technique looks especially beautiful on blond hair;

• contrast monochrome - a rather bold decision when two contrasting colors are used, and the mixing border is visually highlighted;

• colored - such coloring is not suitable for everyone, since it is based on bright unusual colors - pink, purple, turquoise, dark blue, shades of green and others;

• reverse type - coloring is based on the principle "from the opposite"; if your hair is naturally dark in color, but in the root area they are lightened, and if you are blonde, then they do the opposite - at the roots, the hair is dyed in dark colors, and the ends are left light;

• strands in the form of tongues of fire - this technique involves dyeing strands in bright red or copper-red shades on dark hair, imitating a flame; the color transition can be blurry, and the choice of the strand can be chaotic.

In this method of staining, a little more shades are already used - usually 2-3. But they should be matched as close to the original color of your strands as possible. In the process of dyeing, it is as if the paint is stretched through the hair, and the strands themselves are not covered in foil. This stretching of the paint helps to achieve a natural transition from color to color, and visually it looks like your hair is slightly faded in the sun. The highlights on the hair create a play of color and add liveliness to the hairstyle.

The technique of applying paint when painting shatush is of two types.

• First view - is performed after clean and dried hair is lifted from the roots by combing with a comb with frequent and tonic teeth. Many hairs are entangled with each other and when paint is applied to them, a more natural effect of dyeing the strands is achieved.
• Second view - stretching the paint along the strands is done without combing them. To achieve a natural effect, use a special brush-comb.Performing such laborious work requires certain skills and patience from the master; the procedure takes much more time than when applying a dye to combed strands.

The shatush technique is considered one of the most gentle technique in hair dyeing. The simplest in execution and looks spectacular on dark hair, and the owners of blond curls will have to deliberately darken the area of ​​the root zone to create a contrast effect. This method of revitalizing the color of your strands is also good in that it helps to quickly and easily switch from the annoying highlighting previously performed on the hair.

This technique has something in common with shatush, it also uses 2–3 dye colors and achieves the effect of glare on the total mass of hair, and the glare is located in arbitrary chaos. The balayazh technique differs from the ombre in that the border of the transitions to the balayazh is even softer and more imperceptible, it should not be visible at all, and even more so it should look defiantly bright. In French, the word balayazh means "to sweep", and the dyeing technique itself just implies applying dye to the hair with movements that imitate sweeping. When dyeing, the strands are not covered with foil - the whole process of oxidation of the dye occurs either with an open access of oxygen, or under a polymer film.

There is also an interesting moment in the process of applying the dye - the result of staining will look different if the paint is applied in the form of a Latin V or Russian letter Ш. This approach leads to smooth transitions of color shades, subsequently less need for correction after regrowth of the strands. The staining technique is quite laborious and requires high skill of execution; on your own you are unlikely to be able to reproduce this procedure at home. Balayage dyeing can be done on natural hair, it is also suitable for dyed hair, and will also help those who have already faced the problem of masking the initial stage of gray hair.

At first glance, it may seem that all three staining techniques are similar to each other, but there are significant differences between them.

• Visual naturalness. Shatush and balayazh will look in the most naturalistic way, since they have very soft transitions and dyes of natural colors are used. The ombre technique allows the use of sharp transition lines and the use of an extravagant palette of colors.

• Dye application scheme. Evenly on the strands, the paint is applied only according to the ombre technique, while in the other two methods of dyeing, the dye is placed along the strands in a chaotic manner.

• Possibility of coloring on combed strands. If you have chosen the balayage technique, you do not have to create bouffant on the strands, and then disassemble it. Two other coloring techniques allow for a smooth distribution of color highlights by applying coloring pigment to the combed strands.

• Location of placement of light colors. In this matter, each method is unique. The ombre technique involves lightening the ends of the strands, the shatush accentuates the strands with light shades from the middle of the length of the curl, and balayage affects the hair along the entire length with light tones.

• The optimal size of the strands in length. To obtain the desired effect, the length of the hair is of great importance. Balayage will be appropriate for medium hair lengths, but the longer they are, the more beautiful the coloring looks. Ombre does not make sense to do if the hair has not reached at least the length of the middle of the neck. If you have a short haircut, then you can create a play of color and highlights only using the shatush technique.

It is worth taking a closer look at what is the difference with other hair dyeing techniques.

• In addition to the traditional ombre, a hairdresser-stylist can offer you to do sombre staining. Both of these techniques are similar, but the sombre dyeing technique implies a softer and more gentle approach. The gradations of the hue will be less harsh and the colors will appear calmer.

• If you want to achieve the highest degree of naturalness of shades and at the same time get hair with light strands, as if burnt out in the sun, pay attention to American dyeing technique called Californian highlighting. Lightening occurs on thin strands, and the dyeing process does not imply the use of aggressive, potent brightening compounds - the strands are made lighter literally by 1-2 tones, and then they are tinted with dye compositions with a low percentage of oxidizing agent to give them the desired shade. Highlighting strands is done from the crown of the head along the entire length of the hair.

• The highlighting method, which is called booking. Its essence lies in the fact that the effect of iridescence of several color shades close to each other is created. These combinations can range from the lightest blond palettes to chestnut and copper options - coloring can be done on hair of any length and color. Strands of hair are subject to chaotic dyeing, but success depends on how masterly the master can choose the overflow of shades and in what order they will be distributed over the strands. Bronding is considered the most difficult and even in some way jewelry dyeing method. But if it is done professionally, the effect will be simply amazing.

Each of the above hair dyeing techniques has its own uniqueness and is somewhat different from others. Do not rush to immediately and radically change your image, coloring should be combined with your hairstyle, color type, general direction in the style of clothing and even with your behavior. All of this in the aggregate makes up your image. To make the selection process easier for yourself, look at some of the photo options.

• See what the balayage-style dyeing technique looks like on dark hair.

• Ombre dyeing for medium hair.

• This is how the shatush technique looks like if it is applied to light brown hair.

• Blond hair with shatush dyeing looks very stylish - the secret of success here lies in beautiful and long curls.

• And here is what the shatush looks like when dyed on short hair.

• One of the options for balayage for brunettes.

• And for the most daring, you can try colored ombre.

In the next video, you will find useful colorist tips for flawless coloring of shatush, balayazh and ombre.