Balayage vs Highlights: The Real Difference
"I want balayage."
This is how most consultations start now. The client has seen something on Instagram. They've saved photos. They know exactly what they want.
Except they don't. Because half the time, what they're pointing at isn't balayage at all. It's highlights. Or it's a combination of three different techniques. Or it's a filter making average colour work look incredible.
Let's clear this up.
Colour by Aneta Dina Petsa
What Balayage Actually Is
Balayage is a technique, not a look.
The word is French. It means "to sweep." And that's exactly what happens, colour is painted onto the hair freehand, swept from mid-lengths to ends. No foils. No uniform sections. The colourist uses a brush like an artist uses a paintbrush, placing colour exactly where they want light to fall.
The result: soft, graduated, natural-looking dimension. Lighter at the ends, seamlessly blending into your natural colour at the roots. No harsh lines. No obvious grow-out.
Balayage mimics how hair naturally lightens in the sun. That's why it looks effortless when done well, because it follows patterns your eye already recognises as natural.
Colour by Aneta Dina Petsa
What Highlights Actually Are
Highlights use foils.
The colourist takes precise sections of hair, places them on foil, applies colour or lightener, and wraps them. The foil creates heat and separation, allowing the product to develop more intensely and more uniformly than freehand application.
The result: brighter, more defined contrast. Clear distinction between the highlighted pieces and the base colour. More precision, more pop, more obvious dimension.
Highlights have been around for decades because they work. They're not old-fashioned. They're just technical and different.
Colour by Aneta Dina Petsa
Why People Confuse Them
Because Instagram doesn't label technique. It shows results.
That sun-kissed blonde you saved? Could be balayage. Could be highlights. Could be balayage at the ends with foil highlights at the face. Could be a full head of foils blended expertly. You can't tell from a photo.
What you can tell: you like how it looks. That's useful information. The technique required to achieve it? That's your colourist's job to determine.
Colour by Natasa Xenofontos
Which One Is Right For You
This depends on several things that have nothing to do with Instagram.
Your natural colour. Balayage works best when there's already some variation in your natural hair. If you're starting with uniform, dark hair and want significant lightness, foils often get you there faster and more evenly.
How much contrast you want. Balayage gives subtle, soft dimension. Highlights give more defined, visible contrast. If you want people to notice your colour from across the room, that's usually highlights. If you want them to think "her hair looks great" without knowing why, that's usually balayage.
Maintenance tolerance. Balayage grows out naturally since there are no harsh root lines, no obvious regrowth. You can go months between appointments as long as you refresh your toner once in a while. Highlights, depending on placement and density of the weave, may need more frequent touch-ups as roots become visible.
Your hair's history and condition. Foils process more intensely, giving you a lighter result than balayage. If your hair is box-coloured or pre-coloured with dark dyes, that can affect the best approach and technique your stylist has to use. If your hair is already compromised, dry, damaged, or over-processed, a different approach might be what you actually need and you don't know it.
Colour by Natasa Xenofontos
The Honest Truth
A skilled colourist will often combine techniques.
Balayage through the lengths for that lived-in softness. Foil highlights around the face for brightness where it matters most. Toner to adjust the overall shade. Root shadow to extend time between appointments.
The best colour work rarely uses just one technique. It uses whatever combination achieves the result you actually want.
This is why showing photos matters more than using terminology. We don't care if you know the difference between balayage and highlights. We care about understanding what you're trying to achieve. The technique is our problem. The result is our shared goal.
Colour by Natasa Xenofontos
Maintain Your Colour At Home
Colour-treated hair needs specific care. The wrong shampoo strips colour faster. The wrong conditioner weighs it down. UV exposure fades it. Heat damage dulls it.
Whether you've had balayage, highlights, or both, the aftercare matters as much as the application.
Cut and colour by Natasa Xenofontos
What To Do
Stop Googling and asking Chat GPT "balayage vs highlights."
Find photos of hair you love. Multiple photos. Different angles. Show them to your colourist and say: "I want to look like this." or "I believe this is going to look good on me."
Then have a conversation. About your natural colour, your lifestyle, your maintenance commitment, your hair history, and your budget. Let the professional determine which technique or combination will actually get you there.
That's how you end up with colour you love instead of colour you have to explain or apologise for.
Cut and colour by Natasa Xenofontos
Why Trust Matters
Colour is chemistry. It's also artistry. Getting it wrong means damage, correction appointments, and months of regret.
Women come to us from all over. Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Russia, Israel, because they've learned that finding a colourist who listens, who understands what you actually want, and who has the technical skill to deliver it, isn't easy.
Whether you're local or just landed for a long weekend in Cyprus, the consultation is the same. We look at your hair, we look at your photos, we have an honest conversation about what's achievable, and we tell you exactly what it will take.
No surprises. No disappointments. Just colour that makes you feel like the best version of yourself.
Cut and colour by Natasa Xenofontos
Book A Colour Consultation
The best colour doesn't come from picking the right technique. It comes from picking the right colourist.
Our Colour Specialists
Not every stylist does colour properly. These six do.
Each brings a different strength, a different eye, and real experience with every technique from subtle balayage to full transformations. Pick the one that fits your vision, then book directly through their profile.
Aneta Dina Petsa. Blonde Specialist. Toni & Guy trained. If colour is your priority, Aneta is where you start. Highlights, airlights, corrections, blonde transformations, she's done it all.
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Natasa Xenofontos. Blonde Specialist. Precision cuts and colour that work together. Natasa sees the full picture and delivers consistently flawless results.
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Vivian Panousi. Blonde Specialist. Fresh perspective with strong technical foundations. Vivian combines careful attention to detail with a natural eye for colour placement.
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Charalambos Gregoriou. Colour Expert. Detail-oriented and technically precise. Charalambos G. brings a methodical approach to colour that delivers reliable, beautiful results every time.
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Charalambos Flouris. Balayage Colourist. Meticulous, creative, and technically sharp. Charalambos F. brings a calm, detail-driven approach to every colour service.
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Korina Kapetaniou. Senior Colourist. Experienced, confident, and versatile. Korina delivers consistent, high-quality colour across every technique and hair type.
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HAIR ETC. STUDIO
Nicosia, Cyprus
The Eastern Mediterranean's destination for expert colour.