I simply adore the French hand-painting technique of Balayage for transforming my brown locks to blonde. This freehand application of bleach creates a very natural and chunky highlighting effect that lasts much longer than conventional foil highlights and lusterizes the hair with a coat of "gloss" as the grand finale of the application.

Men & women stop and ask me about my hair everywhere I go -- almost 90% of them make appointments with my colorist. It seems people love the look of velvety blonde highlights slightly contrast with naturally brown hair. My esteemed colorist, Lisa Cooper (formally of Frederic Fekkai NYC) is a Balayage expert at adorning gorgeous, flattering highlights to just about any color of hair. She is the Picasso of color. Since so many have asked, you can find her now at Jason Royce Salon in Woodbury, NY on Long Island (516) 367-8000. You can also email her at lcoop816@yahoo.com

I prefer baliage (balayage) to conventional highlights for several reasons. The first being that the color is a "believable" blonde color. Lisa Cooper's technique creates buttery blonde color without brassy or orange tones. Even when my color is 8 weeks old, my blonde highlights stay truely blonde. The other thing I ADORE about balayage is that I can wait longer between color. With foil highlights I had to get to the salon for a single process, then highlights every 6 weeks on the dot. By the 6th week point my roots looked like a dark black stipe on my head - and my color was brassy, and dingy. Lisa's technique allows me to to as long as 2.5 months between color. The way the painting is staggered, the "grow out" is more natural looking, without a strong root stripe. Lastly, it is quick. I no longer need a single process. Lisa's technique is efficient and takes only 2 hours for painting, processing and "gloss". That is HALF the time I was spending getting a single process and foil highlights!

Many of you have asked me to explain the glossing process. After your hair has been painted, heated and rinsed, Lisa mixes a bowl of silky glaze that sits in wet hair for 5 mintues before shampooing and conditioning. This leaves the hair with a high lustre and almost sparkles. It adds dimension and shine to the hair and seals in color... it is perfection.

Labels: balayage, baliage, best hair color in new york, boliage, hair painting, highlights, Jason Royce, Lisa Cooper, long island