Full Balayage VS Partial Balayage: What Is The Difference?

Full balayage and partial balayage are two hair coloring techniques with the same coloring principle, which are pretty popular among beautiful enthusiasts.

If you are new to the balayage world, you may be confused about full balayage and partial balayage.

Don’t worry. The following blog will explain the differences between full balayage and partial balayage in detail, which can help you better distinguish them.

What’s more, you will also learn the benefits and drawbacks of full balayage and partial balayage, and know how to choose between them.

1. What is Balayage?

First of all, the word “balayage” comes from the French word, which means “to sweep”.

Balayage is a hand-painted hair coloring technique that mimics the sunlight naturally falling on your hair, which can give you a natural and sun-kissed appearance with highlights.

After understanding the concept of balayage, we can better distinguish the concepts of full balayage and partial balayage.

2. What is Full Balayage?

Full balayage refers to a hair coloring technique that adds hand-painting highlights throughout your natural hair, which can provide you with a natural and sun-kissed appearance. 

That is to say, full balayage involves the majority of your natural hair, not just the top layers, and it can add striking depth, dimension, and brightness to your hair.

Compared to traditional highlights, full balayage uses a hand-painted hair color technique, and it gives you a transition from dark shades to light shades in a soft and natural way.

On the contrary, traditional highlights usually use foils or a cap to achieve uniform streaks with a clear and defined line of demarcation. 

If you are looking for a transition from dark shades to light shades without a harsh contrast, full balayage is a suitable choice for you.

Besides, it can also introduce a bright and vibrant color to your hair while providing you with a natural, pronounced, and personalized appearance.

3. What is Partial Balayage?

Partial balayage is a hand-painted hair coloring technique that adds highlights to a specific area of your hair rather than the majority of your hair, which can also provide you with a natural and sun-kissed appearance.

Generally speaking, partial balayage will introduce highlights to the top layer of hair and the hair around your face.

Compared to highlights, partial balayage can blend with your hair more naturally and seamlessly, for it doesn’t have a clear and defined line of demarcation.

In conclusion, partial balayage can add depth, dimension, and brightness to your natural hair with less maintenance and less money than full balayage, which is a more suitable and more cost-effective choice for a newcomer.

4. The benefits of full balayage:

(1)It can give you a complete hair color transformation.

First and foremost, full balayage can give you a transition from dark shades to light shades throughout the majority of your hair.

In other words, it can give you a complete hair color transformation.

(2)It adds depth, dimension, and brightness to your hair with maximum visibility.

Just as it has been mentioned before, full balayage involves the majority of your hair, so it can add depth, dimension, and brightness to your hair with maximum visibility.

(3)It provides you with a more dramatic appearance.

Compared to partial balayage, full balayage can provide you with a more dramatic appearance, for it involves with majority of your natural hair.

5. The drawbacks of full balayage:

(1)It requires more time.

For full balayage colors the majority of your hair, it requires more time than partial balayage.

(2)It is expensive.

As full balayage requires more time and more product than partial balayage, it is more expensive. 

(3)It requires more maintenance.

Compared to partial balayage, full balayage also requires more maintenance.

6. The benefits of partial balayage:

(1)It is an affordable and cost-effective choice.

Compared to full balayage, partial balayage is a more affordable and more cost-effective choice for you, for it requires less time and less product.

(2)It requires less maintenance.

For partial balayage only colors the top layer of hair and the hair around your face, it requires less maintenance than full balayage.

(3)It is less harmful to your natural hair.

Just as it has been mentioned before, partial balayage involves a smaller portion of your hair, so it is less harmful to your natural hair than full balayage.

(4)It gives a soft and subtle change to your hair color.

Partial balayage can give you a soft and subtle hair color change without a dramatic and intense contrast.

7. The drawbacks of partial balayage:

(1)It can not give you a dramatic appearance.

Compared to full balayage, partial balayage can not give you a dramatic and intense appearance, for it only colors a specific area of your hair.

8. What are the differences between full balayage and partial balayage?

(1)Coverage area.

First and foremost, the primary and essential difference between full balayage and partial balayage is the coverage area.

Full balayage involves the majority of your hair, while partial balayage only colors a specific area of your hair.

All in all, full balayage has a larger coverage area than partial balayage.

(2)Time.

For full balayage colors a larger area of your hair, it is more time-consuming than partial balayage.

(3)Price.

Just like it has been mentioned before, full balayage is more expensive than partial balayage, as it requires more time and more product.

(4)Maintenance.

Generally speaking, full balayage requires more maintenance than partial balayage.

(5)Appearance.

Full balayage can give you a transition from dark shades to light shades in a soft and natural way, which colors the majority of your hair and provides you with a dramatic and intense appearance.

Partial balayage provides you with a subtle and soft appearance, for it only colors the specific area of your hair.

[link: If you want to learn more about the differences between hair streaks and highlights, you can read this blog: Hair Streaks VS Highlights: What Are The Differences?]

9. How to choose between full balayage and partial balayage?

(1)Appearance.

Full balayage colors the majority of your hair, and it can add depth, dimension, and brightness to your appearance with a dramatic and intense effect.

Partial balayage only colors a specific area of your hair, which can give you a low-key and sun-kissed appearance with a subtle and soft effect.

If you are looking for a sun-kissed appearance with a dramatic effect, maybe full balayage is a more suitable choice for you.

(2)Budget.

Full balayage is more expensive than partial balayage, for it requires more time and more product.

If you have a sufficient budget, you can choose either full balayage or partial balayage freely.

However, if you have a tight and limited budget, maybe partial balayage is a more suitable and cost-effective choice for you.

(3)Time.

Usually, full balayage requires more time than partial balayage, for it has a larger coverage area.

If you don’t want to stay in a barber shop for a long period, maybe a partial balayage is a better choice for you.

(4)Maintenance.

To tell the truth, full balayage requires more touch-ups and maintenance than partial balayage, for it has a larger area of hair coloring.

If you don’t have enough time to touch up and maintain your hair color, maybe partial balayage is a more suitable choice for you.

(5)Your personal demands and individual preferences.

In addition to the factors above, you should also take your personal demands and individual preferences into consideration.

Conclusion:

After reading this blog, you must have a clearer and more systematic understanding of full balayage and partial balayage.

In conclusion, when you make a decision between full balayage and partial balayage, you should not only take appearance, budget, time, and maintenance into account but also consider your personal demands and individual preferences.

It’s my pleasure if this blog can really address your concerns and problems between full balayage and partial balayage.

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