Ombre's are probably the biggest hair trend right now. Ranging from soft natural color to vivid, bright, punky color and everything in between. Maybe you get confused when you hear the terms balayage, ombre, full highlight, or partial highlight. Let's take a minute to clear up some key differences so that you might have an easier time deciphering the madness of hair color.   Let's start with traditional highlights: Highlights are created when the stylist uses a comb to separate sections of hair which are painted onto foil which is then folded up and left to process. This gives the stylist the most control over where the color goes and how much of an impact you will see. Plus, it leaves you with a consistant, neat looking color result. Also, it frees up the stylist to use as many colors as they want without worrying about the colors bleeding together, which can lead to amazing dimensions.   (As a quick note, and for the sake of clearing up some confusion, I would like to talk about the difference between a full highlight and a partial highlight. A partial highlight, highlights the parts of the hair the sun would hit, leaving the most natural effect. However, if you are going several shades lighter than your original hair color, you might opt for a full highlight which, as the name implies, is applied to the full head of hair...in its entirety...leaving none behind in the dark, as it were.)    Ombre hair color has recently hit an all-time peak in fashion. It seems like you can't spit without hitting someone with an ombre. Ombre is when the hair is drastically, or moderately, lightened towards the ends. The effect can be anything from beachy:    ...to kind of punk rock:    Balayage Emily Rexford explained it well by saying:    "My favorite highlighting technique is Balayage - it's a free-form style of highlights where the color is painted on individual sections (of hair) that give the most dimension and depth. The best part about it is you can make it as soft as a whisper or as loud as a shout, and everywhere in between."   This technique gives the stylist a lot of creative freedom in placement as well as the amount of impact they would like to have. It's very similar in characteristics to the ombre in the way of being low-maintenance color that gives you the look of being distinctively "sun-kissed".    The drawbacks can be that because the color is painted on, if the stylist isn't careful, the color can bleed onto the rest of the hair leaving little 'explosions' of color that no one wants, but when done right can look naturally effortless and classy.    We hope this helps! Happy coloring!