What is the difference between highlights, balayage, and foiliage?

To make booking easier, we've grouped all techniques under "Highlights." During your consultation, your stylist will recommend the best techniques to achieve your desired result.

**Highlights**: Traditional highlights are a classic approach to hair color designed to create brightness, dimension, and contrast throughout the hair. This technique traditionally uses foils, with sections of hair carefully placed inside each foil to control the lightening process and create precise, consistent results from the root through the ends.

Unlike the freehand painting used in balayage, traditional foil highlights allow your stylist to create more structured placement and achieve a brighter result closer to the root.

At Hair House ATX, our Austin highlight specialists customize every placement based on your natural hair, haircut, skin tone, and desired level of brightness. Traditional highlights can create everything from soft, natural dimension to a bright, all-over blonde with consistent lightness throughout the hair.

Because highlights typically begin closer to the root, they create a brighter, more noticeable result but require a little more maintenance than balayage. Most clients return every 6–10 weeks, depending on their natural color, desired brightness, and how much regrowth they’re comfortable with.

Traditional highlights are a great option for anyone looking for maximum brightness, dimensional blonde, or a more consistent lightened look throughout the hair.

**Balayage**: Balayage is a soft, natural approach to hair color that creates effortless, sun-kissed dimension. The color is strategically hand-painted to create a seamless blend between your natural hair and lighter pieces, giving you that lived-in look that grows out beautifully.

At Hair House ATX, our Austin balayage specialists customize every color based on your natural hair, skin tone, haircut, lifestyle, and desired level of brightness. Balayage can be used to create everything from subtle, dimensional brunettes to bright, lived-in blondes.

One of the biggest benefits of balayage is its lower-maintenance grow-out. Because the color is designed to blend softly into your natural root, many clients can go 3–4 months between balayage appointments, depending on how bright or blended they want to stay.

Balayage is a great option for anyone looking for natural-looking highlights, dimensional color, or a lived-in blonde or brunette without the maintenance of traditional highlights

**Foilyage**: Foilyage combines the soft, lived-in look of balayage with the extra lifting power of traditional foils. Instead of creating structured highlights directly from the root, your stylist uses balayage-inspired placement and then wraps the lightened sections in foils to help achieve a brighter, more dimensional result.

At Hair House ATX, our Austin color specialists use foilyage to create customized, seamless color with softness at the root and brightness throughout the mid-lengths and ends. It’s especially great for clients who love the natural grow-out of balayage but want to achieve a brighter blonde or need more lift than traditional open-air balayage can provide.

Because foilyage is designed to maintain a soft, blended root, it typically grows out beautifully and can be lower maintenance than traditional highlights. Depending on your desired brightness and natural hair color, many clients can go 8–12 weeks or longer between appointments.

Foilyage is a great option for lived-in blondes, dimensional brunettes, high-contrast color, and anyone looking for that effortless, sun-kissed finish with a little extra brightness.

Do I need to make an appointment or can I walk in?

While we do accept walk-ins, we highly recommend making an appointment as our availability is often limited on the day.

Where can I park?

Since we're located downtown, parking is only available on the street, and you'll need to pay at the meters or through the Park ATX app. We get it—parallel parking can be a hassle. However, being on a quieter, more residential street, there's typically plenty of space, and fewer onlookers to judge your parking skills.

What products do you use?

For our traditional color and lightening services, we primarily use Davines. For vivid colors, we’re big fans of Pravana and Danger Jones.

For shampoo, styling, and retail products, we offer a selection from Davines and Aveda.

What is a color correction?

A color correction is a service aimed at fixing or adjusting the color of your hair when it doesn’t turn out as expected or when it has faded, become uneven, or developed unwanted tones. We will also book a color correction if you are looking for a 180 change ie: from dark to blonde or blonde to dark, long vivid services that require multiple processes, or any service that our stylists determine will take substantially longer than the expected time of a traditional service.

Our color corrections are priced hourly and require an in person consultation where you will receive a personalized quote and detailed plan of action.

Are you accepting new clients?

We are! We would love to help match you with one of our exceptional stylists based on your specific needs.

You can easily reach us by call or text at (737) 296-3420, via email at hello.hairhouseatx@gmail.com , or by booking through our online portal.