How To Balayage (Highlight) Your Wig & Hair Extension at Home?

If you fancy giving your hair extension or wig some pretty golden highlights for the summer, balayage might be the way to go. In this guide, we will tell you how to balayage your human hair extensions or wig at home!

Before getting started, here's everything you need to know:

What is Balayage Exactly?

Balayage is a coloring which consists in lightening or darkening its natural color, by coloring or bleaching only certain strands of hair on your wig or extension. This technique allows to obtain a subtle result while bringing luminosity or depth to the hair. Less radical than a classic coloring which treats the whole of the hair, the balayage is a partial coloring obtained from a paste made with a bleach and peroxide that the hairdresser then applies using a special brush . Its advantage? No visible demarcation thanks to the colored strands which are melted in the rest of the hair

What Type of Hairstyle is Suitable For Balayage?

Whether straight, curly or frizzy, balayage is suitable for all hair types! If it will give more depth to curly hair, it will give an illusion of volume to straight hair extension. Plus, while it is typically used on the lightest hair, balayage will also bring a real boost to darker locks. Balayage can also be an effective solution for camouflaging the first gray hair on uncolored blond hair, for example.

On the color side, dark brown hair will opt for a balayage with copper, hazelnut, or caramel highlights. Honey shades are ideal for dark blonde, for example. Finally, if you have 613 blonde hair, a golden or even platinum blonde will soften the face.

Which Color To Choose For Your Wig/Extension Balayage?

Timeless, Californian sweeping still knows so many followers. One tone below the natural base, it brings luminosity to the hair and offers a harmonious rendering such as the tone-on-tone balayage that blends completely into the color of the hair of your extension or wig. If dark brown hair will opt for a balayage with copper, hazelnut, or caramel highlights, honey undertones will be ideal on a dark blonde. Finally, if you are blonde, a golden or even platinum blonde will soften the face.

How To Balayage (Highlight) Your Human Hair Wig or Extension At Home?

Now you should know whether you need to balayage your extensions or wigs, or what color to choose to balayage them. So how to highlight or downlight a wig or hair extension in to your desired balayage result? Please follow the steps below:

1. Prepare Tools & Items

Before dyeing your wig, please be sure to prepare all the following items:

• Canvas Block

• Pins

• Blow

• Balayage Kit (30 Volume & Powder Developer)

• Brush

• Gloves

• Clips

• Tailcomb

2. Clean Your Wig or Extension

If the wig is smudged, you should wash it for several days before coloring it to remove any buildup of modeling products. This is especially important if the hair is not virgin, or if you have treated your wig with chemicals or styling products. Do not apply conditioner or styling product to the wig before coloring it. Let the wig dry completely on a stand before coloring it.

3. Fix Your Wig On Canvas Block Head

Secure the clean, dry wig to the wig holder using T-pins. Then brush the wig using a suitable brush to remove tangles. Brush the hair from the ends upwards to prevent tangling. The best way to color hair extension is to lay it flat on a sturdy surface. This allows you to distribute the dyes and the product evenly. To isolate the strands of a wig more easily, prefer the canvas block head.

4. Mix Dye Products

Mix the balayage hair dye in the bow, following the steps in your kit to prepare the coloring or bleach product. Remember to wear disposable gloves to reduce direct contact between the dye and the skin.

5. Section Your Wig Into Few Parts

Section the tresses on your wig. Put the top of the hair up and bring the rest of wig hair to the front. Or you can use few big clips to part the wig hair into few parts. 

6. Start to Balayage

Then grab your brush and dip it in the mixed dye product, making sure that a sufficient amount is present on the entire brush of the brush. Start with the lower layers, brushing bleach through the mid-lengths and ends. The strands you color should be as thin as possible. Distribute the product evenly over each area of your head (right side, left, right back and left back) for a natural look.

7. Repeat and finish all sections

Repeat the process on all of the remaining sections and make sure your balayage starts at varying points to avoid a dip-dye look. Apply more hair dye with mixing brush to the section you want to be brighter, and simply rub the dye product out if you feel there is too much on a strand.

8. Respect the necessary exposure time

Once all the strands are colored, leave on for the time indicated on the instructions for your balayage kit (it takes between 25 and 45 minutes depending on the color). You can separate the different thicknesses of wicks using cotton or cellophane strips.

9. Check if the balayage adheres well to your wig

To monitor color penetration, rinse an invisible strand with a cotton ball soaked in water. Once the time is up, shampoo. To maintain the balayage on your wig or hair extension as well as possible, prefer products adapted to colored hair and make a mask once or twice a week.

If you want to know more details, watch this video to learn: