Balayage, Foils, Babylights or Highlights? The NZ Colour Glossary

Booking colour is confusing when the menu reads like another language. Here's the plain-English glossary — what each technique looks like, how often you'll be back, and who it actually suits — so you book the right thing.

These words describe how the lightener is applied, and that changes the look and the upkeep completely. Get the technique right for your hair and lifestyle and you'll love your colour and spend less maintaining it.

Balayage — hand-painted, low-maintenance

Freehand-painted lightness, softest at the roots and brightest through the mids and ends. No hard regrowth line, so it grows out gracefully — you can stretch 3–4 months between visits. Best for a natural, sun-kissed, lived-in look. The cost is higher per visit but you go less often. Full breakdown in our balayage cost guide and how long balayage lasts.

Foils / highlights — brighter, more uniform, more upkeep

Sections woven and wrapped in foil so the lightener processes hotter and lifts brighter and more evenly — including right up at the root. This is your pick if you want maximum brightness or all-over blonde. Because it lifts the root, you'll see regrowth sooner, so expect to return every 6–10 weeks. "Highlights" and "foils" are essentially the same thing.

Babylights — fine, natural, blended

Very fine foils, placed close together, to mimic the delicate lightness kids get in summer. Beautiful for a soft, natural, blended blonde or for growing out a brighter look. More time (so a higher cost) because there are so many fine sections, but the result is the most seamless.

Foilyage — the hybrid

Balayage painting, then wrapped in foil to push more lift. You get balayage's soft placement with foils' brightness — a great middle ground if balayage alone doesn't go light enough for you.

Which should you book?

• Low maintenance, natural, can't get to the salon often? → Balayage or babylights.
• Bright, bold, or all-over blonde? → Foils / highlights.
• Want bright but soft? → Foilyage.
• Not sure? → Book a colour consult and bring photos. Honestly the single best thing you can do.

Keeping any of them beautiful

All lightened colour needs the same aftercare: a purple shampoo to hold tone (how often to use it), a colour-protect range to slow fade, and a bond/gloss treatment between visits. The blonde and colour-care edit below is what we send our colour clients home with.

Book your colour consultation at UKIYO in Wānaka — we'll match the technique to your hair, your budget and how often you can realistically get in.

11% off your first UKIYO order with code WELCOME11. Free NZ shipping over $75. Genuine salon stock, shipped from our Wānaka studio.