Noticed a shift in how clients ask for balayage lately

I visited a salon in Portland last month and the owner was saying how almost everyone under 30 is asking for a lived-in look but they call it something different every time. Like one person said beachy waves with no regrowth line, another wanted shadow roots with face-framing ribbon lights. It got me thinking about how much the terminology has changed since I started doing color 8 years ago. Back then balayage was just freehand highlights, now it's got 15 different subcategories. Do you guys feel like clients are more confused about what they want because there's too many names for similar things? Or is it just my area where everyone wants to sound trendy?

2 comments

2 Comments

avery_roberts671mo ago

It ties into how everything is getting rebranded these days. Like you can't just have a messy bun anymore, it's a "claw clip effortlessly undone updo" on Instagram. People want the same thing their mom got in 2004 but with a cooler name so it feels new and special. Maybe it's just me but I see it with food too, like avocado toast is just bread with avocado but slap a fancy title on it and it's a $16 brunch item. Clients are probably more confused because they're trying to match what they saw on TikTok with a professional term they don't fully get.

alice99123d ago

Gotta admit @avery_roberts67, you basically described my whole life. I asked for a "lived-in wave" at the salon and the stylist just stared at me like I ordered a secret menu item. I'm one bad hair day away from just telling them I want the same thing my grandma had in 1985, but apparently that's called a "nostalgic crown braid" now and costs extra.