Ready to Roll

Looking to boost your balayage? You’ve gotta roll with it! Katie Hale, head of colour at Charles Worthington Salons, shares her top tips for using rollayage

Thought you knew everything about balayage? Think again! Rollayage is the newest technique to take your colour creations one step further, and it’s already a firm favourite with the likes of Larisa Love, Julie Jakobsen and Katie Hale. Aside from being a fun technique to try in salon, it also helps with separating sections easily (perfect for clients with lots of hair) and is a great way to reduce daily waste. Intrigued? We spoke to Katie to get the lowdown…

As the name suggests, the basis for Rollayage is to use velcro rollers in between balayage sections to separate each piece. Katie says to “place the roller under the top part of the section, then when taking your section gently backcomb the top, so your roller can fit nice and snug underneath”.

The velcro works to hold each section in place, allowing you to work around the head fitting the rollers like a jigsaw. “Always lay your above roller in between the lower two, almost like brick work in order for them to fit evenly,” Katie suggests. This allows the hair underneath to have breathing space, giving you an idea of your colour placement so you can visualise your work pattern.

“I prefer using this technique to separate my pieces over using cotton wool, which can be very messy to work with. It’s a neater and cleaner way to work, and the rollers can be removed very easily without any pulling,” Katie adds.

For clients with fringes or short hair, smaller rollers can used with larger ones for longer haired clients. This gives you the option to mix and match with different sizes and colours of rollers – very Insta worthy for capturing colour processing!

This technique offers a more sustainable option to regular balayage equipment used, as each roller can be washed and re-used, meaning no more throwing out tonnes of cotton wool. To step up your sustainability game even further, Katie suggests choosing a higher developer (where appropriate) and leaving the balayage out in the open, as this can minimise foil and film wastage. She adds: “just remember to keep your balayage rollers separate to your setting rollers.”

To keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ and to find out more, follow @katielouisehale89 and @charlesworthingtonsalons on Instagram.

Looking to boost your balayage? You’ve gotta roll with it! Katie Hale, head of colour at Charles Worthington Salons, shares her top tips for using rollayage

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