10 Best Boston Hair Salons

Finding the right salon for your hair needs can be daunting, especially when you’re looking for a transformation. It all comes down to what you want, whether it’s a new dramatic cut and color, a blowout, or a stylish, refreshed look sculpted and shaped to the latest hair trends. Stylists at these salons are hair experts, trained to understand the texture, shape, and color of hair, and correct those at-home DIY jobs that left you asking DIWhy. They understand your needs, the look you desire, and the right products for you to maintain happy, healthy hair at home until your next visit.

To help you differentiate some of the various services they provide, we’ll highlight some recent hair trends, techniques, and processes commonly used to help you decide. Of course, you should always consult your hair stylist to determine if it’s right for your hair (and right for your budget).

Balayage

From the French word that translates “to sweep” or “to paint”, balayage is a popular hair trend that some simply call hair painting because color is quite literally painted on your hair with a brush. This effect gives the hair a more natural highlight with softer regrowth lines, enabling you to grow your hair longer between appointments. Not only is it more cost-effective than foiling, since it takes less time and uses less product, but is also lower maintenance and works great on both light and dark hair.

Ombre Vs. Sombre

Whereas balayage is a dye or tone directly painted into the hair, the ombre effect is achieved from a foiling technique, where the hair is sectioned off before application, then wrapped in foil for processing. It starts with darker roots and lightens with a casual fade through the middle of your hair to its lightest point at the hair ends. Ombre can be done in all types of different colors (browns, blondes and reds are most common), and is usually more dramatic and eye-catching, but does require more maintenance as your natural hair color comes in at the roots.

Sombre is the flip side of the ombre coin. The S in Sombre stands for “subtle” and “softer.” With Sombre, your natural hair roots are kept as is, but lighten in color toward the ends. This is a popular style for brunettes to brighten hair with hints of golden, caramel, golden and blonde tones and requires less maintenance between appointments than a standard ombre, as the lighter sections of hair start higher for a naturally blended, gradual fade.

Bleach and Tone

Bleach and toning hair is a two-step process, at times requiring a follow-up appointment once the hair is healthy (which can be up to ten days later). In some instances, both processes can be done in the same day if the hair is healthy enough. Since the bleaching process removes the pigment completely from your hair, it causes the hair to be fragile and needs to regain health before being toned.

Depending how long the bleach is left in the hair and how dark your hair is to begin with, it can sometimes leave brassy undertones in hair. Toner helps to neutralize the brassy and warm undertones of hair, and brings your hair to the shade you desire (platinum, blonde, etc.). Purple shampoo also helps tone out unwanted warm shades for natural blondes, but your hair might require an ammonia-based toner to when you’re making a more dramatic color change. Since roots will come in with your natural color, you’ll need to make regular appointments for touch-ups, which does make bleaching hair a considerable investment.

Pricing

Full Balayage - $170-$220+
Partial Balayage - $130-$160+
Full Ombre/Sombre - $80-200+
Partial Ombre/Sombre - $100-120+
Bleach and Tone - $120-$200+