Soft Balayage | Population Salon

As you probably know by now, I added some major highlights to my hair last week. This transformation has been in the works for a LONG time. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a couple of years now, but was afraid. You see, I wanted color in my hair during my early years of high school, went to a family friend, and they completely ruined my hair. I didn’t get a couple soft highlights, I got a whole head of orange hair. At the time, I didn’t know (even worse they didn’t know either) about toners or how to fix the color, so it stayed with me for a couple of years until I chopped it off for my, according to Mike, infamous a-line bob sophomore year of college.

The traumatizing experience coupled with the fact I didn’t have a go-to stylist or salon I trusted, kept me from really embracing the change. This all changed when I was browsing Pinterest and Style Me Pretty for wedding inspiration. I stumbled upon this photo here and was fully convinced I needed that exact hair for my wedding day. Doing something this drastic just before your wedding is quite ballsy, but I couldn’t see my hair any other way. I was completely SOLD.

While doing research on where to get my hair done, I landed on the Population Salon Instagram page. Adding light color to dark asian hair can be tricky, so I wanted to make sure I really knew what I was getting myself into and that the stylist knew what they were doing. Clearly, these stylist know color. Their feed is full of beautiful hair and so much inspiration. I booked an appointment with Brian and showed him a couple photos I had in mind for inspiration. We discussed my fear of having orange hair and he reassured me we’d be able to customize my color with toner. Since this was my first time having color in my hair in about 10 years, plus the fact that my wedding is so close, we went more subtle. He said if I wanted to go lighter we could do so right before the big day. At that point, I trusted he’d work his magic and just went with it.

Photos by Natalie Dressed

I’m so glad I had faith, because I’m completely obsessed with the outcome! The soft Balayage is such a drastic change for me, but I love that the color is gradual and natural looking.  One of the things I noticed during the toning process was Brian matching the color to my eyes. I thought this was so genius. Keeps it all looking so natural and it really helps to lighten up my whole face. I already have a feeling I’ll be addicted to this whole color process… Mike already wants to me go lighter! I could not have had a better experience with Brian and the Population team. Be sure to check out their Instagram page here or visit populationsalon.com to make an appointment.

I did want to mention the styling process. Brian applied R+CO Dallas thickening spray and Jackpot styling cream to my hair and then finished the look using the Population Infinity Wave technique. How come nobody ever told me about thickening spray? That stuff works miracles! It works on all types of hair, but if you have silky hair like mine, it not only gives it texture, but helps hold the curl or wave. My life has officially been changed. Thank you, Brian!