The Balayage Bob Is The Definition Of Trendy Summer Hair

Long hair is a colourist's bread and butter: a canvas draping down the back of the salon chair on which to paint highlights and lowlights. But what's almost more impressive is when a colourist can create the same dimensional effect — using seamless balayage blending — on a fresh, on-trend bob that stops blunt at the jawline.

It's entirely possible with precision, says Linda de Zeeuw, a colourist at NYC's Rob Peetoom Salon. de Zeeuw tells us that, just like with colouring long hair, the natural base colour of a short cut should remain untouched at the root. "With a bob, the balayage highlights — blonde or warm brown — should be blended carefully with the root tone, otherwise the whole head of hair is going to look single-process," she says. "The balayage technique can be applied to any base colour, curl pattern, or cut, minding that the end goal is the same: natural-looking depth and dimension."

Ahead, find photo evidence of how to achieve a seamlessly balayage'd bob, plus pick up tips on what to ask for at your appointment. Now, you have the last push you need to finally get that freeing summer chop, complete with the sun-kissed highlights of your lounge-chair dreams.