Liz Haven

I love building on an already beautiful color story. 🙌🏼

Stephanie’s last lightening appointment was six months ago using my signature Strandlights application. Notice how beautiful that grow-out is and how seamless everything still feels!

For this appointment, we decided to give her a total refresh and brighten her back up while building on her existing color story with my Gradient Balayage technique.

With Gradient Balayage, I manipulate the saturation throughout my application to control the level of lift. I’m essentially creating a gradient of levels and tones within the hair, allowing me to build brightness while still maintaining a really soft, seamless transition.
The result is that dimensional, sun-kissed blonde that feels bright and fresh, but still completely blended into what was already there.

And make sure you watch until the end! I left her hair straight so you can really see the blend in all of its seamless glory. 🤌🏼

I hope you guys enjoyed this one!

Stephanie came in ready for a change, but she didn’t want to lose the feeling of having long hair.

We focused on creating a haircut that fit her lifestyle. After removing about 6” of length and adding soft face-framing, she said her hair instantly felt lighter and had so much more movement.

Most importantly, she left feeling refreshed-like herself, just lighter.♥️

Stay tuned for part 2 of Stephanie’s makeover, where we transform her color with a custom gradient balayage.

Bea wanted a softer way to embrace her gray without feeling like she had to color it every few weeks.

A custom gray blending service gave her a seamless, dimensional result that works with her natural gray instead of covering it completely. The best part? A softer grow-out and a lower-maintenance color routine, making it a beautiful option if you’re looking for a natural, lived-in result.🙌🏼

One of my favorite DMs to receive is, “My hair is air drying perfectly.” 🙌🏼

That was Jordan’s message just a few days after his appointment.

His goal wasn’t straight hair. It was healthier, more manageable hair that could handle the Texas humidity while still keeping its natural movement.

Now comes the fun part...

He actually has to rethink his product routine. Before, he was layering products to fight frizz. Now, his routine is all about enhancing his natural movement instead of controlling it.

That’s the beauty of choosing the right service for the right client.

Sometimes the biggest transformation isn’t what happens in the salon. It’s what happens a few days later, when your client realizes they barely had to style their hair at all.

After our consultation, we knew Amanda wanted to feel brighter for summer, but she didn’t want a dramatic transformation.

We chose a Teddy Bronde because it gives that soft, sun-kissed brightness while keeping plenty of richness and dimension. Amanda is drawn to monochromatic color, something that feels effortless, natural, and impossible to detect. Our inspiration is always her daughter’s natural hair color. Soft dimension with no obvious lines of contrast.

The way I achieve that is through my signature Strandlights placement. Every highlight is intentionally placed to mimic the way the sun naturally lightens the hair, creating dimension that feels like it has always been there.

Luxury color isn’t about doing more. It’s about making hundreds of tiny, intentional decisions that come together to create a result that feels completely effortless.

Watch until the end to see the color formula! 🤎

I hope you enjoyed this video! If you’d like to see how I cut her hair, check out the reel right before this one and follow along for more behind-the-chair education.

One of my favorite parts of what I do is collaborating with my clients. 🤍

Amanda has been a client of mine for over 10 years, and we still approach every appointment like it’s our very first. We don’t just recreate the last appointment, we talk through her goals, what’s working, what isn’t, and where we want to take her hair next.

In my next video, I’ll break down exactly how we created this beautiful Teddy Bronde. 🤎

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this video, it’s this: never stop consulting. Treat every appointment like it’s the first one. Beautiful hair doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with thoughtful communication. 🫶🏼

Save this video for your next haircut consultation. 🙌🏼

Jordan was ready to bring back the brightness he had been missing. 🤍

The last time we used lightener on his hair was all the way back in 2021.

For this appointment, I used my signature Gradient Balayage technique.

Unlike a traditional foilayage application, where the entire panel is fully saturated and lifts to one consistent level and tone, Gradient Balayage is intentionally different.

By manipulating the saturation of the lightener throughout each section, I can control how much lift different areas achieve. That allows the hair to naturally expose different underlying pigments, creating a seamless gradient of levels and tones within the same panel.

The result is brighter, softer, and more dimensional color that looks incredibly natural and grows out beautifully.

Online education launching soon 👀

A great balayage starts long before the lightener comes out.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is customizing the hair color before addressing the haircut. Before every color appointment, I always ask if my guest wants a haircut because the shape of the haircut should guide the color placement, not the other way around.

Jordan hadn’t had a haircut in over a year, so before we even talked balayage, we needed to evaluate the foundation. His hair had developed uneven density, his ends were beginning to show signs of wear, and we had to decide how much length to keep while creating a shape that would support the final color.

That’s what this consultation is all about. It’s not just me telling my guest what I think, we’re collaborating on the end goal together. Every decision we make with the haircut influences how the balayage will look, move, and grow out.

In this video, you’ll see that entire conversation and why we chose to tackle the haircut first.

Part 2 is where the balayage magic happens. Stay tuned! 🤍

What do you think should come first: the haircut or the color?