Hot take: foiling is better than balayage for fine hair and I'm tired of pretending it isn't
Every client with fine hair who sits in my chair in Nashville asks for that soft lived in balayage look because of Instagram. I did freehand painting on a client with baby fine level 7 hair last month and it went muddy in 3 weeks, but when I switched her to a foil weave pattern with 12 foils per side the lift stayed clean for almost 3 months. Balayage has its place on thick wavy hair, but on fine hair it just bleeds and grabs uneven. Any other colorists out there getting pushback from clients when you suggest foils instead?
Fine hair can totally work with balayage if you actually know what you're doing with the saturation and placement, so blaming the technique itself is kinda unfair. I've had clients with baby fine hair keep clean, lived in color for months because I adjusted my approach for their texture instead of just painting the same way on everyone. Foils have their place for sure, but saying they're always better on fine hair just isn't true.