When you have rich-colored hair, it can be hard to part with the idea of a solid dark mane. But let’s be real; everyone needs a hair color change once in a while. Thanks to the balayage technique, there’s a way to incorporate natural-looking highlights to makeover our hair.

If you have natural or dyed black or dark brown hair, you might just fall in love with the idea of balayage on dark hair.

Balayage on dark hair involves three main steps:

1. Selecting the hair to apply balayage
2. Hand-painting bleach highlights to the selected hair
3. Applying hair color all over or hand-painting colored highlights to the bleached hair

Dark Balayage Tips

Feeling apprehensive about transitioning from dark hair to lighter colors is normal. Becoming familiar with dark balayage tips is an excellent way to ease your mind and test the waters of blonde balayage hair.

Choose a shade that compliments your base color, such as milk chocolate tips on mocha hair color, or one that creates a dramatic contrast, like caramel blonde tips on espresso hair.

Want to see more ideas to give you inspiration for your dream dark hair balayage? We’ve combined 28 of our favorite ideas for full balayage on dark hair for you to try!

Rose Gold Balayage on Dark Hair

Rose gold is one of the most popular hair color trends of the 2020s; it’s a beautiful shade of rosy pink, peach, and gold together with a metallic shine.

The color is flattering on all skin tones and complexions and goes well with shades from light buttery blondes to rich chocolate brunettes. Rose gold balayage on dark hair creates a stunning multidimensional contrast that will turn heads.

Ash Balayage on Dark Hair

Baby, you’re a smoke show!

Ash hair is a cool-toned greyish color with blue, violet, and green undertones. It is a much more muted, soft grey than its metallic silver counterpart and can range from light ash blonde to dark ash brown. This smokey color is the perfect contrast for ash balayage on dark hair.

Subtle Balayage on Dark Hair

Are you in the mood for modest dark hair with just a hint of color? If you can’t part with your dreamy dark locks but are looking for a change, you’ll love subtle balayage on dark hair. You can choose a subtle balayage color similar to your dark hair or a vivid contrasting money piece.

You can choose your subtle balayage in several places:

1. Face-framing highlights
2. The underlayer of hair
3. Just the ends
4. Blended into the roots

Blonde Balayage on Dark Hair

Maintain the allure of dark hair and channel your inner blonde bombshell! Blonde balayage on dark hair affords you the best of both light and dark hair colors. We love ash blonde balayage on black hair for a cool-toned contrast or warm caramel balayage to compliment cocoa brown.

Honey Balayage on Dark Hair

When you want just a taste of honey, try the balayage technique to highlight your hair. Honey hair color adds a vivid splash of golden blonde and amber tones with a hint of red on a backdrop of rich colored hair.

Go for honey balayage on dark hair when you’re in the mood for a vibrant treat to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Face Framing Balayage on Dark Hair

Face-framing highlights, aka ‘money piece hair,’ are a popular highlighting technique where lighter colors are applied to your front hair pieces around the face. They accentuate both the person’s face and the color of the hair.

Face framing highlights are used to:

• Accentuate facial features
• Contour the face
• Create dimension
• Add volume around the face

Balayage and face-framing highlights often go hand-in-hand, as balayage is typically applied from the mid-shaft down, while the addition of money pieces adds highlights around the facial area.

Natural Balayage on Dark Hair

If you want a natural-looking balayage on dark hair, choose a color one or two shades lighter than your base hair. Go for a neutral shade of dark brown rather than something unconventional, like dark purple hair. We love the slight sun-kissed look of chocolate brown hair for a natural balayage on dark hair.

Light Balayage on Dark Hair

Light up your life with a fresh new hair color. Choose a light balayage on dark hair for a bright and vibrant change to a deep brown hair color. Cool-toned blondes like platinum or icy blonde go with coffee brown hair, and warm blondes like honey and caramel compliment dark copper brown.

Platinum Blonde Balayage On Dark Hair

Platinum blonde is the classic ‘blonde bombshell’ hair color. Many iconic women we adore are known for their platinum hair:

• Marilyn Monroe
• Madonna
• Pamela Anderson

Platinum blonde balayage on dark hair paints an ultra-light, icy shade on dark hair for a timeless and classy contrast.

If you’re unsure if platinum blonde balayage will work for you, try out clip in icy blonde balayage for a temporary option.

Beige Blonde Balayage on Dark Hair

This one’s the ‘crème de la crème’ of dark hair balayage. Beige blonde is a creamy blend of buttery yellows and pale sandy browns.

It is the perfect shade for blonde highlights if you want something light without too much vibrance. Wear this creamy color as beige blonde balayage on dark hair for a stunning contrast.

Sun Kissed Balayage on Dark Hair

Sun-kissed hair is nature’s highlights. The sun’s rays naturally bleach pigment from the hair, creating a gradual lightning effect that looks incredibly gorgeous on dark hair.

Ask for the foliage technique when you want the perfect sun-kissed balayage on dark hair, as it combines traditional balayage and foil highlights for natural-looking, lightened hair.

Bronde Balayage On Dark Hair

When we can’t decide between blonde and brunette hair, we turn to our go-to blonde-brown hybrid, bronde hair. As its name suggests, bronde hair is a fusion of golden blonde and warm brown tones.

Bronde balayage weaves light brown shades with medium blondes in a multidimensional color. Sweep the bronde hair color onto your dark mane, and you’ll get a stunning bronde balayage on dark hair look.

Babylights and Balayage on Dark hair

Classic highlights first became popular in North America in the 1980s. Rather than an all-over color, highlights intended to create a natural-looking blend of colors with less visible root grow out. The foil application, root-to-tip, and visible streaks remained the hair industry standard for several decades.

Today, we have plenty of options for highlighting techniques including:

• Classic highlights
• Chunky highlights
• Teasy Lights
• Babylights
• Strandlights
• Balayage
• Foilyage

Babylights are an ultra-fine type of foil highlights. The colorist will highlight more sections of hair, usually finer strands, resulting in a long process but with more blended highlights.

The chart below compares babylights vs. balayage on dark hair.

Babylights on Dark Hair	Balayage on Dark Hair
Foil highlights Root-to-tip application Ultra-fine sections of hair Natural-looking blend of colors	Hand-painted highlights Blended from mid-shaft down Chunky sections of hair Sun-kissed transition of colors

When you combine babylights and balayage on dark hair, you get an all-over, root-to-tip color change with a natural-looking blend. Babylights and balayage on dark hair are excellent for someone who wants all-over highlights to lighten their dark hair, with an emphasis on the artistic, hand-painted highlighting technique.

Warm Balayage on Dark Hair

Warm up with a cozy colored hairdo. Colors like caramel, honey, and copper are warm-toned colors that bring out your skin’s golden glow. Blend a fusion of warm blonde and brunette tones to get a bespoke warm balayage on dark hair.

Pink Balayage on Dark Hair

Oh, how we love to feel pretty in pink. Light shades like powder pink and rose gold are sweet and feminine, while neon pink and raspberry are ladylike and bold.

Pink balayage on dark hair allows us to wear our favorite color 24/7 while rocking our alluring deep brown tresses to show our edgy side.

Honey Caramel Balayage on Dark Hair

Honey caramel hair color is a deliciously satisfying shade for your sweet tooth. A blend of golden browns, buttery blondes, and gingery undertones is perfect for warm highlights on dark hair. If this all sounds scrumptious, you’ll love honey caramel balayage on dark hair.

Icy Balayage on Dark Hair

Ice, ice balayage!

Ice blonde hair is a frosty light blonde shade, similar to platinum, but with more prominent violet and blue undertones. This cool shade of pale blonde makes a stunning contrast on black hair balayage. If you have black or rich, cool brown hair, you’re a great candidate for icy balayage on dark hair.

Balayage on Dark Straight Hair

You know what we love about hand-painted highlights? They look stunning on both wavy and straight hair. Though bouncy curls accentuate the bespoke balayage design, it gives straight hair a voluminous, multidimensional look. Balayage on dark straight hair is a beautiful way to add dimension to raven dark hair.

Strawberry Blonde Balayage on Dark Hair

Strawberry balayage forever.

What’s not to love about strawberries? The sweet, tasty berry is nature’s best dessert and the juiciest compliment for blonde hair.

Strawberry blonde hair is a harmonious blend of golden blonde and rosy red tones. Try strawberry blonde balayage on dark hair for a juicy contrast on deep-colored tresses.

Cool Toned Balayage on Dark Hair

Balayage and chill?

Time to chill out cause this hair keeps it cool. If you like colors like ash blonde, platinum, or mushroom brown, you’ll love cool-toned balayage on dark hair.

Cool hair colors suit people with fair skin or cool-toned complexions; however, the beauty of balayage allows you to mix and match warm and cool colors to suit your skin tone.

The chart below compares cool-toned to warm-toned balayage on dark hair.

Cool Toned Balayage on Dark Hair	Warm Toned Balayage on Dark Hair
Mushroom, espresso, or ash browns Platinum, icy, or ash blondes Blue, green and violet undertones Suit people with pink skin undertones	Chocolate, honey, or auburn browns Caramel, golden, or strawberry blondes Red, orange, and yellow undertones Suit people with golden skin undertones

Heavy Balayage on Dark Hair

Welcome to the advanced technique of heavy balayage. With heavy balayage, your colorist hand-paints highlights to large sections to cover the majority of the surface of your hair while leaving a blended root-melt effect.

Heavy balayage on dark hair is perfect for those looking to transform their dark mane into lighter locks while leaving their original color exposed.

Golden Blonde Balayage on Dark Hair

Let these be the golden years of your dark hair color. Golden blonde is a luminous shade of buttery blonde, caramel, and amber tones. It’s the perfect accent for black or dark brown hair.

Try golden blonde balayage on dark hair when accessing deep locks with vibrant highlights.

Sandy Blonde Balayage on Dark Hair

Beach babies will love this dark hair balayage. If you’re a raven-haired goddess with a passion for the beach, you’ll love sandy blonde balayage on dark hair. Sandy blonde is a rich shade of beige with a mix of golden and ashy blonde tones; it’s the perfect neutral blonde to go with black and dark brown hair.

Peach Balayage on Dark Hair

Well, aren’t you just a peach! Have you heard of a trendy new vibrant hair color? If you can’t choose between orange and pink hair, settle for a color that’s just peachy!

Peach hair is a mix of powder pink, tangerine, and rose gold, resembling a refreshing peach bellini. Create a stunning multidimensional contrast with peach balayage on dark hair.

Silver Balayage on Dark Hair

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and so is silver hair. If you love shiny colors, you’ll love the metallic shine of silver hair. Silver is an elegant accent to dark colors. When you want hair that’s dimensional, classy, and poised, try silver balayage on dark hair.

Copper Balayage on Dark Hair

Fancy adding a little spice to your hairdo? Copper hair is a fiery reddish-brown shade that adds vibrance to light brown balayage on dark hair. Blend these spicy ginger highlights onto your mane for a striking copper balayage on dark hair.

No Bleach Balayage on Dark Hair

If you’re wondering if it is possible to achieve balayage on dark hair without bleach, it sure is! Remember the golden rule of hair dye: you can dye your hair two shades lighter without requiring bleach. Of course, this rule may differ depending on your natural color and hair’s porosity. For a no-bleach balayage on dark hair, try hand-painted cinnamon brown balayage highlights.

DIY Balayage on Dark Hair

Okay, so we’re set on balayage on dark hair but want to avoid a pricey trip to the salon. No problem! We have a simple tutorial for DIY balayage on dark hair that you can do in an hour from start to finish!

Before you do DIY balayage on dark hair, consider the following three things:

1. Where do you want to place your balayage highlights?
2. What color balayage on dark hair do you want?
3. Do you need to bleach your hair before coloring?

For our tutorial, we will demonstrate how to get honey blonde balayage on black hair.

Here is what you will need:

• Mixing bowl
• Hair dye brush
• Hair clips
• Bleach powder
• Developer
• Honey Blonde hair dye

Step #1

In your mixing bowl, combine two parts of bleach powder with one part of the developer. One cup of bleach powder and half a cup of the developer should be enough for medium-length black hair.

Step #2

Section your hair into four quadrants. Use your brush to draw a line down the middle of your hair from your nose to your neck. Split each half into two at the back of your ears. Clip each section up with hair clips.

Step #3

Start with your lower right quadrant of hair. Take a one-inch section from the bottom of your hair. Dip your hair dye brush in the bleach mixture and blend the bleach from the mid-shaft down in a back-and-forth sweeping motion. Add more bleach at the tips.

Step #4

Repeat the process using one-inch sections of hair and leaving one-inch sections untouched between the bleached areas.

Step #5

Once you have finished with the lower right quadrant, repeat the process on the lower left quadrant. Leave your hair down, flat, and straight.

Step #6

Allow the bleach to remain on your hair for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and blow dry your hair to get an accurate idea of the lightened color. Repeat the bleaching process step-by-step once or twice until your hair is bleached-blonde.

Step #7

You should now have a bleached-blonde balayage pattern. Color the bleached pieces of your hair with honey blonde hair dye according to the box instructions. You don’t have to be perfect with the application; honey blonde hair dye will not cause much change to dark or black that is not bleached

Refresh Your Locks with Balayage on Dark Hair

Balayage highlights create natural-looking dimension and give hair voluminous bounce. When you’re looking to add vitality and volume to deep-colored hair, you can’t go wrong with balayage on dark hair.