Guides
Balayage vs Highlights vs AirTouch: Which Is Right for Your Hair?
Quick answer: Victoria Kim often recommends balayage when a client wants lighter ends with a softer root and less frequent major lightening appointments. For natural-looking dimensional blonde, she often prefers highlights. AirTouch is something she recommends when the client specifically wants that type of result rather than simply because the technique is trendy.
By Victoria Kim
Clients sometimes sit in my chair feeling like they're supposed to know the difference between balayage, highlights and AirTouch before they can explain what they want.
You don't.
In fact, I often find it easier to show pictures than to explain the techniques first.
Two people can use the word "balayage" and have completely different pictures in their heads.
So I usually start somewhere simpler:
What do you want the finished hair to look like?
Then we decide how to get there.
If You Want Brighter Ends Without a Very Light Root: Balayage
I often suggest balayage when a client wants the ends noticeably lighter but doesn't want a very blonde or highly highlighted root area.
It creates a different balance.
The brightness can live more through the mid-lengths and ends, while the root stays softer and closer to the client's natural color.
That also makes balayage a good option for someone who doesn't want to come back as frequently for a major lightening appointment.
The grow-out tends to be more forgiving because there isn't the same obvious line at the root.
But there is an important detail people often miss:
Lower-maintenance placement does not mean zero maintenance.
The lightened hair may still need toner or gloss refreshed between major appointments to keep the shade where you like it.
I usually explain to clients that toning may be something we revisit around a month to a month and a half later, depending on the color.
If You Want a Natural, Dimensional Blonde: I Often Prefer Highlights
When someone tells me she wants a natural-looking dimensional blonde, highlights are often where I start.
Highlights give me very controlled placement.
I can decide exactly where the brightness needs to be, how much natural depth to leave between sections, and how light the overall result should feel.
They're also useful when gray hair is part of the conversation.
Highlights don't automatically give full gray coverage — that's a different goal — but strategically placed lighter pieces can reduce the contrast between gray strands and the surrounding hair and make the regrowth look softer.
The important question is whether we're trying to blend gray or cover it.
Those aren't the same service.
What About AirTouch?
AirTouch is a different way of selecting the hair that gets lightened.
A stylist uses airflow to separate the shorter hairs within a fine section, then works with the remaining longer hair.
It can create a very soft transition.
But I don't recommend AirTouch just because the technique is popular or because someone heard it's a "premium" version of highlights.
For me, AirTouch makes sense when the client actually wants that type of result.
If another technique can create the look you want more directly, I don't see a reason to choose AirTouch simply because of the name.
The Technique You Ask For May Not Be the Technique I Recommend
A reference photo is extremely useful.
But I use it to understand the result, not as an instruction sheet.
Your hair may have a different natural base than the person in the photo.
It may have previous permanent color underneath.
It may have already been lightened.
It may be more porous, more fragile or much darker.
Those things affect what's possible far more than the label written under the Instagram photo.
That is why two clients who show me very similar inspiration pictures may need completely different color plans.
Your Previous Color History Can Change Everything
Before a major lightening service, I need to know what's already in the hair.
Previous blonde.
Dark color.
Box dye.
Repeated lightening.
All of it matters.
Sometimes a client shows me a reference photo that simply isn't realistic in one appointment.
When that happens, I say so.
I may suggest a different shade that we can reach safely now and make the original goal a longer process.
And if the alternative isn't something the client wants, I'm comfortable saying no.
I'd rather lose one appointment than promise a blonde result that the hair isn't ready for.
Sometimes the Hair Condition Makes the Decision for Us
There are situations where I will not aggressively lighten the hair.
If it is already badly damaged from previous bleach, color or repeated hot-tool use, another major lightening session may not be the right next step.
At that point the conversation changes.
We may need to work on the condition of the hair first, trim what needs to be trimmed, improve the home routine, and come back to the color plan later.
The technique doesn't matter if the starting hair can't support the result.
So Which One Should You Ask For?
You can use this as a starting point:
You want lighter ends with a softer, more natural root: I would probably discuss balayage.
You want a dimensional, natural-looking blonde: I often lean toward highlights.
You have some gray and want it to blend more naturally: Highlights may be part of the plan, depending on how much gray you have and whether your goal is blending or complete coverage.
You specifically like the soft result you see from AirTouch: Then we can discuss whether AirTouch makes sense for your hair.
You mainly want fewer major correction appointments: Balayage is often the first option I consider.
But those are starting points, not rules.
Your hair history can change the answer.
Bring the Photo. You Don't Need to Bring the Technique Name.
This is probably the easiest advice I can give.
If you found a color you love, save it.
You don't need to figure out whether it was technically balayage, foilyage, babylights, highlights or AirTouch before your appointment.
Show me what you like about it.
Is it the brighter ends?
The soft root?
The face frame?
The amount of blonde?
The dimension?
Once I understand that — and once I see what your own hair is starting with — choosing the technique becomes much easier.
Expert guidance from Victoria Kim, licensed cosmetologist and independent hairstylist at Hair by Victoria Kim in Encino, California.
Last reviewed: October 8, 2026
Have a Color Reference but Don't Know Which Technique to Book?
Bring the photo. Victoria can look at your starting color, history and condition and recommend the approach that makes sense for your hair.