As with all highlighting techniques, balayage requires lightening—and that means you'll need to have your hair bleached. Bleaching your hair can cause damage, so it's important to make sure you take care of your strands pre- and post-balayage.

Is balayage a bleach or dye?

“Balayage is a French technique that means 'to sweep,'” she adds. “It involves bleaching your hair with blended highlights away from the root so it grows out naturally,” says Alex.

Is balayage possible without bleach?

In this article, we'll talk about Balayage, especially balayage without bleaching. ... All these are done with the color lifting technique instead of bleaching. This means, instead of bleaching the hair to a blonde, the color lifting lifts the hair color to a light brown instead.