Balayage and hair colour, at home or in Yelling.
Foils, hand-painted balayage, toners and colour refreshes from a Vidal Sassoon trained colourist. In the home salon off the A428, or with the full colour kit at your house anywhere across Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.
Colour that looks good in month four, not just week two.
"I want balayage" is the request I hear more than any other, and about half the time what the person in front of me actually wants is foils. Neither technique is better. They do different jobs, and choosing the wrong one is how people end up back in a chair sooner than they planned, paying for a correction they never budgeted for.
I trained at Vidal Sassoon and I have been colouring hair for twenty years, first in salons and now from my home salon in Yelling and in kitchens and living rooms across Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. Colour is where that training shows most. The aim every time is colour that looks expensive on the day and still looks deliberate as it grows, because you live with it for months, not for the photo.
So this page is the practical version. What each colour service on my list actually does, how a colour appointment works at home and in the salon, how long it takes, how to look after it, and the things I will tell you plainly even when they are not what you hoped to hear. Prices are on Fresha, where they stay accurate. Everything else is here.
Every colour service on the list.
All of these are on the colour list, and every one of them is available in the home salon or as a home visit. If you are not sure which to book, book the one closest to what you want and tell me in the notes. We will settle the details in the consultation, with your hair in my hands rather than a photo on a screen.
Foils get you blonde. Balayage grows out kindly.
Foils are woven out in fine sections, painted with lightener and wrapped. The foil keeps each section separate and traps heat, which speeds up the lift, so I can take hair brighter and cleaner right up to the root. The trade off is regrowth. Because the lightener goes to the root, you will see a line as your natural colour comes through, usually somewhere between six and eight weeks.
Balayage is painted onto the surface, heavier towards the ends and softer as it travels up, so it fades out rather than stopping. The lift is gentler and slower, and the root stays close to your natural shade, which is why most balayage clients come back every three or four months and in between it just looks like your hair has been somewhere sunny. What it will not do is get you as light as foils in one sitting, especially if you are starting dark.
In practice most people get both: a handful of foils around the face and through the parting, where brightness reads in the mirror, and balayage through the lengths. That combination, plus a toner, is what nearly every Instagram photo you have saved actually is. I have written the longer version in balayage or foils, and how I decide.
Four stages, and the first one is two days before.
- 01
Skin test first
At least 48 hours before your first colour with me. It takes a couple of minutes, and I can post it to you or drop it round if I am passing.
- 02
The consultation
Where your hair is starting from, what has been on it in the last two years, the condition it is in and how often you can realistically come back.
- 03
Colour and toner
Foils, balayage or a mix of both, with Olaplex worked into the lightener where the hair needs it, then a toner to set the shade.
- 04
Blow dry and a plan
Finished the way you will wear it, and an honest answer about when the next appointment should be, whether that is a toner or a full colour.
On timings, the honest figures: a half head of foils with a toner and blow dry is about two hours, a full head closer to three, and balayage around two to two and a half. Thick hair and hair past your shoulders take longer. When you book I will give you a real time, because the thing that ruins a colour appointment is the school run colliding with the toner.
The parts of colour nobody explains.
Blonde is a commitment, not a haircut. Lightener removes pigment and cannot add any, so whatever technique we use, the hair underneath is left somewhere on a scale from red through orange to yellow. The toner is what turns that into the shade you asked for. It is the difference between "I got highlights" and "your hair looks incredible", and it is the first thing to fade. That is why blonde can look brassy at eight weeks even though the highlights themselves are fine. A toner refresh on its own is a short appointment and it is the best-value thing on the colour list.
Grey is a choice between covering and blending. A full head colour refresh covers it completely, which looks crisp and means coming back for the roots. Foils woven through the hair soften it instead, so the grey and the colour sit together and the regrowth is far less obvious. Neither is the right answer for everybody. It depends on how much grey there is, where it sits, and how often you actually want to be in the chair.
Very pale blonde needs a proper conversation. Scalp bleach and big jumps in lightness are where hair gets hurt, so I use Olaplex mixed into the lightener to protect the bonds while the colour works, and I will not push hair further than it can go in one day. If your hair feels spongy wet or snaps when I stretch it, we talk about repair before we talk about blonde. That might mean a treatment appointment first and the lighter shade next time.
The products are the same in the salon and in your kitchen: the same Wella, Moroccanoil and Olaplex I use in Yelling, whichever room the appointment happens in.
What I will tell you before I mix anything.
Where your hair is starting from matters most. Natural shade, previous colour, box dye, henna, anything that has been on it in the last couple of years. Old colour does not vanish, and lightener behaves very differently over it. Box dye on the lengths is the single most common surprise, so if there is some, tell me. I would much rather know about the box dye from 2019 before I mix anything than discover it halfway through.
Going lighter too fast is the mistake I fix most. The ends always pay for the root. A natural dark brown to a bright cool blonde is two or three appointments over months, not one afternoon, and I will plan it that way rather than promise you something your hair cannot do.
How often you can come back decides the technique. If you can get in twice a year, foils to the root will look grown out for most of it and balayage will not. I would rather give you colour that suits your diary than colour that only works if you live in the salon.
Under-16s. Colour is the one service I do not do on under-16s, so it waits.
The colour kit travels. The backwash does not.
Colour is a good part of what I do on home visits, and it works perfectly well at a kitchen table. The full colour kit comes with me, foils, lightener and toners included, along with a professional dryer, towels, gowns and the same Wella, Moroccanoil and Olaplex products I use in Yelling. Nothing gets downgraded because the appointment is at your house.
What does not come with me is a backwash or a hydraulic chair, so the rinsing happens at your sink or over the bath. That is completely normal, and it matters more for colour than for a dry cut, so I would rather you knew now. From you I need a chair near a plug socket, a bit of floor space, and a sink I can get to. Then you can put the washing on or take a call while the colour develops, which is half the reason people book colour at home in the first place.
To book it, choose the Home Visit version of the colour service on Fresha rather than the salon one. They are listed separately, and the home visit is the one that sends me to you and adds the £10 call-out charge, which covers the travel anywhere within roughly a 30 to 40 minute drive from Yelling. There is more on how home visits work on the mobile hairdressing page.
If you would rather come to me, the home salon is at 10 High Street, Yelling, PE19 6SD, just off the A428. It is about ten minutes from St Neots, around 16 minutes from St Ives, around 17 from Huntingdon and around 19 from Cambourne. There is somewhere to park, the kettle is on, and you are the only person in the room, which for a three hour colour is worth a lot.
Most of what shortens colour happens at home.
Use a sulphate-free shampoo, and wash in water that is cooler than feels nice. Keep straighteners and tongs below the top setting and put a heat protector between them and your hair. If you swim, wet your hair with clean water first so it soaks up less chlorine.
Book a toner refresh at the halfway point between colour appointments, rather than waiting until you hate it. If you are lightening regularly, a bond treatment every few washes is the cheapest insurance there is against the day your ends give up. I will tell you which products are worth buying for your colour and which are not.
If your hair is Afro, curly or coily, colour works beautifully but it is placed and lifted differently. There is more on that on the Afro and textured hair page.
What they said about their colour.
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Biba has been doing my hair for over 10 years along with my sister, sister-in-law, niece and daughters. We have always been extremely pleased with Biba's cuts, colours, and blow drys. We all highly recommend her.
Hazel Slaymaker · Google, November 2025
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My first experience with Biba was fabulous! I am so pleased with my hair colour.
Charlie Carey · Colour · Facebook, August 2023
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Always so happy with the condition Biba leaves my hair in, and I'm so so happy with the colour.
Hannah · Colour · Facebook, August 2021
The rest, from Google, Facebook and Fresha, are on the reviews page.
What people ask before a colour.
Balayage or full head foils: which should I have?
Foils if you want to be properly blonde, bright right up to the root, and you are happy to come back every couple of months. Balayage if you want something softer and lower maintenance that grows out without a line, usually with three or four months between appointments. Most of my clients actually end up with a mix: a few foils around the face and the parting, balayage through the lengths, and a toner to finish.
Can you do colour at my house?
Yes. Foils, balayage, toners and colour refreshes all travel, and the full colour kit comes with me. Book the Home Visit version of the colour service on Fresha, which adds the £10 call-out charge, and I will come to you anywhere within roughly a 30 to 40 minute drive from Yelling. I rinse at your sink or in the bath, because I do not carry a portable backwash.
Do I really need a skin test?
Yes, 48 hours before your first colour with me, every time, including if you have had colour elsewhere for years. Reactions are rare but they are serious, and 48 hours is the gap that makes the test mean something. I can post it to you or drop it round. If you book a colour and we have not done one yet, message me straight away so we can sort it without losing the slot.
How long does a colour appointment take?
A half head of foils with a toner and a blow dry is usually about two hours. A full head is closer to three, and longer again on thick hair or hair past your shoulders. Balayage is around two to two and a half hours, because the painting is slow even without foils. A first colour with me always takes a little longer, because the consultation is a proper one.
Can you take me from dark brown to blonde in one go?
Not safely, and anybody who promises it is setting you up for snapped, orange hair. Hair can only take so much lift in one sitting. Going from a natural dark brown to a bright, cool blonde takes two or three appointments spread over months, with Olaplex in the mix, and your hair arrives in one piece.
Can you help me blend my grey?
Yes, and the consultation is where we decide how. A full head colour refresh covers it, which means coming back for the roots. Foils woven through the hair soften it instead, so the regrowth is far less obvious and you can leave longer between appointments. Which one suits you depends on how much grey there is and how often you want to be in the chair.
Why does my blonde go brassy?
Because lightener can only remove pigment, it cannot add any. What is left underneath is somewhere between red, orange and yellow, and the toner is what turns that into the shade you wanted. The toner is also the first thing to fade. Booking a toner refresh halfway between colour appointments fixes the brass properly, which purple shampoo only ever half does.
Do you colour under-16s?
No. Colour is the one service I do not do on under-16s. Cuts and perms are fine with a parent or guardian present, but colour waits.
How much does balayage or a full head of foils cost?
Prices depend on hair length and thickness rather than on a technique name, so they live on Fresha where they stay accurate, not on a page I might forget to update. Each colour service has a salon version and a Home Visit version, listed separately, so you can see exactly what you will pay before you book.
Still not sure which colour you need? Send me a photo of your hair in daylight and one of the look you are after, and I will tell you honestly which technique gets you there and roughly how many appointments it will take. The full list of what I do is on the services page.
Book a colour.
Choose the salon or the Home Visit version on Fresha. First colour with me? Message me when you book so we can sort the skin test 48 hours before.