“Your light is only as strong as the dark that sits beside it,” says @John Simpson, Co-founder of CoCre8 Education.  A profound statement but absolute truth.  The distribution of depth is every bit as critical as where light should live on the head.  Depth placement saves time and gives your color the WOW factor that keeps your clients coming back to you.  

One of the biggest challenges as a colorist is to understand where and why you place depth and brightness.  Depth is required so that the lighter pieces have something to pop against.  Without it, you can end up with an all over looking color.  Balayage clients are drawn to the natural sun-kissed look so its important to study how sun and light actually hit the hair.

(photos by @hairbylindseyben and @hairbyalexacsanko)

Three of the best ways to create depth are with singles, V and W placements.  V placement allows for depth at the root and mid-interior with 2 ribbons of brightness on the sides.  W placement means less depth with more ribbons of light.  Singles are ribbons where brightness lives evenly from root to end. This is a great option when you are creating a money piece.  

(photos by @prettylittleombre)