Most people book "highlights" and mean one of three different services. They are not interchangeable. They lift hair differently, they grow out differently, and they cost different amounts.
This guide explains what a colorist actually does in each case, what it costs at our Midtown Miami salon, and how to pick the one that suits your hair and your maintenance appetite.
For prices and booking, see hair coloring.
Foil Highlights: Precision And Brightness
Foils are the classic technique. Your colorist takes woven sections of hair, applies lightener, and wraps each section in foil. The foil traps heat and isolates the section, so the lift is strong and predictable.
Foils are the right choice when you want brightness that starts close to the root, even coverage across the whole head, or a specific pattern of light and dark. They are also the most controllable technique on hair that has been colored before.
The trade-off is the grow-out. Because the lightener starts near the scalp, you see a line as your hair grows, and most clients come back every 8 to 10 weeks.
Balayage: Painted, Soft, Low Maintenance
Balayage is freehand. Your colorist paints lightener onto the surface of the hair with a brush, heavier toward the ends and feathered as it approaches the root. Nothing is wrapped.
The result is sun-lightened rather than striped. Because the lightener never sits at the scalp, there is no hard regrowth line — the color simply softens as it grows. Most balayage clients stretch 3 to 4 months between full appointments, with a toner refresh in between.
Balayage suits you if you want dimension rather than an overall blonde, if you cannot commit to appointments every two months, or if you want to go lighter gradually over several visits rather than in one long session.
AirTouch: The Most Blended Grow-Out
AirTouch is the newest of the three and the most labor-intensive. The colorist takes a section, uses a hairdryer to blow out the shorter, finer hairs, and lightens only the longer strands that remain.
Removing the baby hairs is the entire point: the lightened strands are interleaved with untouched ones, so the transition from root to end is extremely gradual. It produces the softest grow-out of any technique — many clients go 4 to 6 months.
It also takes the longest and costs the most, because the sectioning is slow and meticulous. AirTouch is worth it on longer hair where the blend has room to show, and it is the technique we most often recommend to clients who want blonde but hate salon visits.
What Highlights Cost At Our Midtown Miami Salon
These are our current catalog prices. Your final quote comes from your consultation, because density, length, starting color, and previous color work all change the amount of product and time required.
| Service | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gloss / toner — add-on with a color service | $50 | 30 min |
| Gloss / toner — on its own | from $75 | 30 min |
| Shadow root / root melt | $125 | 45 min |
| Root touch-up | $150 | 90 min |
| Root bleach + tone | $200 | 2 h |
| Highlights — partial | $280 | 3 h |
| Highlights — full | $350 | 3.5 h |
| Balayage / highlights — partial or half head | $350 | 3 h |
| Balayage / highlights — full head | $550 | 4 h |
| AirTouch — medium length | $450 | 3 h |
| AirTouch — long | $600 | 4 h |
| Balayage / AirTouch, full head — long or thick | $700 | 4.5 h |
Two honest notes on this table. First, long or very dense hair costs more in every row — there is simply more hair to lighten, and we would rather tell you that up front than at checkout. Second, if your hair has box color, previous highlights, or henna in it, the first appointment may be a correction rather than a highlight, and correction is quoted separately after we see the hair in person.
Miami Humidity Changes The Aftercare, Not The Technique
Lightened hair is more porous, and porous hair absorbs moisture from the air. In Miami that means frizz and swelling on humid days, and it means blonde tones shift faster than they would in a dry climate.
Three things that actually help:
Use a sulfate-free shampoo and a purple or blue toning product once a week, not daily — over-toning turns blonde muddy. Rinse chlorine and salt water out the same day; both strip toner quickly and pool water is the single fastest way to pull a fresh blonde green. Book a gloss between full appointments. It is the cheapest way to keep the tone honest — $50 when added to a colour service, from $75 on its own — and it takes half an hour.
Which One Should You Book?
If you want maximum brightness and you are fine coming back every two months, book foils. If you want dimension with a forgiving grow-out, book balayage. If you have length, want blonde, and want to come back as rarely as possible, book AirTouch.
If you are not sure — and most people are not — book a consultation first. Fifteen minutes in person tells your colorist more than any photo, and it protects you from booking a three-hour appointment for the wrong service.
Where We Are
Vizavi Beauty is at 3250 NE 1st Ave in Midtown Miami, convenient from Wynwood, Edgewater, the Design District, Downtown, and Brickell.
Book a color appointment or see the full hair coloring menu.
