31 Cool Balayage Ideas for Short Hair

Just because you have short hair doesn’t mean you can’t still play around with beautiful shades and tones of your natural colour, and a few unnatural ones too. This is what makes these beautiful balayage ideas for short hair such great ones. Just take a peek and you’ll see…

1. Short Bob Haircut + Honey Blonde Balayage

If you have fine hair, a bouncy balayage look like this one is a really great idea, curly layers added to give it a three-dimensional effect and honey blonde balayage highlights thrown in to complete the look. It all works together to add oomph where it may have been previously rather lacklustre.

2. Choppy Bob Cut + Ice Blonde Highlights

Cutting your hair short will give it a new lease of life because you’re cutting inches of dead and dying hair off, dead and dying hair that will be stealing nutrition and vitamins from the rest of your hair and body. Cutting the hair short will focus all the good stuff on the hair that can actually benefit from it so by cutting inches off, you’ll find the inches grow back much quicker than you’d think, and in much better condition too. When you have great condition hair, you can go for bolder and brighter styles that your previously dead hair wouldn’t have been able to cope with. Just like this beautiful ice blonde highlighted look over a choppy bob cut.

3. Messy, Short Bob with Bangs + Caramel Balayage Highlights

Bobs and bangs are quite a brave move but as this beauty shows, can be done quite easily with the right knowledge, shade of hair, and cut. The bangs are counteracted here with the bounciness of the curly short tresses, and the darker on top, lighter on the bottom approach really helps to give the look a new lease of life too.

4. A-Line Bob with Blonde Balayage Lowlights

Before you decide to go for the chop, you should make sure you have the right texture of hair for a choppy bob. Wavy, curly, coarse and medium types of hair are best suited to a medium (yet still short) hairstyle. If you have fine hair, you’ll want to opt for a more one length cut which you can then bulk up with highlights and curls, or a much shorter look.

5. Brunette Bob Hairstyle + Light Balayage Highlights

If you have long hair, going for the chop can often be a very daunting experience but as these balayage ideas for short hair show, there really isn’t anything to worry about. You can have just as much fun, and still play around with different dyeing techniques, even when you don’t have length on your side. Plus there are so many advantages associated with going for the chop.

6. Layered Short Bob + Front Blonde Balayage Highlights

There are some disadvantages to cutting your hair short of course. There is an element of regret whenever you watch your beloved hair fall onto the floor behind you. How about you take a slightly different approach to things however? You could donate your hair to a charity who makes wigs for young children with cancer, for example. Put a positive spin on things and going under the chop won’t seem so bad. You could even fundraise as you go if your hair is your thing and this is a brave move. Imagine raising money, helping kids with cancer, and having a hair look like this one all at the same time? We think that could just be a winning combination.

7. Sunset Balayage Look

Long hair is high maintenance. Why would you go through the hassle of high-maintenance hair when you could have low-maintenance hair like these balayage ideas for short hair? You have all the beauty of those ombre and balayage designs without the hassle of split ends, dealing with split ends, worrying about cutting split ends off…. etc. The circle of hair life. Sigh.

8. Honey Blonde Highlights on Dark Hair

Although it might sound pretty obvious, short hair really does dry in a fraction of the time it takes long hair to dry. You really don’t appreciate that fact until you have gone for the chop yourself. If you’re half tempted by balayage ideas for short hair like these, you should be aware that a fraction of the drying time means more time for you in the morning. There’s also a fraction of the styling time, curling time, straightening time, washing time, conditioning time, etc… Need we go on?

9. Blonde Balayage Ombre on Dark Hair

Despite not having quite as much hair to play with, short hair can still be styled in a whole host of different ways, giving you more than enough options when you want to change the way your balayage ideas for short hair look. This look would look amazing whether it was worn curly or straight, and as the look grows out, it will just create a longer balayage ombre.

10. Caramel Balayage Highlights

There are both advantages and disadvantages to going for a short look like one of these beauties, and you will need to have a long, hard think about it before you make any cutting decisions. For a way to rock short summer hair, we can’t recommend this caramel balayage look enough. It’s highlighted in a natural way, the lighter sections in the same places the sun would naturally hit were you to sit in the sun all day. For a first timer, the more natural approach is often the easiest one.

11. Choppy Light Brown Bob + Blonde Highlights

Hilary Duff recently lopped off her long blonde locks and opted for a short and simple balayage for short hair like this one. Play around a little with looks and accessories you wouldn’t normally play around with and you’ll have a good idea of how cute and girlie as well as sophisticated and classy these balayage ideas for short hair can look.

12. Ice Blonde Balayage Highlights

Even Khloe Kardashian went under the knife. Well, scissors really. Hers now falls to about shoulder-skimming length, and she’s added some super blonde balayage highlights into the mix to summer things up. It’s a great tip and one that has clearly been followed in this amazing look which obviously, we can’t get enough of.

13. Bronde Bob with Front Blonde Highlights

If you’ve not heard of ‘bronde’, you’ve been living under a rock. No seriously… Where have you been? All the celebs have been rocking the bronde look – Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Tiegen pre and post baby, Margot Robbie… Shall we go on? It’s meant to look sun-kissed, like you’ve spent the summer at the beach and your dark brown hair has been bleached naturally by the sun while you’ve been having a whale of a time. We can all dream, right?

14. Caramel & Blonde Highlights

You can throw long hair up into a ponytail but even still, long hair is high maintenance. Short hair is much easier to maintain, usually just requiring a quick wash and blow-dry before you leave the house. Finger-tousled waves are very easy to create in the morning, and a little wax or product will see you right through the day. If it’s a five minute style you’re looking for, this caramel and blonde highlights on a short and choppy bob is definitely the right one to go for.

15. Blonde Balayage Bob + Dark Root

Who said roots were bad? We never said that, did you? In fact, those dark roots look pretty good in this blonde balayage bob and we’re half tempted to go for the chop just because of it. Roots are a big thing this season, and it’s a trend that’s set to stay. It would be an awful shame to let that great convenience go to waste. Ten weeks between salon trips and counting…

16. Golden Caramel Highlights

If you have a nice collarbone, or delicate facial features, or you love the length of your neck, a short cut can be very flattering, especially if you opt for layers that frame the face too. When you have long hair, many of your most beautiful facial features are often overlooked, so it might be time to try a little something different to see if you can’t find a new hairstyle you’ll love a little more.

17. Blonde Balayage Lowlights

If you want a look that is super simple, why not this one? Natural hair but with the simple addition of blonde balayage highlights to switch the look around entirely. It’s a beginner’s way in, if you like, a beautifully easy and simple hairstyle that you could even do on your own at home (or with the help of a friend).

18. Blonde, Face-Framing Highlights

The lightest of highlights have been saved for the face-framing layers here and there’s a good reason for that – it’s light reflective and will therefore make your face appear brighter and bubblier. In short, it’ll work wonders for your complexion. If you don’t believe us, give it a try for yourself. Or take a look at celebrity photos and spot how many of them adopt the same trick.

19. Light Brown Lowlights on Dark Hair

The best thing about short hair is that you can totally rock bedhead hair – hair that looks as if it might have been slept in. You might have spent fifteen minutes styling your hair this morning or it might be the same hair you woke up with. No one would ever know but everyone’s doing it and it looks super cool so it doesn’t matter.

20. Lob Cut + Blonde Balayage Ombre

Jessica Alba is a big fan of bonding her natural brunette hair with bronde and blonde high and lowlights to create an ombre and balayage blend that every woman around the world lusts after. In fact, Jessica Alba also went for the chop with a cut that looks a little similar to this one. If it’s good enough for the beautiful Hollywood actress, it’s good enough for us… Right?

21. Front, Blonde Balayage Highlights

If you want to really frame your face with that beautiful platinum blonde shade, you need to bring the look towards the front of your face as well as towards the ends of your hair. As you can see here, the bulk of her hair is that natural darker blonde shade but the front and ends catch the light wonderfully, creating a really pretty glow for the face.

22. Gorgeous Caramel Highlights

If you’re a dark brunette girl usually and you want to go light, but just not too light, you should definitely consider adding tones of caramel and honey blondes, closer to the brown spectrum, to help give the style a brand new dimension. This is an especially neat trick for those with feathery-fine hair. It helps make your hair appear thicker!

23. Beige Blonde and Silver Blonde Balayage

Silver was all the rage over the last year or so and if you’re growing or fading yours out, we would definitely recommend keeping the ends of your hair this beautiful silvery blonde tinge whilst adding the beige blonde to the top to bring the balayage to life. When your roots grow through, there will just be another level of toning thrown into the mix, making it yet another simple and versatile plus low-maintenance look that we reckon you should definitely rock.

24. Ash Blonde Bob + Blonde Balayage Highlights

It’s a very short look, only reaching chin-length, but it has maximum impact with those ash blonde tones running through it, still blonde, but using slightly different tones to bring the look to life. The side swept bangs and parting really help to show off the look, the lighter sections catching the light, and it’s super cute too.

25. Golden Caramel & Blonde Highlights

Ginger, strawberry blonde, a tad on the red side… Whatever it is you want to call it, you’re a special and rare person if you have tinges of red in your hair and we say that you should embrace them. We love the way that red and blonde has been incorporated into the natural brown beneath to create a breathtaking look that’s just begging to be rocked this summer.

26. Balayage Ombre Lob

The ‘lob’ or long-bob is actually a very good way of having short hair, but not too-short hair. Plus, as you can see from this balayage ombre lob, it can be discreet, natural and beautiful all at the same time, even when you don’t have length on your side to be able to play around with lots of shades and tones of your blonde colour. Slightly darker at the top to make the roots a little easier when they come through, the blondes travels through the ash and icy layers to finally reach a wonderful platinum blonde.

27. Honey Blonde

It’s a great way of adding a natural look to your coloured hair, this honey blonde highlighted look has also incorporated shades of brown to bring the look to life completely. If it’s super easy and simple you’re looking for, this is the one to go for, and there are one hundred and one reasons why you should.

28. Peekaboo Highlights

Just because you’re having a contrasting shade doesn’t mean it needs to be bold and out-there. This is a great way of showing how subtle these balayage ideas for short hair can be if you play your cards right. The bulk of the colouring has been restricted to the face-framing layers, and also to the very ends of the hair where much lighter shades of blonde have been added. We love it – bold and beautiful but subtle and discreet all at the same time. Everything we want from our balayage ideas for short hair.

29. Rose Gold Balayage Ombre

Kristen Stewart is actually a fan of the subtle balayage highlighted look, usually with a contrasting shade that’s only a few different from her own. Sometimes it’s a blonde shade but most of the time it has a reddish tinge. We won’t lie, we’re a little obsessed with it. If you love Kristen’s look, and the one shown by this beauty, you need to go for a short and choppy bob that is both relaxed and tomboyish, but still cute and feminine all at the same time. Oh, and this rose gold balayage ombre for the bottoms too.

30. Wavy Blonde Bob

Ideally, you’ll want to have a chat with your hairstylist before going for the chop, take as many photos of balayage ideas for short hair in with you so he or she can get a good idea of exactly what it is you’re looking for, and really TALK so you end up with a style you really love. It’s hard work trying to explain something to someone, having photos to prove your point (as such) is always an easier and better approach. If you want a look like this, take a photo of it with you, and try to find similar images of similar colours and cuts on places such as Instagram and Pinterest.

31. Balayage Colourmelt

It looks as if butter wouldn’t melt with this cute and sweet balayage colour melt. We can’t help but admit we are one hundred percent obsessed with this blunt-edged cut, perfect with that beautiful brown to blonde ombre thats been delicately handpainted. It’s a bold look but if you’re game, we are. In fact, we’re adding this one to our list too!

We hope you loved these balayage ideas for short hair but we’d love to see some of yours too! Don’t forget to give us a cheeky follow on any of our social media pages, and if you show us your favourites, we’ll give you a little shout out. We want you to get involved with the conversation!