Chapter 5 – Foiling Placement and Technique

5.1 Weaves Versus Slices

Hair Texture vs. Hair Density

Hair texture and density will determine many aspects of our foil application, including how we weave or slice the hair. Some stylists and clients may confuse and interchange the terms texture and density, so let’s take a moment to differentiate the two.

  • Hair texture, as we know, can be assessed as fine, medium, or coarse, and refers to the diameter of the hair strand.
  • Hair density, on the other hand, can be assessed as thin, average, or thick, and refers to the actual amount of hair on the head.

It is possible for a client to have:

  • Fine hair, thick density — meaning, small diameter hair strands with a lot of density.
  • Coarse hair, thin density — meaning, large diameter hair strands with low density.

See the difference?

It is important to know the distinction and to assess your clients accordingly before you choose a technique.

Foiling Application Techniques

Before we get into how texture and density can affect your technique, let’s recap what the different foiling application techniques look like.

Fine weave. The result is an evenly dispersed, blended colour.
Medium weave. The result is blended, with notable dimension.
Heavy weave. The result is a high-contrast, dimensional colour.
Slice. Result is high-contrast streaks of colour.

Comparing Foiling Techniques

Each of these techniques will give a different result on their own but will also look very different according to hair texture and density.

A fine weave that looks subtle and blended on a client with low density or fine hair texture will likely disappear on a client with thick density or coarse hair texture.

As well, a heavy weave that adds definition to the hair on a client with thick density or coarse hair texture will likely overwhelm and look stripy on a client with thin or fine textured hair.

Therefore, it is critical to understand that the definition of what each weave looks like will change when working with different textures and densities

To get a visual comparison, let’s look at the 3 weave techniques, and how they differ on two clients with different hair textures:

Fine, Medium, and Heavy Weaves on Fine and Course Hair
Weave Technique Fine Hair Coarse Hair
Fine Weave Fine weave on fine hair fine weave on coarse hair
Medium Weave medium weave on fine hair medium weave on coarse hair
Heavy Weave heavy weave on fine hair heavy weave on coarse hair

If you choose to use a slice application, rather than weaves, remember that no matter the texture or density, a slice needs to remain thin enough to achieve optimal saturation. However, you may choose to put back to back slices into hair with a coarser texture or thicker density to achieve the same level of impact.

Next up, how to use angles to your advantage!

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Hair Colour for Hairstylists: Level 2 Copyright © 2021 by Arden Magtiza is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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