Call today! 813.949.3300
Call today! 813.949.3300
Nu Image Medspa is where to get balayage in Lutz, FL painted by a licensed colorist. Balayage (say it bah-lee-AHZH) is a freehand technique — lightener is hand-painted onto the surface of the hair rather than packed into foils — for a soft, sun-kissed, dimensional result that grows out without a harsh line. A full balayage starts at $160; partial balayage and add-ons like a money piece are quoted at your consultation. Find us at 3939 Cheval Blvd, just off N Dale Mabry Hwy near Cheval, Steinbrenner High School and Gaither High School.
Balayage is the lowest-maintenance color there is — no stark regrowth line means fewer salon trips, which suits the Lutz boat-pool-and-golf calendar. But the lightened pieces are exactly what Florida sun, pool chlorine and hard water turn brassy, so every balayage here is toned, glossed and bond-protected to hold true, with a simple plan to refresh it between visits. It’s the only salon in the area inside a medical spa. Serving Lutz, Cheval, Carrollwood, Northdale, Odessa, Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel. Call 813.949.3300.
Plenty of color looks good leaving the salon. The question that actually matters in Lutz is how it looks in week six — after the pool, the boat, a few rounds in the sun and zero spare afternoons to sit in a chair. That’s the test balayage was made to pass, and it’s why it has quietly become the default color request across Cheval and North Tampa. Painted well, it works with the way you actually live here instead of fighting it.
Because the lightener is hand-painted to leave your natural color at the root, balayage has no hard regrowth line. There’s no stripe creeping down from your part demanding a touch-up every four weeks, which is exactly what a packed boat-pool-and-school-pickup calendar can’t accommodate. You stretch full appointments to every few months and refresh with a quick gloss in between — the lowest-upkeep color a busy Lutz schedule can ask for.
Balayage mimics the way the sun naturally lightens hair — brighter through the mid-lengths and ends, soft at the root. In a place where everyone genuinely is in the sun, that reads as believable rather than done, and it photographs beautifully in the harsh, bright light of a Florida afternoon, where flat, all-over color can look heavy. The placement is mapped to your features so the brightness lands where the light already hits your face.
The honest part. Those hand-painted, lightened sections are the most exposed part of your whole color, and Lutz throws three things at them: year-round UV that oxidizes tone, plus pool chlorine and hard water that deposit copper and minerals and pull blonde toward brass — or even green. So a balayage that lasts here isn’t just painted well; it’s toned and glossed to start true, bond-protected through the lift, and kept up with a gloss rather than constant re-lightening. If yours has already gone brassy or banded, that’s a color correction — and the ongoing fix lives on our hair color menu.
| Best for | Low-maintenance, sun-kissed dimension; grown-out, no-harsh-line color; blonde, brunette & caramel looks |
|---|---|
| How it’s done | Freehand — lightener hand-painted on the surface, then toned & glossed (no foils) |
| Options | Full or partial balayage, money piece / face-frame · or foiled highlights if you prefer |
| Starting price (Lutz) | Full balayage $160+ · partial & add-ons by consult · see specials |
| Appointment time | About 2–4 hours, depending on length, density & lift |
| How often | Every 3–4 months (or longer) · a gloss between visits to fight Florida brass · a deep conditioning treatment to keep painted ends healthy |
| Painted by | A master colorist, decades behind the chair · meet the team |
Pricing is approximate and confirmed at your complimentary consultation. Final price varies with hair length, density and goals. Ask about current specials and flexible payment plans.
Balayage is a technique, not one shade — so it’s mapped to your base, your features and how you live. Common looks:
Hand-painted all the way around for all-over dimension and a brighter, sun-kissed result that still grows out soft.
$160+
The face frame and the top layers the sun would naturally catch — a lighter, lower-cost commitment and a great first step.
By consult
Soft, lived-in blonde through the mid-lengths and ends — toned cool so it doesn’t go brassy in the Florida sun.
By consult
Warm caramel, bronde or copper dimension painted into dark and brown hair — natural depth, never a stark stripe.
By consult
Brighter pieces framing the face to lift your features and your complexion — a popular add-on to any balayage.
Add-on
The low-maintenance secret — re-seal shine and knock out brass between full appointments to stretch your color.
Not sure whether you want a full or partial balayage — or whether foiled highlights would suit you better? A quick consultation maps it out, with pricing confirmed up front.
It’s the question everyone asks — and the honest answer is they do different jobs. Balayage is hand-painted for a soft, low-maintenance, sun-kissed look; highlights are foiled for a brighter, more uniform lift that’s great for bold blondes and gray blending. Here’s the side-by-side.
| Balayage | Highlights (foils) | |
|---|---|---|
| Technique | Hand-painted, freehand | Sectioned into foils |
| Look | Soft, blended, sun-kissed | Uniform, structured |
| Grow-out | No harsh line | Visible regrowth line |
| Maintenance | Low — a gloss between | More frequent touch-ups |
| Placement | Surface & face-framing | Root-to-tip, all over |
| Best for | Lived-in, low-upkeep | Bold lift & gray blending |
Foils give a colorist guide rails. Balayage takes them away — there’s no template and no grid, so the lightener goes exactly where the colorist decides to sweep it, and that single judgment call is the whole result. Place it a shade too low and a sun-kissed effect turns into a stripe; read the hair right and it looks like you simply spend a lot of time outdoors. That feel is earned over thousands of heads, which is exactly what Karen brings — inside Nu Image, a Lutz practice trusted for 20+ years with a 4.8-star reputation, where your color is balanced to flatter you in real Florida light.
Master Stylist · Licensed Board of Cosmetology · Hand-Painted Color · NYC Hair Show Veteran
Karen’s freehand color work is shaped by decades of NYC hair shows, seminars and in-house training. She reads your hair, your face shape and the way you wear it before the first sweep, so the painted pieces fall where the light actually hits — soft, lived-in, and built to grow out without a line.
Every balayage starts with the all-important consultation — the hallmark of her work — so the placement and upkeep match your real routine. Clients love her sunny, upbeat chair-side energy.
We read your hair, base color and features and map exactly where the paint will land.
Your colorist free-hand paints the lightener with bond protection — no foils, no template.
A custom toner and gloss set the exact shade and seal it to resist Florida brass.
A finished style, plus a simple grow-out and gloss plan to stretch your color for months.
We’re centrally located on Cheval Blvd, a short drive from Cheval, Northdale and Carrollwood, the master-planned neighborhoods of Wesley Chapel, and the lake communities of Land O’ Lakes and Odessa. Tap your neighborhood for directions and local details.
Directions from Cheval →
Directions from Northdale →
Directions from Odessa →
Directions from Carrollwood →
Directions from Land O’ Lakes →
Drive times are approximate — check live directions for your exact route. Free on-site parking at 3939 Cheval Blvd, Lutz, FL 33558.
A full balayage starts at $160. Partial balayage costs less, and add-ons like a money piece or a toner are quoted separately, because the final price depends on your hair’s length, density and how much lightening you want. Your exact plan is confirmed at your complimentary consultation, and we run new salon specials every month.
Balayage (pronounced bah-lee-AHZH, from the French for “to sweep”) is a freehand technique: a colorist hand-paints lightener onto the surface of the hair instead of saturating it in foils. That creates a soft, sun-kissed gradient that’s lighter toward the ends and grows out without a harsh regrowth line. It’s a placement technique, not a single shade, so it can be blonde, brunette, caramel or copper.
Highlights are sectioned into foils for a more uniform, structured lift from root to tip; balayage is hand-painted on the surface for a softer, blended, sun-kissed look. The biggest practical difference is grow-out: foiled highlights leave a visible regrowth line and need more frequent touch-ups, while balayage grows out softly and just needs a gloss between visits. Highlights suit bold or even lightening and gray blending; balayage suits a lived-in, low-upkeep look.
A partial balayage paints the pieces framing your face and the top layers the sun would naturally catch — a lighter, lower-cost commitment and a great first step. A full balayage works all the way around for all-over dimension and a brighter result. Most people start partial and build up; your colorist recommends which fits at the consultation.
Because balayage has no hard regrowth line, it grows out gracefully — most clients go about 3–4 months between full appointments, and some stretch it longer, which is why it’s the lowest-maintenance color. In Lutz, the smart in-between move is a gloss or toner to refresh tone and fight brass, rather than re-lightening more often.
Yes to all. On dark and brown hair it’s painted in warmer caramel, bronde or copper tones for natural dimension rather than stark blonde. On short hair, placement is adjusted to keep the gradient flattering, and on curly or wavy hair the paint is mapped to how the curl falls so the brightness lands where the light hits. The technique is customized to your hair.
The lightened pieces are the most exposed part of your color, and three local things pull them warm: year-round UV oxidizes the tone, and pool chlorine and the area’s hard water deposit minerals and copper that turn blonde brassy or even green. We tone and gloss every balayage to start true, protect the bonds while lightening, and send you home with a care and gloss-refresh plan. If it’s already gone too far, that’s a color correction.
We’re at 3939 Cheval Blvd, Lutz, FL 33558, just off N Dale Mabry Hwy near Cheval, Steinbrenner High School and Gaither High School — serving Lutz, Carrollwood, Northdale, Cheval, Odessa, Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel. Free on-site parking. Call 813.949.3300 to book.