Glaçage Is The New Balayage And The Results Are Breathtaking
Bored with your balayage? Or maybe your hair colour is looking a little lacklustre and you’re in need of a subtle refresh. Before you book in for the usual, allow us to introduce glaçage (pronounced ‘glossage’), the low-maintenance, high-impact treatment that brightens up existing colour, makes your natural highlights pop, and gives your hair the kind of shine that’s usually found only in Pantene ads (you know what I mean: I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-photoshopped gloss).
After months of blow-drying sans heat spray (I know, the worst), my once-lustrous locks were looking a little on the sad side: dull and dried out. I don’t colour my hair, but have natural coppery highlights that come out in the sun that I’ve always been keen to accentuate. All of which make me a prime glaçage candidate.
“The glaçage treatment offers a protein, strengthening hit and editorial high shine,” the hair gurus at Barney Martin, Sydney, tell me. Because it’s painted on and then activated by heat, it subtly colours without the need for harsh chemicals, and the result is subtle and sheer – think of it like cellophane (minus the primary school brights) for your hair.
Before my treatment I choose my colour with Jo, Barney Martin senior stylist and all-round delight. Both the shade and intensity can be customised according to how much colour your hairdresser adds to the clear gloss treatment, and we settle on a rich caramel hue that matches my natural highlights.
Given the effect is so subtle, you don’t have to worry about regrowth – I think mine lasts about four weeks, but it fades so gradually that I barely notice any colour difference. One thing I do miss, however, is the next-level gloss glaçage gives you.
Glaçage is priced similarly to a semi-coloured treatment: at Barney Martin, expect it to set you back $55 for short hair; $100 for medium and $140 for long.
