There’s a certain kind of soft lustre and swishiness that emerges after a color appointment in salon. Part of that is having your hair blow dried expertly by a pro, but another key element – according to my colorist, John Clark, at Nicola Clarke’s John Frieda Salon in London – lies in the semi-permanent gloss that is used after highlights have been placed in the hair. Clear or tinted, these glosses add shine, enrich color (you can also have them between appointments) and generally fortify the hair.
Photo: Stephan Glathe. Vogue Arabia, June 2020.
They are only available in the salon, but when I last saw Clark, he used a new at-home formula – Redken’s Acidic Color Gloss – which created similar levels of luminosity, bounce and shine, on my hair. It joins a new wave of home gloss treatments that deliver mirror-like glossiness and smooth frizz without the need for any professional intervention. Brilliant to strengthen and hydrate each strand, they take around five minutes to work their magic, so to say I’m obsessed is an understatement.
“Old money”, rich girl hair has been very much de rigeur on TikTok and beyond this year, and in the past month “expensive brunette hair” has become a breakout search term on Google, meaning it’s seen a rise in over 5,000 per cent. Gorgeous, glossy locks are very much in. We want our hair to look as radiant as our skin, with a flyaway-free shine and strong, healthy strands.
Alongside Redken’s offering, which harnesses citric acid to seal moisture into the hair cuticle, and conditioning agents for a glossy glow, there is also Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day High-Shine Gloss, which smooths and detangles, while depositing a high gloss emollient to enhance shine twofold.
Kérastase is one of the best-loved haircare brands on TikTok, and is often documented as part of multi-step routines that lead to impressive before-and-after results. The brand’s Chroma Absolu Soin Acide Chroma Gloss uses 0.7 per cent lactic acid to gently exfoliate the hair surface and create a smooth canvas to reflect shine and supercharge colour. Use once a week: all you have to do is apply to mid-lengths and ends, massage for 10 seconds, then rinse out.
Other excellent formulas include Oribe’s Mirror Rinse Glass Hair Treatment, which does what it says on the tin, as well as L’Oréal Paris’s Elvive Glycolic Gloss 5 Minute Lamination Treatment and Typebea’s G4 Hydra-Gloss Treatment Mask, all of which renew depleted lengths quickly. Whether your hair is curly or straight, consider them the pro secret to achieving beautiful, shiny hair this season – expensive hair, without the (huge) expense.
Originally published on Vogue.com
