Anyone who frequents their fave salon for touch-ups knows that there’s nothing that makes hair look better than a fresh coloring job.
You get a pop of color back in your hair, making it super vibrant and salon-beautiful.
But a couple of weeks later, your hair can be back to square one – dull, dry, and fragile.
And when your hair has been damaged by too many chemical processes, you might not even enjoy healthy, revitalized hair at all, even for a little bit.
Once you get home and the initial high of getting your hair done wears off, you see your strands for exactly what they are – lifeless and lackluster.
That’s where hair glaze comes in.
This is an underrated service you can get at the salon (not to be confused with hair gloss (its more intense sister product).
It’s excellent for adding shine and dimension back to your hair while maintaining its integrity.
The best part about using hair glaze is that it’s super easy to use at home, too!
In this post, I’ll be going into the details on how to apply hair glaze.
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What Is Hair Glaze?
A hair glaze is similar to that final topcoat on your manicure, or the extra layer of glossy icing on a donut.
It’s that extra layer of varnish that gives your hair that pretty polish and glowing shine.
What’s awesome about it is that it delivers the utmost shine without dealing much damage to your hair.
It works to intensify your hair color, making dull locks shinier and more vibrant in an instant.
It adds dimension to your mane, allowing it to catch light beautifully for a lustrous radiance.
Hair glazes are perfect for hair that is so dry and damaged that it can’t be brought back to life even with the best hair masks, hot oils, and conditioning treatments.
Sits On Top Of Your Hair
A glaze merely sits on top of your hair strands, coating it on the outside instead of forcing entry into your hair shaft, like bleach would.
It’s formulated without harsh chemicals like peroxide or ammonia, so it’s friendly to your strands.
Because it sits on the outside of your hair instead of penetrating deep into it, you might consider it a semi-permanent gloss.
It should last about one or two weeks, fading gradually as you shampoo your hair on wash days.
It’s well-suited for all hair types, textures, and color.
Unlike toners and dyes, a hair glaze is clear and transparent, so it’s more of a universal product than one you have to select in the perfect color.
But you should know that a hair glaze doesn’t fix hair concerns directly.
It doesn’t have moisturizing ingredients to nourish your thirsty locks.
Nor does it have proteins or amino acids to strengthen damaged strands.
A shine-boosting hair glaze exists for the visual appearance of your hair only.
However, it doesn’t damage your hair further, so there’s really no harm in using it.
Benefits Of Using Hair Glaze
There are several benefits of using hair glaze.
They include:
Immense Shine
The biggest advantage hair glaze can give your hair is immense shine.
Because a glaze acts as a topcoat, it seals your cuticles so they can lay flat, allowing your hair to look smooth and shiny.
It can also reflect more light for added dimension.
This can also make your hair look bouncier and lighter in shade.
Vibrancy
A high-quality glaze will also make your hair color look more vibrant, whether it’s your natural color or one that you had dyed.
It’s especially helpful on lighter shades that are prone to looking washed out and dull, like platinum blondes and grays.
Locks In Pigment
Speaking of color, hair glaze also works to lock in your color pigments, prolonging the life of your dyed locks.
The glaze creates a protective barrier around your dyed hair strands.
It technically seals the color in, keeping it from fading faster.
Think of it this way: the glaze will wash off first before exposing your colored strands to the elements.
That means you’ll be giving it an extra week or two before your color even comes close to fading.
Protection Against Damage
You can also consider a hair glaze an extra layer of protection against damage to your hair.
It creates a coating around your strands, minimizing the blow of damage from the sun, pollution, free radicals, and more.
Tames Frizz
Lastly, a hair glaze can keep frizz and flyaways in check.
Since a glaze smoothens down your cuticles, your hair will be less likely to get tangled throughout the day.
This means you can hold down a smooth and sleek hairstyle without having to worry about unexpected frizz.
Differences Between Hair Gloss And Hair Glaze
It’s easy to confuse a hair glaze with a gloss because they’re very similar.
They both make your hair more glowy and shiny, and can even make your hair color last longer.
But these two have a very important difference you can’t miss.
Harsh Chemicals
The main difference between the two is that hair glaze is free of harsh chemicals like ammonia and peroxide.
While hair gloss must be activated with peroxide to penetrate your strands, a glaze merely sits on top of your strands without disturbing the structure of your hair.
Therefore, you could say that hair glaze is healthier on your hair than gloss is.
It’s less damaging, that’s for sure.
Instead of roughing up your hair cuticles, it fills in the gaps in your hair strands, making it smoother and more conditioned.
Gloss Lasts Longer
But hair gloss isn’t all that bad either.
Because it’s more powerful than a glaze, it lasts a lot longer in your hair.
While a glaze will give you one or two weeks of gorgeous shine, hair gloss can last up to six weeks months depending on how often you shampoo your hair.
Glaze Can Be Done At Home
Another difference is that while hair gloss is a tricky chemical process that you’d likely go to a stylist for, hair glaze is often done at home.
It’s more low-maintenance and easy to work with since it’s not as hazardous as working with bleach or dye.
The long and short of it is that hair glaze is a gentler, safer alternative to hair gloss.
It’s friendlier on damaged and fine hair types.
Who Should Opt For Hair Glaze Instead Of Gloss?
If you’re worried about damaging your hair with chemical processes, it’s better to use a hair glaze.
A gloss lifts your cuticle with harsh actives, so there will always be at least a little bit of stress and damage dealt to your mane.
See, hair gloss is activated by peroxide, which can break down your hair proteins and rough up the overall texture of your hair.
This can lead to brittleness and dryness, making your hair more prone to breakage and split ends.
While healthy, natural hair can get away with using hair gloss to boost shine, you should think about going for a glaze instead if you’ve recently bleached and dyed your hair.
Your locks are likely still recuperating from the damage they incurred during your hair coloring sesh.
It would be smarter to just go with hair glaze because it’s the healthier option that won’t stress out your hair even more.
Anyone with fine, low-density hair might also love using a hair glaze because it thickens up your hair strands, giving your mane more volume and body.
All in all, hair glaze is a great first foray into hair gloss products for any hair type, but especially those who can’t afford the extra damage.
You can use it to see for the next week or two how well you like extra shine in your hair before committing to the more intimidating and longer-lasting hair gloss.
How To Apply Hair Glaze
Hair glaze is super easy to use at home.
Some might say that it’s even easier than washing your hair with a purple shampoo because it creates less of a mess.
And since it’s peroxide-free, you don’t have to whip out metal bowls and do any intricate measuring and tricky mixing.
Hair glazes usually come in ready-to-use formulas in squeeze bottles with applicator tips.
Here’s a step-by-step process of how to use them on your hair:
Wash Your Hair
Shampoo your hair as you normally would in the shower.
When you’re done, squeeze out the excess moisture from your hair, but still leaving it damp.
Section Your Hair
Divide your hair into sections and slowly start applying the hair glaze into each one.
Use your fingers or a comb to smoothen it all out and distribute the glaze evenly across your hair.
Concentrate On Some Areas
Concentrate the application of your glaze in your mid-lengths to the ends of your hair.
These parts of your hair are the driest, as opposed to the hair near your scalp that is usually naturally moisturized already because of its proximity to your oil glands.
You don’t have to be as precise in your application as you would be with bleach and dye.
Just be sure that your hair is saturated from root to tip to make sure the shine will be consistent.
This is especially pertinent in the top sections of your hair that are more exposed to the naked eye.
Comb Your Hair
Comb your hair through when you’re done with your application.
This helps make sure that you have an even distribution of the glaze across your strands.
Allow the glaze to process over your hair for 5-20 minutes, depending on the directions on your specific glaze.
Shampoo Your Locks
Shampoo your hair to wash out the product.
Follow up with conditioner for extra moisture and luster.
Dry and style your hair as desired.
You’ll likely notice outstanding results from the get-go after your first hair glaze sesh.
You can use it about once a month or whenever your hair looks dull and needs a pick-me-up after bleach or coloring touch-ups.
The more often you use it, the shinier and healthier your tresses will look.
How To Make Your Hair Glaze Last Longer
As mentioned, a hair glaze is semi-permanent and will wash away naturally in around one or two weeks.
So if you want to keep your hair shiny for longer, you need to work extra hard to extend the lifespan of your hair glaze.
Here are some things you should consider adjusting in your hair regimen to do that:
Don’t Shampoo Your Hair Everyday
As with hair dye, shampooing is the fastest way to fade your hair gloss.
If you can, space out your wash days to every three or four days.
Try using dry shampoos in between your shampoo days to keep your hair looking fresh.
Not only will this allow you to keep your glaze in for longer, but it also gives your hair more time to bask in your natural oils, leaving it more moisturized.
Use A Gentle, Sulfate-Free Shampoo
Harsh shampoos will be the death of your hair glaze.
Look for an alternative that doesn’t have powerful surfactants that will immediately strip the shine and gloss off your hair, like a sulfate-free shampoo made of organic, coconut-based surfactants.
Avoid Hot Water
Heat can strip away pigments and glazes from your hair, leaving it discolored, dry, and dull.
Instead, try showering with lukewarm or cool water; the colder the better.
This helps seal your cuticles, keeping the glaze on.
Avoid Heat-Styling Your Hair
Again, heat is one of the big culprits of fading color and glaze.
Regularly taking a flat iron or curling wand to your hair also damages it over time, making it look dull.
This counteracts the shine-boosting abilities of your glaze.
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Conclusion
Hair glaze is a quick, easy, mess-free way to breathe new life into your dull hair again.
It brings out your vibrant color, makes your hair insanely luminous, and can potentially even condition your locks while fighting frizz.
It’s undoubtedly a wonder product most women overlook, but it makes your hair look that much healthier and more luscious.
If you’ve been wondering how to apply hair glaze, the good news is that it’s super easy to use at home.
All it takes is 20 minutes at most to make your hair glowy and bouncy.
So next time you’re looking to amp up the shine and glimmer in your hair and don’t want to deal with the damage hair gloss will incur, try giving yourself a hair glaze at home.
It will give your hair just the topcoat it needs to look effortlessly fresh, lustrous, and sleek.