By Courtney, Stylist & Design Professional at Bambou Salon & Spa at Antioch & College in Overland Park
Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions, or something similar?
- Do you want multi-dimensional blonde hair?
- How about chocolate brown with a touch of mahogany running through it?
- Maybe red hair with a golden honey highlight?
If so, none of these colors can be achieved without a toner, or more commonly known as gloss or glaze!
You may be familiar with the term toner, but you may not know that the more common term is gloss or glaze. It is a common term in the salon world, but as a guest may be a little confused about what a toner/glaze actually is. Another misconception is that toners are used to correct what the stylist may have done wrong – which is false! We use these techniques to help achieve the perfect balance of colors in the hair.
First of all let’s throw out the old word toner and just stick with “glaze.”
Glazes are used for multiple reasons. For example, we use glazes every day to give our clients a customized blonde. What you might not know is that blonde comes in many hues and tones, whether it’s icy, silver, white, honey, caramel, creamy, golden, sandy – the list goes on and on. Bottom line is that no blonde is created equal, and when you leave the salon after a glazing treatment you know you have a blonde truly customized just for you!
How do we decide which tone of glaze is best for you?
You may think that stylists go in the back room and randomly choose a tube of color that looks like it might work – but that’s not how it’s done! At Bambou, we always start with a free and thorough consultation. Then we carefully formulate the perfect customized color for you using a color wheel and SCIENCE – combined with our experience as professional stylists and constant continuing education.
A good colorist never stops learning, and there are always new and fun glaze tones being created!
Yes glazes are used to give you your perfect shade of blonde, but they they also are great in between highlighting services to refresh the tone any color, especially for hair that has faded with daily blow drying or too much sun exposure. If you are a brunette or redhead and want highlights, they cannot be achieved by just lightening alone. They must be toned with a glaze for the optimum effect.
Glazes have other benefits as well – they can be used as a clear coat to add shine to your hair by sealing the cuticle layer. That gives you silky glossy locks! Glazes last for several weeks and are a beautiful finishing touch to most color services.
Now that you know a little more about glazes, schedule your free and complete consultation at any of our locations and see if glazing is a good option for your color!
