Most people prefer shiny hair to dry or brittle hair. A hair glaze is a product that increases hair’s shine and makes permanent color last longer. Hair glaze also can be used to provide semipermanent color. Glazes tend to be affordable products that can be applied at a salon or at home. Their effects last one to two weeks.
Hair glazes come in two varieties: color glaze and clear glaze. Both types of glazes work by coating the hair shaft with shine. This shine is often described as a “top coat” for the hair. Hair color glazes add a semipermanent hair color in addition to shine. Some people prefer using a hair color glaze to a permanent hair color, because a hair color glaze will fade gradually over a few weeks, avoiding the problem of differently colored roots that comes with permanent hair color.
Men and women who use permanent color to dye their hair generally want the effects to last as long as possible. Even the highest-quality permanent color will begin to show some fading and lack of luster after three to four weeks, however. Using high-quality shampoos and conditioners for color-treated hair can help a little, but using a clear hair glaze can extend the full brilliance of the color for about two weeks.
The vast majority of hair glazes are applied to damp hair. The hair should not be soaking wet but rather towel-dried or wrung out by squeezing it with the fingers. Glazes can be applied with or without heat. If heat is used, many products recommend covering the hair with a shower cap and blow-drying it for as long as 20 minutes. Without heat, the product is allowed to soak into the hair for several minutes before the user shampoos and conditions his or her hair as he or she normally would.
Although some hair care companies have used the terms “glaze” and “gloss” interchangeably, they are not necessarily the same. True glosses tend to las longer because they can penetrate all the way to the hair cuticle. Consumers should always read the labels carefully to know how long a particular product is expected to last.
Consumers have many hair glaze products from which to choose. People who are interested in hair glazes can have them applied in a salon by a professional stylist, or they can purchase hair glaze kits to use at home. At-home products generally are affordable and are comparable in price to at-home permanent hair color kits.