Red carpet hair doesn’t just happen, it’s a carefully orchestrated dance between stylist, colourist, and hair weavers. If you want to wake up with red carpet ready hair, you’ve got to take it to the experts. We recently road tested balayage and hair extensions so you can go beyond your rinse and repeat without having to risk serious hair disaster.
The New Balayage
Balayage veterans like Alexa Chung, Rachel Bilson, Lily Aldridge and Jessica Alba sport the hair trend like they were born with it – and it’s time we exposed the secrets of the perfect A-list balayage without looking like you’ve dipped your ends into a bowl of peroxide.
The trend has taken off in a big way over the past couple of years, but the ‘holiday hair’ has been making waves since the 80s in homage to the sun-bleached hair of Californian locals. Rescu. took the road test in search of the perfect balayage at the Dessange Salon in Sydney’s Paddington, the first in Australia of Paris’ esteemed luxury salon, famous for it’s colour and more specifically the legendary Dessange Californian Balayage.
Tip: If you walk into your hairdresser and their balayage technique is to apply foils, this is when the alarms bells in your head should start ringing. Balayage is applied by hand.The word balayage itself means ‘without force’ and they will choose the shade depending on the colour of your skin, eyes and roots to enhance your natural beauty.
According to Dessange salon team member Sylvain Pons and the colour technicians, “Dessange expert colourists use a unique process and formula. Each colour is unique, personalised and deep, with a combination of Natural Pigma.”
If you are eager to perform the balayage yourself, or if you are asking your local hairdresser for the hair trend, remember these key rules from the Dessange experts:
- Balayage should be performed free hand using a brush for a painterly effect.
- The colour should be applied on the surface of the hair, darker at the roots and lighter on the midlengths and ends.
- Concentrate the amount of colour as you move further down your hair
- Play with the colour and light according to the style and natural movement of your hair – much like applying bronzer, where does the light hit?
- The result should emulate a “sunshine effect” or “back from holidays” look.
We experience our dream balayage service at Paddington’s Dessange Paris Salon:
495A Oxford Street, Paddington
Ph: 02 9331 1525
Hair Extensions
You know that Victoria’s Secret angel hair we’re all falling over ourselves to achieve? The truth is, most of the real-life angels have a little bit of not-so-real hair help in the form of hair extensions. Whether it’s for length or just thickness, these hair-helpers make all the difference when it comes to achieving the look you desire.
You’d be forgiven for cringing at the thought of extensions – once upon a time they looked fake, felt uncomfortable, and did serious damage to the roots of the hair. Thankfully, those days are over.
HairTalk‘s new extension system allows you to get the thickness, length, and colour depth you want with none of the damage or discomfort. Their revolutionary tape extensions use a medical grade adhesive system whereby the 3cm extensions bond to your natural hair in a tape meaning no damaging heat, ultrasound, or metal.
To road test these clever new extensions, we headed to the hair-gurus at Shane Jones Salon in Double Bay. After having our colour fixed; it was time for a wash, blow dry, and extension application. Having heard all sorts of horror stories, we were fully prepared to be put through hours of discomfort but the whole application process took about an hour and was completely comfortable (in fact, the fabulous bunch at Shane Jones ensured it was a lot of fun).
Our road-tester was fairly happy with her length but has been on a mission for thicker, more lustrous hair for as long as she can remember, so had her extensions cut to the same length as her hair. Two different colours of extensions were applied to give colour depth which also helped create the allusion of thickness. The result? Noticeably thicker, more fabulous hair that reeled in the compliments with with zero discomfort and zero damage to the real hair we so carefully maintain.
Given how in love we are with these inconspicuous extensions, we’re happy to say they will last the distance as well. So long as we head in to the salon to have them lifted every 6-8 weeks, we’ll be enjoying our new head of hair for up to six months. The removal process is simple too – simply spray the solvent over the tape weft and wait a few moments before removing with a tail comb.
Rescu. Recommends: HairTalk have a range of products to help meet the needs of their extensions including a shampoo, conditioner, repair creme, balsam treatment, detangler, brush, and hair tip fluid. We recommend using these products while you have your hair extensions in to help them go the distance. As one HairTalk devotee said, it’s the first time you’ll ever feel that your hair is actually healthier when the extensions come out!
Visit HairTalk Australia for more information and to find your closest salon
We experienced our HairTalk hair extensions at Shane Jones Hairdressing Double Bay
2/43 Bay Street, Double Bay
Ph: (02) 9327 8222
