So I finally did it. After a few moments of anxiety at the change I can say I am super excited about it! Everyone keeps asking me for pictures so here is a good one contrasting the physical/mental change (HA! I kid). It’s a lot lighter than I anticipated on the whole but I like it: the color came out exactly as I asked for it. You can’t really tell in the pic, but there is still a lot of my natural color left underneath and around the highlights, and the two will blend seamlessly as it grows out.
Balayage is the French word for sweeping, which describes the highlight technique used to achieve this kind of color. Color is painted on with a brush in sweeping motions. Hair is sectioned evenly but teased and tousled while the color is applied so the finished look is imperfect. Since the process is less exact than a cap or foil highlights, it looks more natural. The head is done in sections and each one is rinsed out at a different time, so there is a lot of tonal variation, making it rich and multi-dimensional. Even if you want more highlights than I went for, without the ombré/graduated effect, I would still recommend balayage. It would be a good idea to find some pictures of exactly what you want to bring to the salon. Have reasonable expectations and try to find a hair texture and skin tone that is similar to yours if you want an attainable endpoint. An expert colorist can help you customize the look for yourself but he/she can’t work miracles. (I arrived at the salon with the picture below of Lily Aldridge, and expected to be mocked. Instead, Gina gave her approval and even thanked me for picking something realistic. Apparently most people who come in ask for Gisele’s hair. But really who can blame them?)
The process was intense — 3 hours from start to finish, not including the cut, which Chris did earlier in the day — and expensive, but as with everything you get what you pay for. After a lot of asking around and a major sense of urgency (I really wanted to surprise/terrify Boyfriend with the color upon my arrival in Paris) Bennie was able to pull some strings and squeeze me in with the über-talented Gina at Serge Normant at John Frieda. It goes without saying that this is one of the most amazing salons in New York, and perhaps in the entire United States, so I was prepared for something awesome. Color guru Harry Josh – who does Gisele and Rose Byrne’s (love) hair – and Luigi Murenu are in residence, and I heard from inside sources that Gina does the color for all the top girls at the agencies, particularly when Harry Josh, who does primarily celebrity and editorial work, is not in the salon.
Gina was quiet and professional; her work was so methodically precise, even when she was sending a section into disarray it seemed calculated. Her discerning eye was ever focused on her canvas, and even though her assistant, Kim, observed and aided throughout, Gina did most of the work herself. She created a color that would work with my skin tone yet still give me the look that I wanted. The end-result is a caramel/golden mix of highlights with some lighter blondes thrown in for contrast. When I wasn’t contemplating her work, I was free to spy on other clients with the wall-to-wall mirrors. I was half-expecting to see models lining the chairs, maybe a celebrity, but none of the above materialized. There were normal people like myself, of all ages and with all kinds of hair, probably all hoping to leave with a better head of hair than they came in with. I watched an older woman’s baby-fine hair gently blown out into a fluffy bob by an cute edgy girl with bangs that came down over her eyes. In the time it took me to get my hair colored, the male stylist next to me underwent the Herculean effort of cutting and coloring the hair of three clients, including a massive mop of coarse corkscrew curls (say it three x fast), all while engaging his adoring clients in conversation. I watched as a bald stylist in the mirror behind me teased and styled a blonde’s somewhat mild-looking straight hair into a voluminous, wavy blowout, while her friend looked on with a mixture of envy and wonder.
Since Gina had to run, a stylist named Amanda blew out my hair so I could go to the airport. She was amazing and gave me exactly the wavy look I wanted in less than 30 minutes. This is one of the best-kept secrets in the Meatpacking District; I think this salon needs to be my new blowout spot. Call for pricing, and you will be pleasantly surprised. For less than the price of ubiquitous beauty bar blow, you can have an expert blow out your hair perfectly.
I can’t recommend Gina and Serge Normant at John Frieda enough, so please get in touch with any questions! Although laziness plays an integral part in my new color (ie it will look even better as the roots start to grow out) color needs TLC in order for it to look its best, so styling + care ideas to follow soon.
