This Color Technique is the Secret to Sun-Kissed Curls
courtesy of @shalynslayedmyhair
Curly hair gets the glow up with this color service
I probably don’t have to tell you that balayage is a big trend in the hair color world. The French word translates to sunkissed or sweeping. The way the color is applied to hair makes it appear more natural—as if the highlights were placed there by the sun. Think about a child’s hair at the end of summer—that’s the look. Since the initial balayage boom, there have been some new spin-offs of the hand-painting technique. Enter Wella Brazilian Illuminage, which is getting glowing reviews for curly hair—and recently caught my eye. Long Island colorist and Wella educator Shalyn Horowitz illuminated me on this color technique for curls. Here’s what I learned:
Highlights can be challenging on curly hair
“Traditional highlighting methods can be tricky on curly hair because the highlights are usually uniform,” says Horowitz. Colorists tend to place foils based on how clients part their hair or how the hair falls naturally. The problem with curls? They’re not uniform. “They can vary in size, texture, and placement,” she says. “Every curly-haired client will tell you that their curls don’t fall the same way two days in a row.”
Illuminage creates non-uniform highlights that stand out in curly hair
“On curly hair, thin, natural-looking highlights will get lost,” says Horowitz. And adding too many highlights can make curly hair appear dry, monochromatic (lacking dimension), or give the appearance of patchy “bursts of color” because curls don’t always lay the same, she says. Illuminage allows colorists to create that natural, sun-kissed look of balayage, but it’s done with foils to create more lift, says Horowitz. (You may also hear this referred to as foilage.)
Unlike traditional foils, these are done off the root. The techniques within the Illuminage system create a more organic-looking, less uniform but still bold look. Your colorist will paint wide, zig-zag sections to create ribbons of light, bricklayer patterns, and teasy lights, a technique where the colorist teases shorter layers and splits hairs up before applying the hair color, creating contrast and a “lowlight” effect, she says.
It’s pretty low maintenance color
Similar to balayage, you can get 10 to 12 weeks out of an Illuminage service. “With this look, you get a shadowed root or color melt (darker at the root), so it doesn’t look harsh as it grows out,” says Horowitz.
courtesy of @shalynslayedmyhair
Protect your color—and your strands
Here, Horowitz’s top picks for curly color protection and damage control.
Wella Professionals Nutricurls line. “This includes everything from color-safe shampoo for curly hair to 72-hour frizz-fighting styling products,” she says. LI Beauty Scene’s pick: Wella Nutricurls Mask, a deep treatment that doesn’t weigh down curls and waves.
Sebastian Professionals No.Breaker Leave-In Bonding Spray. “Once a week, spray it into the hair and style as usual; it fights breakage and future damage up to 97 percent,” says Horowitz.
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