The French Way to Wash Your Hair
I don’t do blow-outs. Ever. For those of you with hard-to-tame curls and cascading length, I understand your predicament and need to pamper—I just personally can’t get on board with it. It’s likely because my chin-length hair takes me exactly five minutes to style on my own. (Cue the hashtag #blessed.) So when Dessange (a legendary name in haircare in France) asked me to sneak away from Paris fashion week for a blow-out, I was resistant, but then my curiosity to see how French women (like Brigitte Bardot, a regular client of founder Jacques Dessange) attain that perfectly mussed-up look won out. After all, Dessange was the hairdresser who devised the coiffé-décoiffé, a gradient, star-shaped cut that emphasizes natural movement (i.e., those perfectly tousled strands every Parisian possesses and countless Americans aspire to attain). Needless to say, I found myself standing in the flagship salon just off the Champs-Élysées while my endless pile of work waited in my hotel room. (Sorry I’m not sorry.)
Always the harried New Yorker, I gave the team exactly one hour before I had to get back in front of the computer. After a brief tour of the 18th-century Haussmann-style building (an operational room in the salon is on the historic monument list), I was ushered into the “hair spa.” Unlike blow-out bars—a concept so insanely popular in the States—that encourage you to multitask while you sit, salon manager Jason le Carrour told me to put down my iPhone, back away slowly, and enjoy the bliss. This was no regular shampoo bowl, but a sanctuary dedicated to scalp and strands closed off from the rest of the space. The process began with a customized mask, transitioned to a shampoo in a sleek leather massage chair, and finished with a blow-dry with fresh-from-the-package brushes (tools are never used twice). It was luxe. It was lengthy. It was French. The time I invested, however, was well worth it. Not only did I leave looking refreshed despite the jet lag, but I didn’t have to wash my hair for six days (a savior during the late nights and early mornings associated with a month of shows). And apparently, it’s not just me being lazy—the CEO of the company, Benjamin Dessange, later revealed that shampoo sales are significantly lower in France than they are in America. There was my aha moment: French women don’t get fat and they don’t wash their hair. It was a concept I planned to adopt immediately.
With Dessange breaking new ground in the States (14 products recently arrived on shelves at Target), I’ve continued my Parisian plan long after the last model walked off the catwalk in Paris. Most of the formulas currently available are geared toward blonds (Dessange pioneered the balayage technique and, ironically, the “California Blond”), but there are two collections—Color Restore and Oleo Miracle—that work for those who don’t fall into the flaxen-haired camp. As a brunette, I’ve adopted the Color Restore regimen despite not having chemically processed strands. I’m happy to report I haven’t shampooed in three days since my last wash. Nor have I cheated and used dry shampoo as a survival mechanism.
Le Carrour told me that Monsieur Dessange had three parameters for chic: hair, nails, and shoes. I might DIY two out of three (I don’t typically sit for manicures, either), but after this last trip to the City of Light, I think I’ve finally nailed the French triple threat.
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