John Frieda’s Luminous Color Glaze – Redux
May 16, 2006 by Christina Jones
Filed under Hair Care, Hair Color, Product Reviews
Going against all of my beauty editor friends who did not much care for John Frieda’s Luminous Color Glaze, I have given it a good, full out try, and I like it. I will buy it again.
Kristen wasn’t fond of the cap – and she is very right there, it desperately needs a nice flip top cap. That is really my only complaint – the big, plastic screw top pops right out of wet hands, and in my case, over the edge and underneath the claw foot tub. Not fun. I am not friendly with the creepy crawlies that live under there. Texas has LOTS of HUGE spiders, if you didn’t know that. Other than that little ergonomical issue, I really love the product. It adds a touch of shine – nothing as dramatic as a peroxide glaze would give – but my favorite benefit is that it adds a touch of color to my white hair when it is growing out. I waited 4 weeks instead of my usual 3 weeks between color touch ups, and the glaze adds just enough color to make the white look like blonde and easily extend my time between touch ups. I will still continue to touch up every three weeks, ’cause that is just the kinda girl I am – but I just like in general that you can’t see the white when it is growing out.
Also, I didnt really see much improvement after using it several times like is suggested in the directions. I wash my hair about 2 times a week and use it both times – and that just maintains, I think. The effect does not seem to be improved with the repeated uses.
Probably the best tip I have is to make sure your hair is not sopping wet – towel dry it first, apply the glaze in a few steps so you don’t have too much in your hand and you waste it by it dripping out, and leave the glaze on for as long as you can – up to a max of about 20 minutes (although I didn’t test it beyond that, so I don’t know how a longer time would affect it). Be sure to rinse your hair well and use it AFTER you have used all of your shampoos and conditioners.
Oh, and a chlorine pool will strip it out of your hair almost immediately, so plan on starting over with it after swimming. I have had my bottle for about a month and it is about half gone – like I said before, when it is gone, I will buy it again. 
Hope you like it too!
Christina rates it: [rate 3.5]
I really loved this product, too.
While it didn’t actually change the color of my hair, it did give it enough shine to hide all those silver strands and give me an extra week or two between highlights.
An extra week or two more than justifies the expense of the glaze, and when projected over the course of a year is a substantial savings.
I’m thinking of going to some all over permanent color, so will see what it does it that situation in the next month or so.
Hmmm….my intrigue is renewed. You’ve got a lot of moxie going against your beauty editor friends like that. I like that about you, Christina. I’ve always felt like I could trust your opinion, and I like how you detail the nitty-gritty step by step. I find that really helpful.
We’ve got 900 species of spiders here? Holy cow! I hope they’re not ALL living under your bathtub!! Not the really HUGE ones, anyway…lol.
MJ – I think, from the pictures of you that I have seen – that our hair is very much alike. You are why I went ahead and tried it anyway, and I am glad I did. I hate those white hairs, and it is a great way to tone them down just enough so they are tolerable.
Gail – thanks – I try to be honest and helpful always. I also hate to dog someone elses work/product, realizing that sometimes things that don’t work well on me probably do better on someone else – so you don’t often see me badmouthing unless I think it is genuinely a rip off. If I don’t care for something I will just generally not talk about it. All I can tell you is what I know. And what I do know is that we have the biggest spiders in my house that I have ever seen. Those Wolf spiders are just the grossest. I stay away from all dark areas, including under my clawfoot tub. If a poorly designed cap rolls under there, it is gone in my mind, at least until the broom finds it. In this 80+ year old house we live in, there are spiders who have lived here longer than we have been alive, and I don’t really like to challenge them. Yuck!
And, P.S. – I am feeling MUCH more human this week. I have completed Day 9 and am kicking butt.
We recently reviewed the formula of these products over at the Beauty Brains.
From an ingredients standpoint, they are just rinse out conditioners that contain lots of silicone. They will make your hair feel and comb nicely but you’d get more effective shine by using a spray in shine product that you don’t wash out.
The shine is indeed nothing spectacular, but the color effect was what was good for me. Thanks for the comment!
where can i get a coupon for money off of the hair glaze??
thanks
Angie – I have no idea – but if I find one, I will be sure and let you know!
Angie, if you happen to still be watching here, I was told by a friend that Ulta is running a 15% off sale on this color glaze that might benefit you – check out Ulta.com – at a quick glance I couldn’t find it, but hopefully you can!
I just did it and my hair feels like somebody smeared Crisco baking lard all over my head. Now that it’s dry it looks like it loaded with baby oil and greasy. I WON’T BE USING THIS AGAIN. It’s so gross!!!
It definitely will weigh down someones hair that isn’t pretty thick and coarse. Mine is, and I can tell that it weighs it down a little. Be sure you have rinsed it well. And if all else fails, jump into a swimming pool, it will rid your hair of the mess immediately!
Or try a harsh shampoo like Pert or Prell, or add some baking soda to your regular shampoo – any of those should strip it right out of your hair. 
Pert & Prell are not very harsh shampoos. To really strip your hair you should use something like Suave, VO5 or White Rain. Those are the best “cleansing” shampoos around. They have no conditioning in them at all so they’ll leave your feeling dry. But you can fix that with a good rinse out conditioner.
Check out the ingredients (and patents) Pert & Pantene are the same formula except for the color and fragrance.
Have you ever tried washing out semi permanent colors with Prell and Pert? Works like a charm.
Chris, the first time I used this color glaze I had the same greasy-kid-stuff feel. I applied it way too thick, as if I was actually dying my hair. Since then I have applied it more sparingly, and it’s worked much better. I have to remind myself to apply it like I would a conditioner. If you haven’t thrown yours away yet, you may want to try it again just using a small amount.
I have that thick hair as well, and mine is curly and coarse to boot.
I love this product, and find it extends the time between color appointments at the salon.
It would take an entire bottle to weigh my hair down, but I can see where that could be a concern with a different hair type. I use a good handful of product (my hair is shoulder length), and that seems to do the trick.
Maybe trying less product woud help.
Gail – woohoo! Back from the dead! I have missed you around here.
MJ, glad you tried it, last I heard you were thinking about it.
Both of you are right on target with your advice – thank you for it.
I have used this product 8 times now so according to the information given on the packaging I should have seen colour results way before now. I havn’t seen even the slightest change in colour. Basically for me this prodcut is little more than an expensive conditioner which is more hassle than it is worth. It does detangle my hair and perhaps adds a shine but that’s nothing you can’t achieve with a normal conditioner which doesn’t stain your hands and take minutes to work.
A waste of money for me
I tried this product today. At first, I thought I had washed it out quite well, but when I got out of the shower I found that one side of my scalp was stained with the color and the other wasn’t. I went back in the shower and had to wash my hair again, and then I used my regular condition. I didn’t apply the Glaze the second time around – I was more concerned with getting the “stain” off my scalp, so both sides would look the same. I part my hair so it was pretty obvious. I thought I had removed all the product having had to shampoo and condition (Pantene) after using it.
Surprise, surprise. Although I don’t really see a color change, my hair feels really soft and wonderful. It seems to have more bounce than usual. I have fine wavy hair. There’s definately a difference. It feels really soft and healthy and looks fuller. I don’t quite know what happened considering that I tried to wash it out, but something good happened.
I have a question my hair is dyed medium golden brown and I recently put in highlights that are a little to bright can I use the blonde color glaze on my hair without messing up the brown color. I don’t want my hair to turn orange just want to darken the highlights a little.
I’ve always had brownish red hair with a blue cast in shade and a copper brilliance in daylight. I was left with disastrous, brassy white highlights after a recent appointment–much like weaving terrible shots of tinsel through my hair, they actually glittered. In desperation, applied the John Frieda Dark Red glaze for 20 minutes on towel dried hair. Miraculously, I am back to my penny dark hair, and the highlights have taken on a clear red glow–not brassy, not orange, but a delicate strawberry that blends well into the dark brown-red, doesn’t glitter, and doesn’t clash with the mysterious blue in my hair.
I have used it twise ,but didnt see any diffrent. Dose it really work with white hair??? I used it for 3 minites next tiem I will use it for 20 and see
I’m thinking about testing the product because I feel that my hair color has faded some and overall I think that my color is to light. I’d preffer something darker. Is this a good substitut for color? Like a light version of color or should I just get it colored immediatly instead ?
I LOVE this stuff. i bought the clear glaze and didnt notice any diffrence, then i bought the chestnut to espresso for dark brunettes and freaking LOVE IT. i color my hair (because of some grays although is my natural color) but sometims my old highlites fade thru so when i used this it totally concelead them and made my hair so shiny and soft i give it an A+! its great for in between colors and to give dull hair a big boost, i might even actually stop getting my hair colored because this has the perfect amount of pgment to it…!
I’m about 85% white haired. Blond underneath in the back of my head. I used the honey caramel shade and simply love it! It added a nice blond tone to my hair. I’ve been using it for about 2 years. There’s no yucky smell and it leaves my hair so shiny. I use it by turning the bottle upside down and squeezing out tiny lines from front to back, then I use a wide tooth comb to spread them out.
I have had major hair color issues in the past month. My color was very blah and my hair was severley damaged. I got the caramel/honey glaze and after 3 times of use, my hair was shiny, healthy feeling, and a really pretty and natural color. I think this product works best on people with chemically treated and damaged hair. I shampoo and then put on the glaze, leave it on for 10 min and then use a little condition (I have fine hair). People that complain about the smell obviously have never dyed their hair before, it doesn’t smell bad at all! I actually like the smell a lot, and the cap is better that it screws on cause it doesnt leak and drip out. I love this stuff and will continue to buy it every time I run out, it saves so much time and money!