My Night Partying with Paige DeSorbo
I spent an evening in girl world with TRESemmé and Paige DeSorbo. Here’s what happened.
I’m experiencing a rather jarring spiritual awakening inside a bathroom stall, and it’s Paige DeSorbo’s fault.
It’s the last night of my 72-hour jaunt to New York City, and I’m at a glitzy party held in the Summer House star’s honour. I was invited here to “get the gloss” in celebration of TRESemmé’s Lamellar Gloss Collection, of which Paige DeSorbo is the face. The new line uses Lamellar lamination technology: a lightweight water-based treatment inspired by in-salon glossing services which deliver micro-sized conditioning molecules to hair. Simply put, it’s all about achieving shine. And DeSorbo is the perfect spokesperson for this highly important topic.
The Bravolebrity and Giggly Squad podcast host is often praised as an honorary older sister, a true girl’s girl. She tells it like it is, appears always put together, and, as my super-fan friend aptly put it recently, “seems to have all the knowledge of the world within her.” A big part of this notoriety comes from her hair.
“It’s very important to me that my hair stays shiny for the rest of my life,” she tells me earnestly over Zoom a few weeks before the party. “Because it’s part of my identity.” Her mom began giving her voluminous, hairspray-filled ’dos in grade four. (“We’re Italian.”) She won Best Hair in high school. (“I’m really proud of that.”) And now, she explains, her DMs are flooded with followers asking for her secret, pleading to know what products give her dark chocolate tresses their signature glisten.
“I love nothing more than a girl asking, ‘What do you use for this look?’ And I’m like, ‘Let me put you on and change your entire life,’” she says. These days, that recommendation is TRESemmé’s Lamellar Gloss Collection. Comprised of a shampoo, conditioner, shine spray and serum, the line is free from parabens, mineral oil, and DMDM Hydantoin, all while promising 72 hours of shine. DeSorbo’s favourite is the spray, a “perfect final step before you leave the house.” She’ll spill her tips to anyone who asks, but her favourite environment for this kind of knowledge-sharing is the girls’ bathroom on a night out.
“You’re truly being yourself in the bathroom,” she opines. “You’re letting your mask down for a minute until you go back out into the wild.” Indeed, the ladies’ lavatory is an oddly magical place where secrets are exchanged, advice is given, and beauty products are swapped. It’s a sanctuary reserved for gossip, unfiltered honesty and saccharine cocktail-soaked compliments. “I love when I’m in a bathroom and a girl asks me, ‘Can I borrow that lip gloss?’ or, ‘Should I text him back?’”
In keeping with this energy, throughout the trip, I am wholeheartedly in pursuit of gloss. On day one, I take a masterclass with DeSorbo’s hairstylist Mitchell Ramazon and makeup artist Mary Phillips, who demonstrate lustrous glam. On day two, I get my bob blown out professionally with the new Lamellar products. By day three, I’m feeling dewy as ever.
As I enter the TRESemmé fête, I see how crucial components of the girl world ecosystem have been carefully recreated. A long charcuterie table is labelled the “girl dinner” zone. A couch-filled corner is deemed “the debrief.” Mirror-lined walls, replete with TRESemmé products, make for a dream touch-up station. Even the washroom is decorated in the spirit of girl-talk, with branded toilet paper squares that encourage me to “get glossed!” Most impressive, though, are the pretend bathroom stalls erected with surprises inside, one of which is a tarot reader.
Moments after arriving, I find myself seated in front of the clairvoyant. “Think of when a pot boils over,” he tells me, “It’s because you’ve ignored something for so long that it has no choice but to get your attention. The same goes for your love life.” He instructs me to write a list of the things I desire, and then really believe they’re coming. I protest, saying I’m not sure what I want. “Yes, you do!” he retorts in a tough-love tone, encouraging me to stop ignoring my intuition. As I step back out into the glittery bash, I catch a glimpse of my reflection, feeling an odd sense of clarity. For one, my hair is certainly shinier than usual.
Towards the end of the evening, DeSorbo takes to the mic to thank everyone for coming. “Tonight’s not just about glossing up your hair,” she says to the crowd. “It’s about glossing up your friends.” Cheers erupt. A little unsure of what that means, I flash back to something she told me during our call.
“A great hair day can truly change the world, you know?” she had theorized. “Like, if more people used TRESemmé, we might not be having all these problems.” She has a point: During my three-day getaway, I thought not of impending deadlines, economic stress, or my apparently-unattended love life. I thought only of gloss—and I came away more enlightened because of it. I guess that makes for two transcendent reckonings.
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Natalie Michie is the style editor at FASHION Magazine. With a pop culture obsession, she is passionate about exploring the relationship between fashion, internet trends and social issues. She has written for Elle Canada, CBC, Chatelaine and Toronto Life. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and over-analyzing movies on TikTok.
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