Let’s face it. Achieving a salon blow out at home is impossible. There. I said it. Impossible. I’m not even going to claim that there’s anything you can possibly do to achieve it because that is simply a lie. Unless you grow a third arm, you cannot get the same volume, tension, bounciness, curls, or whatever you want with just a brush and a dryer and your hands. BUT, there are a few things you can do to achieve a good enough blow out. Let me explain….
Okay, maybe it’s a little f’d up that I’m encouraging mediocrity in your beauty routine, but let’s reframe it to be that I’m just facing reality. Blow dries are hard. That’s why an entire empire has sprung up to the tune of multi-millions of dollars that women around the country will pay for someone else to do their hair for them. And while I love Dry Bar, Dream Dry, and all the others, it’s not affordable to get it done that often. So here’s what you gotta do to get a good enough blow dry at home:
QUALITY WASH AND CONDITION – A good shampoo and conditioner on the ends will help you get a decent style because you’ll be starting with a good base. I recently received this Bumble & Bumble low-foam cleansing shampoo and conditioning oil (c/o Influenster – thank you!), and I love it. It’s nourishing for dry and color-treated hair.
DRY IN SECTIONS – THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. You absolutely must under all circumstances separate and clip your hair into sections and then dry one at a time. It makes it easier to get consistency across the style and to get better tension on the hair when you are using a round brush. I love these clips – they hold the hair tightly because of the teeth. You can find them anywhere these days, but I happened to pick these up recently at Dry Bar because I like the fun yellow color! Use a round metallic brush – it will heat up on the inside so you get heat from the dryer and the brush.
USE VELCRO ROLLERS FOR VOLUME – I only recently figured these out! Yes, I was a hairstylist but we never really used these because we didn’t need to since we could get the volume for you. Velcro rollers are for women who need volume on top, which we all do. Use a round brush to dry a section on top, then wrap the dried hair around the roller and let them sit for 15-20 minutes. Then blast them with a little heat and take out the rollers.
USE A FLATIRON TO GET OUT THE KINKS – and there will be kinks – see I’ve got some above! You just can’t get a super-tight tension on your hair, meaning you can’t wrap the hair super tight around the brush and then pull really hard upward from the head like a hair stylist standing over you can (the angles just aren’t the same). No worries! Just grab a flat iron and press them out! You don’t even need to pull it all the way through the hair if it’s just at the root.
FINISH IT RIGHT – I like to spray a texturizing spray at the root and a light dusting of hair spray all over, even if I’ve just washed my hair. It makes the hair a little sticky and so the style stays bigger and dryer longer. I’ve been getting super oily lately. For the day 2 of the blow dry, I sprinkle dry shampoo in my scalp to soak up the oil and keep the volume. This hairspray is used by Dina Von Teese herself!! I LOVE IT. The Oscar Blandi dry shampoo products are some of the best I’ve tried, and the Dry Bar Triple Sec texturizing spray is my fave out there. BUY IT. WORTH IT.
Yep – I just spent a whole post selling you on a just okay blow dry. You can do it. I know you can! I mean, let’s be real about what we can do at home and roll with it! That makes the special blow outs you get at the salon even more sweet and special, but at least in the meantime you are taking control of your own lovely locks! Get it, girl!
