How To Get The Most Of Your Blow Dry
A gorgeous blow dry is a red carpet classic, and one of the most common things that our stylists are asked is how guests can get the professional blow dry look at home. Some tasks seem straightforward until you do them. For example, many people don’t know how to blow dry their hair so it looks like the work of a professional stylist, which of course, is totally understandable. You may not realize it, but there’s so much more to the task than simply grabbing a dryer, pointing it at your head, and blasting your hair with heat. In fact, getting a gorgeous at-home blowout requires using the right products, keeping your hair healthy, and getting a little bit of practice.
Start by air or towel drying your hair.
Keeping your hair healthy will help you avoid dry ends, resulting in shinier blowouts.
Your hair is most vulnerable when wet, and considering how a lot of heat and a lot of pulling and tugging are involved in blow drying, you’ll be increasing the possibility of getting damaged hair if you start with sopping wet strands. We recommends drying your hair using a small microfiber towel, which not only reduces tension but also decreases friction. The result? You’ll have fewer flyaways and less frizz,
Prep your hair with a heat protectant
Heat is one of the most common enemies of your hair. Frequent use of high temperature to style your tresses causes severe damage, and blow-drying is an obvious culprit. To minimize heat damage, always, ALWAYS prep your hair with a heat protectant before letting any heated tool touch your strands.
Editor’s tip: Spritz Keune Heat Protectant to defend your locks from heat damage. It also helps tame frizz and flyaways, giving you a neat and polished look.
Use the nozzle
There’s a reason your blow dryer came with that little attachment thingy—you need it! To get a smooth look and perfect that hairstyle you’re going for, make sure the nozzle is attached to the blow dryer’s mouth. It helps directs the airflow to the part of your hair that you’re working on, which helps you achieve the look you want better than when the blow dryer is just blowing your strands all over the place.
Make sure you’re using the right brush.
If you tend to use the same hairbrush that you carry round in your bag to also style and dry your hair, then you’re not alone – but you’re also probably not getting the most from your blow dry. Different brushes have different effects. The bigger the brush, the smoother the hair. You can also choose ones with metal in the middle (or if you’re using a round brush, a metal core) as this would provide a smooth finish, just like how a flat iron does. Just make sure you don’t take too long blow drying your hair because the metal part heats up easily and tends to be more damaging.
Now, if you have coarse hair or if it’s prone to flyaways, choose a nylon bristle brush or a brush with a high bristle count. This provides enough tension for a smooth pull.
Choose your direction
Consider aiming the air flow from your hairdryer in a different direction, depending on what effect you want to achieve. For a sleek, straight style, aim your appliance downwards. For volume at the root, pull a section of the hair upwards and direct the heat up the shaft. Drying your hair in the opposite direction to where it’s usually parted is another expert tip for adding body at the root.
Use the medium heat
It might look like our stylists can work miracles, but the key to a really healthy-looking blow-dry is to actually have healthy hair. To do this, we need to cut down on the potential for heat damage. One easy way to avoid overexposure to heat is to use the medium setting when blow drying our hair. You won’t notice a big difference in the drying time, but you will feel healthier, smoother results.
Use Our Velcro hair rollers
Using Velcro rollers can give you the look of a professional blowout without the expensive price tag or salon visit.
Velcro rollers work on damp or dry hair; it’s up to you which you want to start with. If you’re short on time, using them with a blow-dryer can speed up the process.
You can let your hair air-dry while it’s in the rollers or use a diffuser attachment (on damp or dry hair) to help speed up the process. Blow the rollers with a hair-dryer on the high heat setting with low airflow. Make sure to point the air in the same direction the hair was set. Hit each roller for 5 to 10 seconds.
What is absolutely key, is you dry the hair 100% before removing the roller, otherwise it will simply flop – think about building a house on wet cement – it doesn’t work.
Carefully slide the rollers out one by one, making sure to follow the same direction the hair was rolled. During this step the most common problem is the hair becoming tangled on the roller you cannot just yank these rollers out.
Run your wide-tooth styling comb (or you can carefully use your fingers) through your hair starting just beyond the roots and down the mid-lengths, stopping before reaching the ends.
Spray with hairspray. Especially if you have naturally straight or very fine hair, using hairspray to further set your hair to help it keep their shape longer.
For long-lasting volume, flip your hair upside down before spraying.
