Do you have long hair and get frustrated when you try to recreate the perfect blow-dry your hairdresser does so well? Just follow my simple steps and your blowout won’t just look professional, it will last several days. If you find your hair is getting greasy, don’t worry, just add a tiny amount of dry shampoo along your crown and this will soak up any oils.
The Right Tools
- Hair Dryer: Invest in a good quality hair dryer with a nozzle, and look for variable heat and air settings.
- Round Bristle Brush: It’s the best for straightening that mane of yours, creating waves or just simply flipping out those ends.
- Hair Clip: Great for sectioning the hair, therefore making it more manageable whilst blow-drying.
Wash Your Hair
I always recommend two washes; the cleaner the hair, the longer it will last. To get rid of excess moisture, blot your hair with a towel (never rub as this can cause split ends).
If you have dry hair, condition on the middle to ends of the hair. If you have fine hair, condition on the ends only. Stay away from leave-in conditioners as they can make hair too heavy.
Add Products to Your Hair
A good styling product is essential to the perfect blow-dry, adding body to fine, limp hair. And for thick, curly hair you will need to keep the frizzes away. The list is endless when choosing the right hair product for you, so if in doubt ask your hairdresser.
My favourite products are…
If you have fine, limp hair add a spritz of thickening spray and rub into towel dried hair. Big Sexy Hair Dense Thickening Spray is a must.
To keep away frizz, Milk_Shake No Frizz Glistening Serum.
To add lift after the blow-dry, spray a fine mist of hairspray to help lift the hair and keep it in place. L’Oréal Paris Elnett Flexible Hairspray is a favourite of mine.
The Blow-Dry
- Once you’ve applied your products, rough dry your hair with the dryer. At this stage only use your hands, not the brush. Remember hair only starts to take shape from damp to dry so rough dry to around 80 per cent… we don’t want you to use up all your arm energy at this point!
- Gather the hair on top of your crown and secure with the hair clip.
- Start to blow-dry the back section of your head with your brush. Tension is very important if you want achieve a really smooth blow out; pointing the nozzle downwards will also help and create a shine. Taking medium sections, start with the roots, wrapping your hair around the brush, then follow down to the middle and then the ends. Repeat the same method until you get to the crown. To make it easier clip away the now dry sections of the hair.
- Now you are left with the crown area. Blow-dry by aiming at the roots to add volume, and work towards the ends with the brush pulling the hair forward and out. Finish the crown area.
- Once dry take sections of the hair on top of the crown and give it a once-over by rolling the hair up in the brush and blasting it with cool air. Allow to cool as this helps the hair to set.
- Remove the clip and now flip your hair back. Part you hair where you feel most comfortable. Dress the hair into place with your fingers and apply either a styling cream or a mist of hairspray to keep down any flyaway.
Note: For those of you who have bangs, blow-dry this part first before rough drying. Simply comb them downward and blow-dry straight.
There you have it, the perfect DIY blow-dry on long hair!
Guest post by Severin Hubert of The Hepburn Collection
Image from Claire Basiuk Photography
