The art of blow drying: a step-by-step guide to style your hair

Genius hacks for getting the perfect blow dry hair at home.

Don’t you love that feeling when your hair is freshly blow dried and full of bounce? We know we do. Whether it is sleek and straight or sophisticated waves – a good blow dry can instantly elevate your look and make you feel like a million bucks.

A perfect blow dry is an art in itself – you need to know how to prep your hair and what tools to use before even getting to the technique to blow dry your hair. We have gathered all the information you need to know to get the blow-dry of your dreams at home. 

Here is everything that you need to know to blow dry hair:

1. Prep your hair.
2. Use the right products.
3. Choose the right tools.
4. Finishing the blow dry:

Let us go through the details of each step before your next blow dry session:

Prep your hair

Unwashed and greasy roots will not give you fresh looking tresses. It is essentials to do the following three steps to prep your hair for a good blow dry:

Wash and condition:

Even before we can attempt any styling, we need to make sure that your hair and scalp have gotten a thorough wash to get rid of any product build up or grime and pollution. This is then followed by conditioning your hair with a conditioner or hair mask if your hair needs extra nourishment.

Dry and Detangle:

Once your hair is washed and conditioned, your must be towel dried properly to ensure that there is no water dripping. Then using a detangling comb or a wide tooth comb, detangle your hair to ensure there are no knots. A good way to check if your is fully detangled is to run your fingers through your hair – if your fingers don’t get stuck in knots, you are good to go.

Using the right products

Before we take the hair dryer and brush to your hair, it is important to ensure that the pre-styling products are applied properly to not only protect your hair against heat but also style it the way you desire:

Heat protectant: 

Your hair is exposed to different levels of hot hair from the hair dryer while it is getting blow dried. This can be damaging for your hair if proper care isn’t taken. Luckily for us, there are some good solutions that can help protect your hair against the hot hair of the dryer and yet allow your hair to be styled to perfection. 

Use hair protecting spray or leave in conditioner with heat protectant qualities on your towel dried damp hair to ensure the best absorption for the product. By making multiple sections of your hair and applying small amounts of the heat protectant product to each section – we can ensure that the product is distributed evenly, and you get the maximum result for your blow dry.

Volume Booster:

If you have fine hair but are looking to create volume and waves, Volume booster sprays or volume mousses are your hair’s best friend – they maximise body and thickness and prevent the fine hair from getting limp after a blow-dry.

Volume booster mousses also work efficiently if you are looking to create waves or bouncy curls to.

All pre-styling products need to be applied on damp or semi-dried hair in sections to ensure you get the perfect blow dry.

Choose the right tools

The two main tools needed to blow dry hair are a ceramic round brush and a good hair dryer. If used right, these two can help you give a bouncy blow dry. If you want a super straight finish, a paddle brush is good for finishing. For waves and curls, a round brush is good enough. By tackling your hair in smaller section, you can make sure you have a long-lasting style. For those of you who have naturally curly hair and want to enhance those curls, a diffuser head for your hair dryer will help you define those natural curls.

Pro tip: If you are looking for a shortcut, use a hot air brush where the round brush is pre-attached to the blow dryer and helps you manage one tool easily to get the look.

Finishing the blow dry

Once you have styled your hair the way you like it: whether it is waves or curls or poker straight, you need to make sure that there are frizzy or flyaway hair. Use a serum or a setting spray to help the style last it long.

Pro tip: Wear a shower cap while showering to prevent any exposure to moisture and use a dry shampoo and blast of hot hair if you get greasy roots to make your blow dry last longer.

Armed with all the information, you can now give yourself the perfect blow dry at home or better yet – book an Urban Company professional to come to your home and blow dry your hair the way you want it.