I’ve been a little confused by the question, “How would you like your hair blowdried today?” at the end of my hair appointment.
(Note: blowdry = blowout. Are there any other words to describe it?)
When I say smooth with a bit of volume, do they have the same idea of volume? Will I walk out with softly smoothed hair or big pageant hair? It’s hard to describe what you want at the hairdresser. This is where the saying a picture is worth a thousand words is true.
It was easy at The Dry Bar in New York, as they have a picture menu to choose the hair you want. For example, a Cosmopolitan is loose curls and a Manhattan is dead straight and smooth. No confusion there.
I love a salon blowdry, and I can make it last for days in my hair. Here are some ways you can blowdry your hair.
Ways to blowdry your hair
- Straight. My hair has been blowdried straight then super straightened with a flat iron.
- Smooth with flicked ends. My hair has been blowdried straight and the end curled up with a round brush.
- Volume with soft curls. My hair has been blowdried with a large round brush to create volume and soft curls at the ends
- Smooth waves. My hair has been blowdried and curled uniformly with a 50mm barrel curling wand then brushed out into soft waves.
- Beach waves. My hair has been blowdried straight and then curled randomly with a 13mm barrel curling wand then shaken loose to form messy curls.
- Curly. My hair has been blowdried upside-down with a diffuser to encourage my natural curls.
If you want to avoid a salon disaster, read Hair Romance’s advice for describing the hairstyle you want.
Plus a quick tip for blowdrying your hair.
How do you like to have your hair blowdried / blown out?
How funny to stumble across this today. I actually hate the way I look with a regular salon blowout (which looks like #1 on me), because I have lengthy, thick hair. It gets in my face, for one thing, but mostly I always leave the salon truly hating the way I look (in fact, I leave the parking lot, park somewhere else, and put my locks up in a sloppy updo or French twist just to alleviate the Sudden Onset Self-Hatred)! I am actually tempted to ask my hairdresser to simply do a quick, lazy blowout, so I’ll have some natural volume and ‘floof’ left. That said, my stylist is marvellous, giving me a truly great cut to do my usual pin curls with, so I figure it’s just something I have to deal with several days a year!
Also, I read your article about horrible haircuts…I’d lock myself in a room and never come out, having had long, long hair for years (and walked out of salons where the hairdressers kept telling me to “go shorter”—did it once, never again). We’re about to move very far away from my current stylist, which would mean a 1.5-2 hour drive to see her. She and I have joked about her just coming out to our little farm in the woods for a “one cut + vacation day”…I’m really hoping she’s serious! I’ll even make her lunch and bake her a pie. 😉
thanks for commenting, Jen! I definitely think you should take a pie in now to convince your stylist to come out to your place! xx
If you have curly/wavy hair, how do you get hairstyle #1?
Hi Anna, I use a flat iron like the ghd eclipse or L’Oreal Steam Pod x
I have naturally straight/wavy hair, is there any way to get my hair curly i.e. #3 or #6 in a quick and easy way, or is that too much to ask?
Hi Megan, it won’t be quick & easy the first time, but with practice you can do #3 and get a similar result to #6. #6 are my natural curls, and use a small curling iron to curl your hair in small sections to replicate the look. For #3, blow dry your hair with a round brush, twist the sections at the ends to get these curls.
How could someone with hair that doesn’t curl well get curls like in number 6?
With lots of product and a curling iron! If your hair is hard to curl it will be difficult to achieve, but if you blowdry your hair with mousse you have a good base to start curling. To get this mix of curls you need to use a conical curling wand, or two different sized wands to create a more natural curl shape. Work in very small sections and use hairspray to help each curl hold. After curling a section, clip it up to allow it to cool. Only when all your hair is cool, take out the clips and run your fingers through your hair to break up the curls. Good luck!
Can you provide a step by step tutorial about how you did hairstyle #4? I love it!
Hi, I have naturaly curly hair as well. Would you mind sharing what product you use when you do number 6? Also really love the shape of your haircut when you let it go super curly 🙂
Hi Starla, Thank you! I wrote about the products I use on my curly hair here x
i have natural curly frizzy hair so always happy to get my hair blowdryed at the hairdresser – its usally a weekly apt and the best money I can spend on me! I used to be all about having it dead straight but lately I want smooth with lots of bounce! i love it…
I wish could go every week! That’s fab x
I always ask for bouncy and I come out with variations of 2 or three but what I picture in my head is 3. I probs need to be more specific 🙂
It’s so hard to describe isn’t it? I sometimes say Victoria’s Secret hair as everyone knows what I mean.
OMG! I was just having this very conversation with my sister the other day when we’d just left the hairdresser. Thank you for this helpful info x
Thanks Kate! Hope this helps for your next appointment x