Why? Well, partly because I can’t think of hundreds of words’ worth of brilliant prose tonight (hey, we all have those nights), but partly because they’ve got a GREAT money-saving how-to that you need to know about.
How many of us have loved the way our hair looked after a cut and blow-dry, only to fail miserably when we attempt the same sleek, smooth look at home?
I’m not one to just give up and spend $30, $50 or more to have somebody blow-dry my hair, so I’ve sought out pointers for how to accomplish the look at home. You can, too, and Stylelist.com has an excellent tutorial you can check out.
There are other resources on the web that will show you how to do your own blow-out, but if you want some hands-on instruction and happen to live in New York, you can learn at the knee of the master.
Oscar Blandi–hair stylist to celebrities including the always-lovely Reese Witherspoon–offers a blow-out class in his Manhattan salon. Bellasugar.com covered this a few months ago, and Blandi offered a few pointers to get you started:
1. Squeeze any excess water out with your fingers.
2. Apply a straightening balm to your fingers (not palms). Rub the product on your fingers together and rake through your hair as if you were using your fingers as a comb.
3. Dry hair slightly using low heat, without a brush.
4. Section and clip hair into four parts: one in the front, back, and on each side.
5. Blow-dry each section separately, always using a nozzle pointed at a 90-degree angle, for the most consistent, straightest, and shiniest results. Use a flat brush in one hand and a blow-dryer in the other. Take a strip of hair (about brush-width) into your brush. Using your brush as the lead, move the brush down the hair from roots to ends, following behind with your blow-dryer.
6. After completing each section, repeat the blow-drying techniques with a round brush for smoothness. Hello, fabulous hair.
The class costs an eye-popping $250, but this is Blandi’s salon we’re talking about, and everybody’s served a round of Bellinis to calm class jitters. I’m not sure I’d spring for the class, but the idea is awfully tempting. Fortunately for my bank account, I live on the other side of the country, so my pennies are safe for now.
And until then, I’ll keep following these pointers and trying for the holy grail of hairstyling–the perfect blow-out.
