Tutorial: Blowout Hair at Home
Step 1: Wash and condition your hair.
The key to achieving amazing blowout hair at home starts with clean strands. For the best results, use a shampoo and conditioner as a system for your hair type. These systems are formulated and tested for use together where you discover the best results for your hair type. Much like how we’re taught to mix and match skincare products as little as possible, sticking to a homogenous wash-and-care system actually maximizes the range’s benefits and provides the best possible solutions for your needs—they’ve formulated their conditioners to work hand in hand with their shampoos, after all. Try Nexxus Hydra-Light Weightless Moisture Shampoo and Nexxus Hydra-Light Weightless Moisture Conditioner. This system helps provide your hair with moisture without weighing it down.
Step 2: Towel-dry, then blot.
Post-shower, towel-dry your hair, making sure not to be too rough, which can lead to breakage and frizz! Then clamp your strands in between some paper towels can remove excess moisture in seconds. Use this quick hair hack after you’ve gently towel-dried your strands and still feel some significant drippage on your back. The closer your hair is to damp rather than dripping wet, the better. Try not to rough-dry your hair with a towel, which can lead to breakage and frizz.
Step 3: Apply a heat protectant.
After you brush or comb your hair, apply Nexxus Promend Heat Protecting Mist to your hair. This formula helps form a protective barrier, prepping your hair for heat-styling. Like all hair techniques, you’ll need to decide if you want a sleek or volume to your look. For a sleek and shiny blowout, use some hair serum. You only need to apply a few drops through the middle to the ends of your hair to create a silky mane. If volume is the name of the game, try applying a mousse to your hair. Apply about a golf ball-sized amount of TRESemmé Beauty-Full Volume Touchable Bounce Mousse, making sure that you work the mousse throughout your hair.
Step 4: Get your blow-dryer ready.
Put your blowdryer on the medium setting and begin by finger-drying hair as you apply some heat. This helps speed up the drying process. Ed’s note: Make sure your dryer isn’t over 1,800 watts—anything above that will make strands susceptible to damage.
Step 5: Rough blow-dry your hair.
Set your blow-dryer of choice to a medium setting and begin rough-drying, a.k.a. drying loosely by tousling strands with your hands and fingers, until it is around 75 percent dry or still slightly damp. Pointing your blowdryer’s concentrator nozzle downwards helps seal in the cuticle and prevents frizzing or poufing. The only thing you need to be aware of when you are rough-drying your hair (besides not fully drying it) is the direction of airflow. To avoid frizz, make sure the air is going down the hair shaft, not up.
Step 6: Section your hair.
Partition your hair into workable sections: top center, top left, top right, bottom center, bottom left, bottom right, securing all with duckbill or darby clips. Run a round, medium-bristled brush (natural or mixed bristles will give more shine) on the underside of each bottom section first, moving downwards from the roots to tips. Respect your hair’s health: If you feel like you’re tugging too much, work in short bursts from the root rather than one continuous pull for blowout hair that still retains its integrity. Curl the ends under for a smooth flip. Repeat on all sections, concentrating most of your energy on the top three sections—people notice those first. Ed’s note: Best efforts to dry the top center section in an upward motion, moving away from your crown, but don’t stress if you don’t get it perfect. Simply divide the top section and have each part join either the left or right sections, and blowdry as you would a regular side section.
Step 7: Pin your hair.
After blow-drying your hair, softly twist each section and pin back as you repeat the drying motion throughout your head. Editor’s tip: Leave your hairline for last. The crown area and the back of our head are usually the trickiest sections to blow-dry, since some can’t fully reach that far or firmly control what goes on back there. Compromise: Gently tug hair upwards and out, with a blow-dryer in one hand and a brush in another. If you’re really wobbly, split the crown section further into two and incorporate each into the original left and right sections instead. Concentrate your focus on the hair nearest your hairline—this is what people notice first and foremost anyway—and always tug hair away from the face for a visible, sexy lift.
Step 8: Unravel and style.
Unpin your locks and admire your ultimate blowout hair (and amazing work). If you notice some flyaways, apply some serum and rake throughout your lengths and ends (don’t grease up your roots—they’ll go limp!). This helps give some shine and seal down any strands that might have frayed during the heat process. Then, using a brush in one hand, strategically aim the blowdryer downwards with the other, slowly go over the different layers of hair and smooth them down as you go, focusing the airflow downwards to help seal the shaft and thus promote shine. For the hairline and especially the crown, gently tug the brush upwards then outwards to create more lift at the root. Pay the most attention to this last part of your hair, as it is the main thing that people notice.
Step 9: Maintain your style.
Blowouts are clearly are a lot of work, but you can maintain them a little longer by twisting hair up in a top-knot before bed and restyling it the next day. On day two, start by using some dry shampoo, like Dove Refresh+Care Volume & Fullness Dry Shampoo to refresh strands and soak up any oils. You may need to re-do some sections of your hair by blowdrying it again to reinvigorate your style.
Lengthen Your Blowout Hairstyle With These Quick Tips
1. Start with clean hair.
When you walk into the salon and plop down to get your hair washed before being styled, oftentimes your stylist will ask if you want one or two shampoos. At first thought, it might seem like a silly question, but in all actuality that extra clean is just what you need to achieve the perfect blowout hairstyle. Although one shampoo may sometimes do the trick, sometimes you will need to opt for two to ensure that any dirt, oil or built up products are washed down the drain, leaving the ideal canvas to begin styling.
2. Wear a shower cap.
Just because you want your blowout to last doesn’t mean that you can’t take a shower. Simply tuck your hair within a shower cap and you’re good to go without risking deflating your style.
3. Use dry shampoo.
Point blank: Dry shampoo is your blowout’s BFF. To really elongate the life of your blowout, invest in a quality product, like TRESemmé Fresh Start Volumizing Dry Shampoo, and spray it between layers of hair to refresh your look.
4. Wrap your hair while you sleep.
To reduce frizz, kinks and deflation, wrap your hair in a silk scarf or wrap to keep your blowout hairstyle in tip-top shape for the day to come.
5. Add some waves.
Towards the end of your blowout’s life, you will notice that the volume has started to drop and the overall shape is somewhat lackluster. To get one last day out of your look, simply add a few curls with a curling wand for a super cute beachy look.
Ways to Humidity-Proof Your Blowout Hairstyle
1. Start in the shower.
As most stylists will tell you, prepping your hair begins while it’s still wet. Shampooing hair with a nourishing, conditioning system helps infuse strands with moisture while in its most vulnerable, swollen state. Use a system that does so while also volumizing and priming hair for a full look.
2. Towel-dry gently—but efficiently.
After rinsing your hair thoroughly, gently squeeze any excess water from your locks and towel-dry. (Tip: Some experts like using a paper towel to blot wet hair in a pinch.). Resist the urge to rumple, as the friction can damage or break hair, or even encourage flyaways and cowlicks if your hair starts to dry in a haphazard state.
3. Go with a lotion.
Next, apply a styling product specifically made for creating—and sustaining—blowout hair. We like using creams or lotions that won’t leave locks crunchy and can also provide an extra shot of slip. Depending on the length of hair, apply a dime-to-quarter-sized amount of product on your palms and spread it throughout your mane, favoring the roots a bit more. Have more time? Refine and spread it evenly with a wide-toothed comb.
4. Blow-dry on low to medium heat.
Wiggling the nozzle on your hairdryer for a more even airflow, rough-dry hair first using your fingers until 90 percent damp. Next, clip strands up into sections, drying each section using a round brush with firm, slow tugs downwards. End each section by focusing some airflow at the root (careful with your scalp!) to create more lift at the top.
5. Explore the benefits of a hair oil.
Hair oils can help provide shine and revive damaged-looking ends, as well as shield blowout hairstyles from static and humidity, without the weigh-down. Apply one or two small pumps of a lightweight oil into your palms (we love the super-light feel and silkiness—and scent!—of Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil) and apply on the mid-lengths to ends.
6. Finish with a frizz-fighting hairspray.
Yes, ’tis the season to layer! Lock in that look with a featherlight misting of a hairspray tailor-made to protect hair from humidity. For a more natural look, flip hair over once after applying hair oil so your natural part diffuses slightly, flip back, then spritz on some hairspray at a 12” distance from your crown. We love the two-day, frizz-protecting properties of TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Frizz-Free Hold Hairspray, which helps keep your look’s integrity for 48 hours—or a fun weekend of holiday dinners and dancing in the moonlight. Good luck and love your ultimate blowout hair!
