Have 15 minutes to spare, washed hair and a blow dryer? Read on to know how to blow-dry your hair.
by Ankita Pathak
How is it you never really look as put together as you do when you leave the salon after a professional blow dry? Is there magic to hair care and achieving the perfect blow dry or is it possible to do it yourself? Actually, it is quite possible, as long as you follow the right steps!
Getting a professional blow dry is like getting a shot of beauty adrenaline. The feeling you experience when you leave the salon is pure exhilaration. Nothing much has changed; your face is the same, and your weight is the same, but somehow you feel ten times more beautiful and infinitely more confident.
If you need help in the blow drying department, here’s what you need:
Time required: 15 to 30 minutes, depending on length and thickness of hair.
Tools: In order to achieve a salon quality blow out, you’ll need to add certain tools to your arsenal, such as a blow dryer, brush and serum. Go with a round hair brush with a barrel anywhere from 1 ¾ to 2 ½ inches.
– Pre-dry prep: Start with freshly-washed hair. If you have dry hair, condition in the shower. If you have fine hair, condition only the ends. Blot hair – never rub – with a towel to get rid of excess moisture. You can’t do a blow dry with really wet hair or it will take forever. If softness and shine is what your hair needs to remove the excess knots, use a dime-sized dollop of hair serum evenly through strands.
– Divide and clip: Divide and clip your hair into two sections – top and bottom. To make it easier, draw a line with your index finger from above your ears. Right where your fingers meet becomes your top section. If you have bangs, leave them loose. Dry your bangs into place first to set them so they aren’t harder to tame at the end.
– Nozzle magic: Put the nozzle of your dryer and, beginning with the bottom section, wrap a 2- to 4-inch section of hair around a round brush and pull as taut as you can. Keeping the hair taut is 50 percent of the battle. Ensure that your dryer nozzle is pointing down the hair from roots to ends. This will also help with frizz.
Continue through the top section until hair is dry. Finish off with a serum to weigh down random frizzy parts. Crucial points to note: do not apply 
too much product. Gunking up your hair won’t help you get the style you crave; it will only weigh it down and prevent it from cooperating. Also, don’t dry hair that’s too wet. Your hair will take much longer to dry and be unnecessarily exposed to more heat. Lastly don’t over-dry your hair to a level where you can smell burnt hair. It’s a common mistake that can damage your strands. For volume on the top, hold the dryer under the brush and pull it down. Finally flip your hair upside down and shake it up!
Did you find these tips useful? Tell us about your blow drying adventures in the comments section below.