How can I get salon blow dried look at home when I’m utterly incompetent with a haidryer

[KalaniM]

Just went to the hairdresser yesterday for a cut and blow dry and omg, my hair looks and feels like hair instead of the usual garden broom. I HAVE to learn how to do this myself. I don’t have a dressing table and skills. I can’t afford to go for a blow dry once a week. Please teach my blow dry for dummies? I have longish thickish straight hair that s super drrrrry.

Which oil do people use? I've never managed to find one to suit my very fine (but lots of it) hair.

I've just bought a GHD hairdryer and would recommend it. I have a Big Hair and it does make my hair look okay but it has to be mostly dried first and I find it a faff having to switch between two dryers.

Check out the online tutorials. It does take a bit to get the hang of but it’s brilliant. I should work for them really.

Yep. It's a gamechanger

It sounds as though the two main contenders are the BbH and the 1step. What actually is the difference?! I get it I may have to try both.

I can’t afford the dyson.

Does the Keratin give you sleek straight hair? But remove all bounce/wave? What is your hair like after it wears off? Is it damaging? Where do you get it done? Would you get it done every three months or do you have to give your hair a rest?

sorry for my Paxman type approach here. Don’t know anyone whose done it, irl, need to pick your brains!

Due to injury last year I had most of my long, thick, wavy hair chopped to a short bob as I couldn't brush it, never mind dry it properly. I bout the Babyliss air styler and it literally changed my life. I only ever use the nozzle to blast my hair to mostly dry, then the big barrel brush bit to do the rest. I can do my whole head in 3 sections (ie clip it so that only a third is loose and work that section all round, then release the next section and work round, then the top section) and from out of the shower to salon-like finish in 12 minutes. If I'd had this before I got my hair chopped I'd never have had it cut. I'll never go back to a hairdryer now, even though my arm is better.

I got mine in boots in the sale. 100% recommend.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie i Use the L’Oréal Elvive gold coloured one with 7 sprays of John Frieda 3 day straight (yes I’ve counted the perfect amount for me) I also have fine but loads of hair. I used to use the elvive leave in too but that seems to have disappeared.

Yes the keratin blow dry gives a straight, shiny blow dry but you don’t get the volume or bounce of other blow drys.

it gradually washes out over about 12 weeks and leaves hair in same condition as before. You need to use sulfate free shampoos to make it last but otherwise it’s pretty low maintenance.

Most salons offer it I think. Some call it a Brazilian blow dry. I have done several back to back with no issues.

Fuuuuuckit, I’m so sorry to hear about your injury. Thanks for sharing you only use three clips. That sounds non - intimidating.

( I’ve done bolding on this post the wrong way round. Fuckittt! Sorry.phone, tube, brain fuzz. )

Thanks, @Ladyofthepeonies I've bought both of those products in the past, but didn't like either of them on my hair enough to repurchase.

Thanks Katrinawaves, I will definitely bear this in mind as a possible rescue mission.

my bolding abilities are fried.

I 2nd the Keratin blow dry.

I habitually use Shue Uemura essence absolue.but now I’m wondering why. It used to work well for, now, not so much. The inkey list hyaluronic leave is quite nice. Briefly.

Another vote here for the Babyliss big hair styler. I dry my hair with hairdryer until 80% ish dry then section the rest and use the big hair styler. Because it dries and the brush rotates at the same time you can use it one handed and takes seconds. Products wise I use Revlon uniq one and a tiny drop of Olaplex oil. It turns my frizzy lank mop into a dream x

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie the Olaplex oil is amazing

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Revlon one step... I have long hair past
My elbows that's thick. You do need a decent heat protector because it gets hot!!

The Babyliss Big hair is a rotating brush and the Revlon doesn't rotate.

The Babyliss caused quite a lot of breakage for me, loads of my hair was left in the brush. The revlon comes in a couple of different brush sizes, depending on your hair length.

I had some hair loss trying to use the Big Hair too but none at all with the Revlon .

Me too, I think the rotating really pulls and it's really easy to get tangled when you first practise with it.

Ultimately I get a better result with a traditional hairdryer and big round brush.

Oh bbh rotates! Ooof! Doesn’t get tangled?

so using the revlon brush, I’ll need a heat protector. Ok! Another product.

off to look up the ingredients of the Olaplex oil and hopefully find a dupe..

For me, lots of tangles!

I have very fine hair, quite a bit of it that is shoulder length. I can just about manage to style my hair at the sides but the back is a nightmare it tends to go fluffyish as I can't see what the hell I'm doing.

I just use a normal Babyliss hairdryer. Any tips for sorting out the hair at the back with any of the above recommends before I admit defeat and have it cut short again -something I'm so tempted to do but really don't want to. 😥

I have the Big Hair and have had several. Couldn't live without it. I have thick shoulder length hair which if left to dry naturally is quite wavy. This is the closest thing to a salon finish I have ever achieved. Yes, it does require sectioning just as a hairdresser would and yes, it will tangle if you don't section it properly.

Like any tool it takes getting used to but if you persevere I'm sure you won't regret the purchase.

I have chin length fine hair and even after 43 years on this earth I cannot style it myself for love nor money.

Three things that have made a massive difference to my hair:

1. Professional grade shampoo and conditioner to match my hair type. I use Wella Fusion products and buy 1 litre bottles of each. They cost around £25 each, but I generally get a year's worth of use out of each.
2. First hairdryer upgrade I had was to a Parlux hairdryer. There is a reason that many hairdressers use these. That combined with a big round brush was quite effective for me. Takes half the time of my previous hairdryer.
3. The best investment for me - Dyson AirWrap. I use just the smoothing brush attachment and brush my hair upwards to create volume at the roots. Once its dry I let my hair fall down and smooth the ends out. Takes half the time of the Parlux hairdryer, so a quarter of the time I used to spend with a rubbish hairdryer.

So many people comment on how nice my hair is nowadays (which only proves how bad it used to be!)

Another vote for the Big Hair- the only gadgetty thing I've ever bought in my life that I actually use regularly. It's wonderful.