Blow dry products before styling?

[Owllie45]

Hi all, I feel like 2026 should be the year is learn to style my hair. I have thick hair but I want it to look salon worthy. I have the babyliss big hair (unused) but could any experts offer tips or product recs?

Me too! Following

i like the big hair, it gets me the closest to a professional blow out!
use a heat protector and ideally some product designed to give hold, this could be a mousse or a leave in cream, I like the JVN air dry cream but that’s a light hold.
wait til your hair is 80-90% dry, heat on wet hair will cause damage. Afterwards you can use a shine spray or serum or oil.

i also like spraying dry shampoo on the roots whilst my hair is a little damp and blow drying it in, the got2b one (in a spray bottle, not the aerosol) is excellent for this.

What heat protector should I use?

depends on your hair type and what you like, I find them much of a muchness. I don’t blow dry my hair that often so I like kms thermashape quick dry spray but if I did it more often I’d use something a bit more heavy duty.

Color wow dream coat, makes it feel like a salon blow dry

I second this. It's fantastic. They also do various "luxury hair" products, but I haven't tried them yet, worth a browse though!

I tried the leave in conditioner and it was ok.

Apparently it’s owned by John Freida and their 48 hour straight spray is a dupe for the dream coat

I third this!

@CraftyNavySeal could you post a link to this as I cant find it

Another vote for Color wow dream coat. It's essential to apply to wet or damp hair and then blow dry with 'tension' - i.e. the hair has to be pulled tight under the hair dryer.

Another vote for the Dream Coat spray. It's changed my hair this year.

Firstly coming across an influencer with frizzy curly long hair and watching the blow dry tutorials. There’s no tricks, you have to learn to do it properly.

I’ve never got into products before but this year, I also tried the Dream Coat and really like it. I’m not great at blow drying my hair so I use a hot brush and it looks pretty good.

I really am loving KMS, it gives a lovely finish.

https://www.lookfantastic.com/p/kms-thermashape-quick-blow-dry-spray-for-faster-drying-and-light-conditioning-200ml/11431715/?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=GBP&shippingcountry=GB&shoppingpid=sitewide_code_050118&affil=thggpsad&kwds=&thg_ppc_campaign=20544267008&adtype=pla&product_id=11431715&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=20544267008&cq_con=&cq_term=&cq_med=pla&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&cq_plt=gp&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20538671880&gbraid=0AAAAAD-fXionN5Ay9AEUKIn-JW1mH3fLA&gclid=Cj0KCQiAxonKBhC1ARIsAIHq_lvzIPEZfXG-KlM_XvNG_9FRYCKPOVf68MddVwrpeFcbb6CD20MAUp4aAszcEALw_wcB