Blow-dry babe: this season's top 3 looks and how to recreate them at home
Imagine showing up to your next big event looking like you've just stepped off the red carpet. With the magic of a salon blow-dry, you can make it a reality! Booking an appointment at a blow-dry bar ensures a polished, long-lasting style and can even improve your hair health.
Paul Edmonds London senior stylist, Matilda, shares her salon blow-dry techniques so you can learn how to style hair at home. Her top 3 blow-dry looks work in perfect harmony with Paul's hair trends for Spring/Summer, but you can also try them on your existing style. This is your blow-by-blow breakdown of the season's top looks.
What is a blow-dry (and why's it amazing)?
A salon blow-dry appointment focuses on cleansing, conditioning, and styling your hair. It's an ideal service to book before a special occasion because it takes the stress out of getting ready and elevates your look like nothing else.
"Just like cuts and colours, we do see trends in styling," says Matilda. "So many different looks can be achieved with a blow-dry. It's about creating a style to suit you as a client and then giving you options on how to finish it."
A great salon blow-dry starts with a great backwash and treatment process. At Paul Edmonds London, we have over 300 combinations of shampoo and conditioner, plus complimentary restorative masques as part of your bespoke backwash experience.
Our product library is stocked with every shampoo, conditioner, and masque by Shu Uemura Art of Hair, as well as products from Kérastase, Davines, and Iles formula. Your stylist will always diagnose and recommend the right mix of products for you.
Because we start with a tailored cleansing and treatment protocol, your blow-dry can improve the condition of your hair and help the finished style last longer. After all, even the world's best blow-dry looks terrible on dull, damaged hair!
Top 3 blow-dry trends and how we do them
1. Seventies sweeping curtain fringes with smooth, voluminous textures
Meet the new bouncy blow-dry! This seventies look has the soft, voluminous waves you adore, with a sexy, sultry twist. It's a Farrah Fawcett-style look, with lightweight shag layering and a face-framing, sweeping curtain fringe.
"Adding lots of air and keeping things lightweight with bounce creates the illusion of naturally thick hair with subtle glamour. This look is mainly created with a round brush and then set using rollers or pin curls to provide longer-lasting volume and movement!"
This blow-dry looks best on our SS22 high-shine shag cut or a lusciously layered style. Book with our experts, and we'll tailor the cut to suit your unique bone structure, lifestyle, and colouring.
Our fave blow-dry products for this look
How to style it
"Start by washing and prepping your hair. Next, use a hairdryer to rough dry it upside down until it's eighty percent dry. Then section your hair and grab your Velcro rollers," says Matilda.
"Starting at the front, blow-dry the top section of your hair away from the face. Finish by inserting a roller. Repeat for all other sections. Leave your rollers in for a minimum of 10 minutes.
"Once you've removed the rollers, tip your head upside down, plunge your hands in, and give it a good shake! Then, flip back over to reveal soft, voluminous glam!"
Top tip: If your hair is already dry, you can use the Cloud Nine O Pod Heated Roller Set to create this look!
2. Super glossy and straight
The glossy, straight look is a classic mainstay that's utterly striking and relatively straightforward to create if you want to do a blow-dry at home.
"Healthy, glossy, blunt hair is definitely in," says Matilda. "Clients are loving sleek, straight hair, and creating as much shine as possible."
Top tip: for the best results, book a glaze at the salon backwash before you sit down for your blow-dry and get the ultimate glass-like shine!
Our fave blow-dry products for this look
How to style it
"We create this blow-dry look by smoothing the hair as much as possible with directed heat and a round brush, pulling the hair flat and straight," says Matilda.
"If you need extra help smoothing your hair down, you can touch up with straighteners or a L'Oréal Steampod, which creates moisturised, silky smooth hair. Then finish with Shu Uemura Overnight Serum."
3. Natural tousled texture
This is your guide to achieving enviable 'I got out of bed looking like this' natural tousled waves. They're a blow-dry favourite because they look incredible with most hairstyles, especially the blunt cut hair and glossy waves we're loving this year.
"You'd be surprised how much goes into a perfectly 'natural' look! The secret is to work with the natural texture of the hair, guiding it into shape when drying, then using a variety of tonging techniques to create the soft tousled waves we all love!"
Our fave blow-dry products for this look
How to style it
"Apply your styling products to wet hair and blow-dry until completely dry. You can do this upside down if you want more lift from the root," Matilda says.
"Wrap your hair in different directions around your curling iron, then pull them out after each section so it doesn't go too curly. Finish with your favourite texture spray."
Top tip: if your curling iron has a range of different heads, you can use them interchangeably as you work. Mixing the different wave styles creates a more tousled, natural finish.
Of course, these DIY blow-dries look their best when styled over a professional cut. Book an appointment with our experts or visit our blow-dry bar and let us take care of you. Want to give these looks a try at home? Shop our favourite blow-dry products and start styling!