Many people long for a salon-quality blowout but wonder if they can recreate those results on their own. The good news is that achieving a beautiful blowout at home is absolutely possible with the right approach. A blowout is a specific styling technique using a brush and dryer to create smooth volume and bounce. In fact, a proper at-home blowout can leave your hair shiny, full of body, and it can hold its style for several days when done correctly. This article will provide a technical, step-by-step guide and smooth hair tips to help you get a lasting blowout without stepping into a salon.
Essential Tools and Products for a Lasting Blowout
Successful at-home hair styling starts with having the right tools and products on hand. For a blowout, your toolkit should include: a high-quality blow-dryer, a round brush, sectioning clips, and a heat protectant product. It’s also helpful to have a smoothing serum or cream, a volumizing mousse or spray, and a light finishing hairspray. Selecting the best blowout products for your hair type can make a big difference in results. If you have fine hair that tends to go flat, use a volumizing mousse at the roots to give it lift. If your hair is coarse or frizz-prone, apply a frizz-fighting styling cream or serum to help smooth the strands. Always apply a heat protectant before you begin blow-drying to shield your hair from damage.
The hairbrush is critical among tools. Many stylists agree that a round brush is the best brush for blowout styling. A ceramic or boar-bristle round brush helps create tension on the hair for smoothing and can also add curl or movement to the ends. Using a larger round brush will produce a straighter, smoother result on long hair, while a smaller round brush gives tighter curls or more flips at the ends. Choose your brush size based on the look you’re going for and your hair length.
Preparation: Getting Your Hair Ready
How you prep your hair before the blowout will set the foundation for a smooth, frizz-free blowout that lasts. Wash and condition your hair with products suited to your hair needs. It’s often recommended to use a sulfate-free shampoo to be gentler on the hair and to avoid very heavy conditioners that can weigh hair down. If you have oily or fine hair, a lightweight conditioner is sufficient, whereas very dry hair might benefit from a more moisturizing conditioner on mid-lengths and ends. Rinse with cooler water if possible. Cooler water helps the cuticle lie flat and preserves moisture, which can lead to smoother results. When conditioning, avoid the roots. Focus on the tips of your hair to prevent greasiness and limpness.
After washing, gently towel-dry your hair. Do not aggressively rub with a towel, as this can rough up the cuticle and create frizz. Instead, blot and squeeze out excess water with a soft towel or microfiber cloth. One key prep step is to let your hair air-dry to some degree before you begin the blowout. Hair that is sopping wet is more fragile and will take a very long time to blow-dry, exposing it to unnecessary heat. It’s best to start a blowout on damp hair. Ideally, let your hair air dry about 50% before using the dryer. This reduces the overall heat exposure and helps prevent frizz and damage. You can comb through gently with a wide-tooth comb at this stage to remove any tangles.
Apply your chosen styling products to the damp hair before the blowout. If you’re after more volume, work a bit of volumizing mousse or root-lift spray into the crown and roots. For those dealing with frizz or wanting a very smooth result, distribute a small amount of smoothing cream or serum from mid-lengths to ends. A little product goes a long way. You can always add more later, but you can’t take away excess product if you over-apply. Finally, mist your hair lightly with a heat protectant spray or apply a heat protectant cream.
Step-by-Step: How to Blow Out Your Hair at Home
Doing a professional blowout at home might feel tricky at first, but following a structured routine will help. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown to guide you:
- Section Your Hair: Divide your hair into manageable sections before you start drying. Professional stylists often section hair into at least four parts: for example, split your hair horizontally around ear level so you have a top section and a bottom section. Clip the top half up and out of the way. Then split the bottom half into two. You can further divide these if you have very thick hair. Working in sections ensures that you can dry each portion thoroughly and evenly. It’s much easier to handle one section at a time than to tackle all your hair at once.
- Begin with Rough Drying: Start by “rough drying” each section slightly before using your brush for styling. This means using the blow-dryer without a brush, just your fingers, to get the hair from damp to about 70-80% dry. Keep the dryer on a medium heat and high airflow, and use your free hand to lift and shake out the roots as you dry, just to remove excess moisture. The goal here is not to create style, but to speed up the process so that when you use the brush, the hair is only mildly damp. Remember not to completely dry the hair in this step. Leave it slightly damp so you can shape it with the brush in the next steps.
- Work Section by Section with a Brush: Now comes the core of the blowout technique. Take one of your sections. Unclip one section and further subdivide it if needed into a smaller strip of hair that’s about 2–3 inches wide, roughly the width of your brush. Place your round brush under that section, right at the roots, and hold the blow-dryer with the concentrator nozzle aligned above the hair. Turn the dryer on. Pull the brush down the length of the hair, following it closely with the dryer. It’s important to keep the dryer’s nozzle pointing downward along the hair shaft as you go rather than blasting up from underneath. By directing the airflow downward in the direction of hair growth, you smooth the cuticle instead of roughing it up, which is key to avoiding frizz. Maintain tension on the hair by gently pulling with the brush; tension combined with heat is what helps reshape the hair’s texture.
- Dry Each Section Completely: As you brush through the section with the dryer, make sure that the section gets fully dry before moving on. You might need to go over the same piece a few times with a brush and dryer to achieve this. If you want a straight, sleek look, continue pulling the brush straight through to the ends each time. If you want a bit of curl or bounce at the ends, you can twist the brush at the ends of the hair, wrapping the hair around the brush’s barrel to form a soft curl. Hold it there for a moment with heat on it, then release. You can even roll the section up in the brush and hit it with a blast of heat, then a cold shot before unrolling.
- Proceed to All Sections: Continue this process around your head. After finishing the bottom sections, release the top section(s) you clipped up and work on those. Pay special attention to the very top and front. For maximum root lift at the crown, a pro trick is to blow-dry the hair on the top of your head against the direction it will fall.
- Cool and Set: Once all sections are dry and you’ve achieved the general shape you want, give your whole head a chance to cool down. Hair that is allowed to cool in the shape it’s been styled will hold that shape longer. You can use the cool shot on your dryer over each section to speed this up. Some people also set thoroughly dried sections in large Velcro rollers or clips while they cool to amp up the volume and curl. Simply take your brush, roll each finished section up as if the brush were a roller, then slip a Velcro roller in or use a clip to hold the loop of hair, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the hair is completely cool.
Finishing Touches: Unclip any rollers or pinned sections and gently let your hair fall. Use your fingers or a brush to very lightly comb through and loosen the curls or shape as needed. This is where you refine the look. Finish with a bit of hairspray or finishing spray. A light mist of a flexible hold hairspray all over will help lock in the style without making it stiff. Hold the can about 12 inches away so you’re just lightly misting; you don’t want to soak the hair.
By following these steps, you’ve essentially given yourself a blowout for volume and smoothness using just a brush and dryer. It does take a bit of practice to get the technique right. One of the biggest challenges when doing a blowout at home is achieving that frizz-controlled finish that salons are known for. Frizz typically happens when the hair’s cuticle isn’t sealed down. Moisture in the air can enter the strands, or the strands rub against each other, causing static and puffiness. If you still see a bit of frizz after finishing, you can lightly run a home hair styling tool like a flat iron on a low setting over just the outer layer of your hair for a final polish, but if you’ve done the blowout well, this might not be necessary. Remember that some natural texture is normal, especially if your hair is very curly or wavy to start with. Blowing it out perfectly straight without any frizz might take a few tries and possibly a professional-grade dryer. Using smooth hair tips during your blowout routine will get you as close as possible to that glassy finish.
Maintaining Your Blowout: Making It Last
After you’ve invested time into styling your hair, you’ll naturally want to extend the life of your blowout for as long as possible. While everyone’s hair and environment are different, there are universal strategies to help a blowout last multiple days. With good care, it’s common for a blowout style to last around 3–5 days before you need to fully wash and rest.
How you treat your hair when you sleep is crucial. Friction from a regular cotton pillowcase can cause your hair to tangle, frizz, or lose its shape overnight. A great tip is to sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase. This softer material creates much less friction, helping your home blow-dry style stay smoother. You might also loosely secure your hair at the top of your head before bed. A very loose high ponytail or, even better, a loose bun can keep your hair from getting flattened on one side. Use a soft scrunchie or a coil hair tie that won’t leave a dent in your hair. The idea is to preserve the volume at your roots by keeping hair on top of your head while you sleep, and to prevent any weird kinks.
When to Call a Pro: At-Home Styling Services
While mastering DIY blowouts is empowering and cost-effective, there are times you might want to bring in a professional. These days, you can book at-home blowouts through on-demand hair styling service platforms that send a stylist right to your door. The rise of mobile beauty services means getting a professional blowout at home is just a few clicks away. For example, Glamsquad is a popular company that offers in-home hair styling. With such a service, you use an app or website to schedule an appointment, and a trained stylist will arrive at your home with all the tools and products needed to give you a salon-quality blowout in your living room. This can be a great option for special occasions, busy schedules, or anyone who prefers the convenience of not traveling to a salon.
If you decide to use an at-home blowout service, there are a few things to keep in mind to get the best experience. Typically, these services ask that you have your hair freshly washed and damp by the time the stylist arrives, since they usually don’t bring shampoo bowls or sinks. You’d shampoo your hair yourself right before the appointment, and be ready with towel-dried hair. Because the stylist won’t have a full salon setup, you should have “wet hair, in the chair” at the appointment time. This means your hair is clean and not dripping, so the stylist can jump straight into blow-drying and styling. This small bit of prep ensures you get the full appointment time dedicated to the blowout itself, and it often yields better results since pros like to start with immaculate hair.
Another advantage of at-home services is that they often offer other hair treatments as add-ons. For instance, you might combine a haircut at home service with a blowout in one visit. The stylist could trim your ends or refresh your layers, then proceed to blow out your hair. This is super convenient as you get a fresh cut and style all in one go without leaving home. Just check that the platform or stylist you’re booking with provides haircut services as well; many do. Combining a trim with a blowout can actually help your style last and look better, since evenly trimmed hair behaves best. The convenience of being able to book at-home blowouts means you never have to stress about driving to a salon with bedhead or rushing out with wet hair. It’s the salon that comes to you, delivering great hair on your own schedule.
A good blowout has the power to make you feel confident and polished. Learning to do a blowout at home takes a bit of patience, but it’s a skill that pays off every time you step out with that freshly blown-out, frizz-free blowout look. By investing in a few quality tools and blowout products for frizzy hair or for volume, you set yourself up for success. The goal is to achieve hair that looks salon-quality and feels great, without having to restyle it constantly. And on those days you feel like relaxing or have a big event, you know that you have the option to call in a pro for a professional blowout at home as well.
Sources
- L’Oréal Paris, How to Blowout Your Hair at Home in 5 Steps lorealparisusa.com
- Glamsquad Beauty Blog, Blowout Hairstyles: What to Expect From an At-Home Appointment glamsquad.com
