The concept of setting and styling hair was a staple of every woman’s beauty routine from the fingerwaves of the roaring ‘20s to the beehives of the ‘60s. I’m sure we all remember our mothers and grandmothers setting up pin-curls and brushing them perfectly into place. Sometime around the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, we moved more into loose, natural hair that didn’t require high maintenance. And then of course, there were the perms and backcombing of the ‘80s and sleek, straight looks of the ‘90s and early ‘00s.
And now in 2016, we’ve found ourselves getting back to the beauty basics. When women would visit the salon once a week and have fabulous, fashionable hair for any party, meeting or daily event. When women would rarely shampoo at home and leave the hard stuff to their hairdresser. When on any given day, you’d be ready for whatever life threw at your because no matter what, your hair was on point and that gave you the confidence to deal.
Ladies, the modern version of beauty shop sets: the blowout.
A blowout in the most simplistic terms means to wash, dry and style the hair using a round-brush and/or hot tool. And in the most honest terms, a blowout means to take hair that can be impossible to style and pull a beauty miracle with it. Seriously. Women are becoming addicted to their weekly blowouts because it can transform their entire look. In under an hour for $40, who wouldn’t want red carpet ready hair?
Especially for women who have thick, curly hair and have the hardest time smoothing with the right amount of movement and curl in tact. Or for women who have very fine hair and need lots of fullness styled in. Or for straight haired ladies who can’t get a curl to take no matter how much product they use. The art of the blowout and having a trained hairdresser rough-dry, round-brush, set on pin-clips and finish with a curling iron, a flat iron or just the right amount of hairspray has become a service of high value.
A blowout is great for special occasions. Plenty of women simply want their hair done up professionally before a wedding, a formal event or even just a date night. However, the concept of women booking weekly blowouts is just as popular. Just like our grandmother’s who visited the beauty shop once a week and wouldn’t dare wet their hair in between an appointment, we have become infatuated with the idea that we can look polished, fashionable and ready to go at a moment’s notice. And even better? Our blowout bars of 2016 have receptionists greeting you with complimentary champagne, a wifi password and even a manicurist and makeup artist if you need a last minute touch up.
The secret to maintaining a blowout after your visit to the salon is the overnight routine. The best way to wear your hair at night is in a high topknot pulled directly on top of the head and just loose enough that you won’t have kinks in the curls, but tight enough it will stay all night. I recommend using a ribbon elastic. It’s also a great idea to use a silk pillow or even a silk hair wrap to combat static and dryness.
For the maintenance in between blowout appointments, I recommend using a dry shampoo to soak up any oil at the roots and also to add extra volume in between. Unite has a great option called 7 Seconds Refresher. Especially if you’re a girl on the go who frequents happy hour, yoga class or anything last minute you’d need a refresh for, I’d recommend keeping a 7 Seconds with you. I would also invest in a shower cap to use during showering in between.
I love the idea that we are getting back to what really works when it comes to a weekly beauty routine. We women of 2016 are busy running the world, in the words of Beyonce, and we don’t have time to worry about our hair looking fab on top of that. Thank goodness there’s a glamour bar for that!
Kate Allen