Blow-drying tips

However hard you try to blow-dry your own hair, it never seems to look as good as when you walked out of the salon. 

It is also easy to get into bad habits and if you are not careful when styling, you can end up tangling your hair in the brush or worse still frying it with too much heat.

So I asked Mihali Hadjiyianni at the prestigious Michael Charalambous salon in London’s Sloane Square (nyumbasalon.com) for some tips.

 “Apply some leave-in conditioner to the mid-lengths and ends and comb it through with a wide-toothed comb,” he says. 

I use my fingers to ensure that I don’t damage my hair which is at its most vulnerable when wet.

Mihali suggests when I am short of time, to bend my head downwards and dry my shoulder-length hair forwards going from root to tip using a slotted or paddle brush.”To avoid damaging the hair, don’t hold the hairdryer in one place for too long,” he cautions.

Fingers once again are a good tool to use. Pull them through a section of hair at a time away from the scalp starting at the roots and hold it taut while drying to prevent it getting frizzy.

“Once hair is almost dry, take sections  and use a round brush to smooth them out. You can also create a flick in the hair by turning the brush,” he adds.

By Daralyn Danns

You can follow the Michael Charalambous salon at instagram.com/nyumbasalon

Blow-drying tips

“The first thing to take into consideration when blow-drying your hair is, what do you want the roots to do?” says HOB Salon’s award-winning stylist, Sean Nolan. “You need to dry them in the direction you want them to go in. Think of them as the scaffolding of your blow-dry.”

I had gone to Sean to get my hair done as I was going away for the weekend and wanted it to look good. As I have recently changed my style, wearing it longer and one length, I wanted to pick up some good tips from Sean as to how to create a good blow-dry at home.

He told me that blow-drying your hair from wet to dry will help it last longer. “To get root lift, the best tool to use is your fingers,” he says. “You won’t damage your hair and you can feel how hard you are pulling. Once your roots are dry, you can focus on the mid-lengths and ends.”

Sean also advises against using a metal brush at home as you don’t have control of the heat as you do when you are styling with a bristle brush. 

To create waves, Sean suggests fixing your roots and when the mid-lengths to ends are still damp – if it is too wet it tends to frizz – take sections of your hair, wrap around your finger, roll it towards your head, take your finger out and secure with a pin curl. If that sounds too difficult, Sean says you can get the same effect using Velcro rollers. Or, alternatively pull your hair back and twist it round into a knot and leave for a few hours. “Put plenty of oil such as Wella System Professional Luxe Oil (£25) on the ends to prevent frizz.”

If you want to use curling irons, Sean advises holding them vertical and then turning them 45 degrees, the same position you would hold your brush.

For those that prefer to blow-dry, Sean’s tip is to use your round bristle brush as a roller. “Keep the top smooth and add some movement at the ends. Use lacquer to keep your style in place. “Smooth over with the can, not your hands,” he says. 

Hair should look like it is done, but done yesterday, a worn-in blow-dry. Think Kate Moss or The Saturday’s Mollie King. Hair should not look too perfect. You want to look couture, not mature.”

And that is exactly how I looked when I left the salon!

By Daralyn Danns

For info on HOB Salons visit www.hobsalons.com