How I Make My Blowout Last a Full Week (Without Dry Shampoo)
I’ve been wearing tape-in extensions for almost a full year now and one of the main investments I’ve chosen to make to ensure healthy hair (both natural and purchased) is getting a weekly blowout at the salon. Once I committed to this routine it took my hair a while to catch on to the adjustment, and I had to tweak a few minor things in my routines at home, but the pay-off was well worth it. End result: more zzz’s, less early mornings, and hair that’s always presentable. And that third one is actually the key secret to all of this because, when you’re always on the go and just don’t have time.for.it, presentable hair is the one thing that tells the world you’re still making an effort. With presentable hair you can wear little to no makeup and your favorite jeans on repeat and people will STILL look at you and think, Damn she’s got it together — just look at that hair; must’ve take her HOURSSSSS ;)
Step One - The Blowout
Find a good stylist for this endeavour; one who will listen to what you need while offering her expertise of tips and tricks you’ve never even thought of. This is a winning combination. Or, in my case, find 4! Then you’re never left without options. I have one fantastic stylist who only books chair time on Sundays and Mondays (and the occasional Friday) which is a GODSEND for starting the week with fresh hair. She gives me a good suds, blows it out silky smooth, and adds rocker waves and shine spray that make me feel like a goddess. And, because she understands and cares about my hair journey, she knows my fragile hair well and she keeps my hair goals (health and length) at the top of her mind. She gives the ends of my hair all the moisture they need while keeping heavy conditioners away from the roots and extension tabs and making sure to add TONS of thermal protection before hitting my hair with heat. She just GETS IT. Love you, Amy!!
Step Two - Product Placement
Another key to ensuring the longevity of a blowout is using product sparsely but effectively**. Thermal protection is an obvious must before using any kind of heat tools so spray that good stuff up, down and all around your head. I also like to add a touch of leave-in conditioner to the tips of my hair. Whether your blowout goals are smooth, wavy or ultra-curled will dictate the other products you pick but try to limit it to 1 or 2 lightweight products. Keep all product placement away from your roots and don’t put any heavy serums on your ends.
**Using product sparsely but effectively is exactly why I don’t have a “dry shampoo” step in this guide. For me personally, I’ve yet to find a dry shampoo that doesn’t make my hair feel full of gunk and weighed down by the end of the day and the last thing I want to do is add more the next day. This creates unwanted weight and product buildup on my fine hair and a perpetual cycle of my hair relying on product to combat its natural oils rather than just allowing my scalp to adjust to this naturally.
Step Three - The Homework
Once you’ve left the salon with your beautiful mane bouncing all over the place it’s all about preservation. This is where an arsenal of simple at-home tools & tricks will come in handy, as well as a healthy dose of self-awareness to stop yourself from touching, flipping, tossing and twisting that hair all day long.
You will need:
slippery silk or satin pillowcases
hair “claw” clips in a variety of sizes
Invisibobble-type hair elastics
lightweight leave-in conditioner (my personal recommendation is below!)
Things you likely already have:
shampoo, conditioner
thermal spray
detangling comb or brush
hair products & hot tools
If you tend to be forgetful, get the kind of pillowcases that either zip up or have envelope enclosure (rather than having a loose edge on one side) and wrap a few of them around your pillow at once. Then peel one off every third night to sleep on a fresh case and wash them all together once you’re down to the last one! The slippery material will preserve your style and keep your delicate strands from snagging and pulling while you sleep.
The clips and elastics will come in handy when you’re doing your skin care routine or jumping in the shower. You can always use a shower cap too but, in my experience, they tend to flatten curls and create weird kinks. So I use a mini claw to clip the front back, make a loose ponytail with an invisibobble, loosely twist it up and clip it to my head with a larger claw. I also use a mini claw while I sleep to keep the sections of hair closest to my face up and away from the skincare products I pile on at night. You can also use foam hair rollers to keep any waves or curls formed - especially handy if you’re preserving curls for a big event the next day!
I am a BIG FAN of the product Head Mistress by EVO because it’s a lightweight-yet-heavy hitting leave-in treatment that can be used on wet or dry hair. Each morning and evening, to keep unruly ends at bay, I put a dime-sized amount in my palm, spread it around my hands and do a super weird but effective motion of clapping/pressing it into the ends of my hair. This softens any frizz, seals up fuzzy ends and gives hair that extra oomph it needs to look fresh again.
Sometimes, if I’m feeling sassy, I follow up with a shine spray but that entirely depends on outfit, mood, and whether Mercury is in retrograde. Use sparingly and aim for healthy hair that just naturally shines, girl.
Step Four - The Refresh
And, inevitably, that gorgeous look you’ve been rocking for a few days will start to look a little lacklustre. It happens - we play with our hair without thinking, adding oils from our fingertips and pulling out curls, or we sweat up a storm at the gym. That’s when I like to do a mid-week refresh to give the illusion of all-over freshness. For this, middle part your hair and sweep the top “horseshoe” up into a clip. Use an invisbobble and large claw to keep the rest back. Now you’re going to kill your lower back a bit for the sake of beauty as you lean over a sink faucet and wash only this top horseshoe of your hair. Shampoo as close to the roots as you can get, rinse, apply conditioner to just the very ends, rinse in cold water, and squeeze dry with a linen towel. Apply heat spray, detangle, lightly blow-dry, apply a teensy-tiny amount of product to combat frizz or enhance curl, and then fully blow-dry. When this top section is fully dry, unclip the rest of your hair and finger comb. Use a flat iron or curling wand to recurl or wave your hair and then TAKE A LOOK - you’re back in business, baby!
Now, truth be told, you can skip the trip to the salon in Step One completely if you already have some killer hair skills of your own and prefer to do all the manual labour yourself. If washing, conditioning, blowdrying and styling your hair doesn’t take you 4 hours or drain your will to live, I ENVY YOU! Just keep product placement in mind and find a couple of different shampoos to rotate (I like to keep a hydrating one and a clarifying one on hand). Invest in a well-reviewed blowdryer and a multifunctional styling tool like the T3Micro Whirl Trio that comes with 3 different interchangeable barrel options (I like to call them “bombshell, business and boudoir”).
Happy hair days ahead, my loves!!
xo,
M.
