How To Get Salon-Fresh Waves & Volume At Home.

Hello lovely people! it of a different post from me today – I’m super excited to be posting a hair tutorial! I know I aid I’d be trying out more types of content this year, and now I’ve finally got the chance to get round to it, after a crazy start to the year. (On that note – how is it March already?!)
I have so many plans for different kind of blog posts but I always find myself putting them off – they’re just different to what I usually post, and I’m scared that neither myself nor you guys will be happy with the results… but I hope you like this!
Anyway, do you always wonder how to recreate those salon-perfect locks at home? Today I’m going to share my blow dry routine, which I have to say, serves me pretty well ^.^’
I know a few hairdressers, and whenever I’ve asked them about blow drying, (as someone with naturally flat-as-a-pancake hair, I needed tips!) they always say the same thing; the best thing you can do for getting that salon look at home is use a good hairdryer. Now, in my less-than-professional opinion, I cannot stress how true I have found this, since I have been lucky enough to get my hands on this ghd hairdryer. Blow drying takes half the time it used to, my hair feels healthier, shinier and actually kind of thicker! See below for some pre-tutorial pictures of the hairdryer- it’s so cool (especially the bit on the back ^.^’ ). If I had to pick out any negatives, I would say that it’s a teensy bit heavier than the usual hairdryers, as I’m using it for half the time, it’s not really a problem at all!

 

 

 

 

 

Now on to the tutorial itself! Starting with towel-dried hair, put volumising mousse through your hair, from roots to end. I’m using a Loreal Elvive one and it’s pretty good – it doesn’t inject quite as much volume as others I have used, but it doesn’t leave any of that sticky feel in your hair like so many mousses can do!
Then put in the heat protectant spray, focusing on the ends to stop splits and keep your hair looking shiny. ( I totally look like I being a right poser in these pictures but I promise it was unintentional! haha)

 

Rough dry your hair so it’s nearly dry but damp (around three quarters dry?)- just use your hands and hairdryer at this point and get it dry enough to style! Focus on roots & getting volume into hair- dry upwards as I’m doing here (tipping your head upside down is the easiest way though, I find! Just looks a bit messy for pictures, ha).

Then divide your hair into sections -don’t part it yet as your hair will stick in this parting and you will lose volume. When dividing your hair up, bear in mind that smaller sections work better for thicker hair, and the sections should not be wider than the brush or deeper than the bristles! We’re starting at the bottom tier, so clip/tie everything else out of the way.

 

Now, select out a section and brush through it to ensure it is knot free (as you can probably tell from the dry hair in the pictures, I’m a little bit later on in the process here, but I screwed up the pictures with the first strands – total blogger fail!)
Starting with the roots, wrap your hair around the brush once -it shouldn’t tangle if you’ve brushed through it! Always be wrapping hair around the brush away from the face/outwards, and focus on drying that section. Once dry, go to the mid section of the piece, and then the ends. Dry the hair upwards for maximum volume, and in the same direction as the hair is pointing for ultimate shine!
After you’ve finished the strand, you can roll/ re-wrap the hair back up the brush (it’s hard to explain, but you’ll know when you’re doing it) and give it another blast to add more curl. When you’re done, lightly unravel it – don’t pull! As the hair is still warm you can undo the hard work you’ve just put in :O
BRUSH NOTE – I’m using this Denman brush that has quite a larger barrel and I want a soft wave and have long hair, but if you have shorter hair or want a tighter curl, it may be more beneficial to use a brush with a narrower barrel!

 

After completing that tier of hair, pull down the next row of sections (the number of rows you will have depends on the thickness of the hair/ how much you have). I am aware I look like a crap Teletubby at this point, but I promise it does get better! Carry on with the same technique all the way round until you get to the crown.

A little bonus tip for an curls boost – give your hair a bit of a scrunch after you finish drying it, and give it a quick spritz with hairspray. I like to do this as my hair is so flat that these curls will fall a bit so this is my way of trying to hold on to some waves so my hair isn’t poker straight!

When you get to the crown, I like to separate it into 3 sections; the back of the crown, the mid-crown and the front bit (or the fringe, for folks with a fringe!). For the first two bits, just do the same technique as before, in as much of an upward direction as possible. Remember to point the dryer nozzle in the same direction as your hair as much as possible- it’s pretty difficult at this point, but you’ll get that salon-fresh lustrous finish to your ‘do if you manage it!

 

As for the last front bit – if you have bangs/a fringe, this is the point where you would dry them. Just dry this bit as you know how, every fringe sits differently, after all!
I don’t have a fringe, but as my front bits are slightly shorter, I sometimes like to (once I’ve done the usual routine) wrap the hair back up the hairbrush, and heat the brush through using the hairdryer, before hold the brush in my hair for a couple of minutes to give these front sections an extra bit of movement/wave, as I’m showing here!

 

 

After all that, I lightly go over the crown again (barely pulling the hair at all!) on the cold setting of the hairdryer, until the hairs are back to normal temperature.
Then, just let your hair fall wherever! If I’m in a grungy mood, I’ll just leave my hair like this and blast through some hairspray to give the light waves a bit of hold.

 

If I want to go a bit sleeker, I’ll either push all my hair back or part it with my fingers. Here I also gave my hair a light brush through without pulling (I love my Mason Pearson brush for this) just to smooth things over. And remember you can ‘scrunch’ the hair to add more to the waves before hairspraying! And then we’re all done!

 

So a quick run-down of everything I used:
ghd Aura Professional Hairdryer* – ghd
ghd Heat Protect Spray* – ghd
Styliste Mousse Extra Volume – L’oreal Elvive
Bobbles / sectioning clips (you just need anything to keep the excess hair out of the way!
Large Barrel Hair Brush
Hairspray
Necklaces* – Aurora Lane
Top – UNIF
Anyway, what did you guys think? Should I do more things like this every once in a while (I’m sure I’ll get better at it as I go on, or at least I hope I would!)? Maybe some make-up stuff? If you have any pointers or anything  that you’d like to see then I’d love to know ^.^
Love!xxx
Olivia Emily.
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21 Comments

  1. 14th March 2015 / 8:41 pm

    Loved this post, your hair is always so on point! I'm definitely going to check out this hairdryer, I'm on the lookout for a new one! <3

    Andini xx | Adventures of an Anglophile

  2. 14th March 2015 / 9:18 pm

    I create volume simply by sleeping with a bun 🙂 Don't be afraid to try new things!! I'm sure everyone will love it.

  3. 14th March 2015 / 10:04 pm

    lovely hair!!

  4. 14th March 2015 / 10:30 pm

    You are so stunning, I'm obsessed with your hair! xx

  5. 14th March 2015 / 10:59 pm

    Gorgeous hair mrs! I absolutely fail whenever I try to blow dry my own hair and just end up quickly blasting it with the hair dryer before going on my merry way – definitely think this has a lot to do with the fact that my hair dryer is probably over 10 years old now and absolutely bloody useless. Its on my list of grown up things I need to buy like an electric toothbrush… xo

    LJLV | UK Personal Style

  6. 15th March 2015 / 3:06 am

    Beautiful Olivia! I wish I could get my hair to grow as long as your's.. but I'm afraid the purple dye I keep pouring on my head won't allow it haha. Love posts like this. <3

  7. 15th March 2015 / 9:19 am

    I loooove this. My hair always hangs so flat and limp to my head.. I just wish it would have a bit more oomph! xx

    Jessie | allthingsbeautiful-x

  8. 15th March 2015 / 3:31 pm

    You have such great hair! I really should get a round brush and start doing my hair the proper way. So far I either bun, twist or braid to get it wavy. I sometimes end up with epic bedhead hair and other times with a slightly wonky looking head!

    Style al Fresco | Take a walk on the Wilde side

  9. 16th March 2015 / 10:46 am

    Really enjoyed this post! Forever envious of your hair <3
    I'm absolutely interested in learning a bit more about your makeup routine and favourite products. You always look spot on and am forever envious of your eyeshadow/lip choices so would look forward to reading those kind of posts 🙂 xx

    blog.doodleheart.co.uk

  10. 17th March 2015 / 11:37 pm

    Thank you so much for this tutorial! I've never quite understood any kind of wave-dry process but you actually explained it perfectly for me ^.^
    My hair is getting to the long-enough-to-play-around-with stage so I'm really excited to try this and have big messy ginger mermaid waves, lol 😀 your natural red colour is stunning btw!

    T xo
    http://tahti.co

  11. 19th March 2015 / 12:12 pm

    Yes please do more of these! I find fashion blogs get really boring if they only ever post outfit posts and just a tiny bit of text, blogs are for text afterall! I also think you should make a full on hair post about whether you're a natural ginger, if not how you keep up with the colour and so on 🙂

  12. 25th March 2015 / 11:28 am

    Beautiful effect but I think I'm to lazy to do it everyday 😀