1. Know your hair texture! Depending on your hair texture will determine what type of brush you will use whether it be a boar bristle, or a synthetic bristle. If you have a thick course texture that is either curly or frizzy a boar bristle brush would be your best bet to use. The boar bristles help to pull the curl out of the hair and smooth out frizz while still adding body and curl to the hair. If you have a normal to finer texture of hair with not much curl or frizz a synthetic bristle brush would be your best bet. Usually the synthetic bristle brushes have a metal center that allows the brush to heat up when using the blow-dryer. This will help create volume and curl in the hair.
P.S. Try and use brushes that are vented. This will help speed up the drying process and be less damaging to the hair.
2. Get the moisture out! This is a golden rule. The worst thing you could possibly do is put a brush into soaking wet hair. First of all it will take forever to dry. Second of all you will burn out so quickly because your arm hurts you wont want to finish. So remember before you start you want your hair to be about 80 percent dry. Whether you let it air dry, or run the blow-dryer through it for a few minutes, I promise your blow dry process will be a much better experience. Also much quicker!
3. Section it out! I find that my hair looks so much better when I take the time to section it and work with smaller sections. This will also help so you don’t get lost in your own hair. Make sure your sections aren’t to big. A good way to gage this is to look at the size of brush you are using; your sections should either be about the size of the barrel of the brush or smaller. This will help to work through the sections and keep the hair on the brush. Blow-dry the bottom first and work up to the top.
Time for the Nitty Gritty!
4. When you put the bush into your hair you want to focus on the hair on the brush. Make sure you are really getting the hair on the brush and using as mush tension as you can. This is what is going to give you the really smooth frizz free hair. When drying make sure the air flow from the dryer is blowing down the cuticle of the hair (roots to ends) if its blowing up the cuticle you will get frizz. One more thing… don’t ever stop drying a section till it is 100 percent dry. Otherwise your efforts will be for nothing and you will have limp, lifeless, frizzy hair.
5. How to get curl. Again I repeat; with the hair that is on the brush make sure you are getting good tension. Once the hair is smooth and dry in your section keep working the hair with the round brush and getting it warm. Carefully role the hair in the brush and blast it with heat. Once it’s hot, blast it with the cool air using your cold setting. The heat will help mold the hair into place, and the cooler air will help set the hair in place. When removing the round brush, twist the handle with your fingers when pulling it out to create a soft curl. Try not to touch it till the hair has cooled off 100 percent to make sure the curl sets.
P.S. If you have very long hair don’t role the brush all the way to the root, role it about to the middle of the strand to avoid getting the brush caught in the hair. Don’t want that to happen!
6. VOLUME!! I have found with working with my clients they have the tendency to pull the hair flat to the head when drying. Mostly because it is hard to maneuver a brush and heavy blow-dryer above your head. However, you have to get that hair off the scalp. When you reach the top half of your head you will want to do something called “over directing.” Over directing is when the hair is pulled away from where it naturally falls. When it is pulled up and away or in the opposite direction of where it lays you should have nice volume when it is placed back to where it lays. For example, When blow-drying around the temples use the brush to direct the hair straight up. When blow-drying around your part, over direct hair as far as you can to either side of the head. Example, when your drying the right side of your part pull that hair in the brush all the way to the left side of your head, and vice versa. When blow drying the crown and the hair behind the part, pull the brush with the hair towards the forehead. I know its difficult to get used to but you will get volume and possibly a great arm workout. Combine steps 5 and 6, and you should have something like big sexy hair!
Tools are important. A professional blow-dryer will give you better results., and will also be less damaging to the hair. A good place to buy dryers and brushes would be any beauty supply such as Sally’s or Peerless.
Love Morgan
