Secret to the perfect blowout? Wetter hair!

[Soliel185]

I've never had my hair blown out in the interest of it being styled that way. Just with the comb attachment for braids. So two weeks ago, when I got my hair cut I was surprised to see it come out so soft and flowing before the stylist even touched the flat iron. In my experience, the blowdry always left me with stiff dry looking hair - it kinda looked like cotton candy. I always needed another source of heat to get it silky, and even then it was a toss up, so I would just airdry and flat iron.

When I saw the stylist do it though I was intrigued. So I bought a paddle brush, got out my blow dryer and started trying it at home. At first, it came out stiff as always. Today I tried using as little product as I could ( it took WILLPOWER) and started. After I finished the back, I felt like something was still missing. It was better, but not quite where I wanted.I've always read that you're supposed ot wait till hair is 80% dry, and then blow it out. While that may work for smoother, tamer hair types, it just meant that mine at more time to start kinking up. So on a whim I rewet my hair alittle with a spritz bottle and VOILA! It was a completely different texture - much smoother, silkier, and more hydrated. Also, the paddle brush glided right through, no snags.

What's more I lost almost NO hair. Less even than I did when I would airdry and then flat iron. So far I give my blowout a B+, but with more practice I will DEFINITELY be a A status in no time!

 

[LadyKaypnyc]

Thanks for the tip...did you use a heat protectant? Did you brush while blowdrying, or did you just detangle then stretch the hair while blow drying?

 

[Soliel185]

I used a dab of straightening balm, and a few drops of Chi Silk Infusion. I separated my hair into 3 large sections, and applied like a dime-size amt of that mixture to each.

I brushed through with a paddle brush while drying. But it wasn't continuous brushing, I used to brush for tension, and slooooowly pulled it through my hair...kinda like flat ironing.

 

[PinkSkates]

Ahhhhh ...sounds like your hair came out pretty and fluffy.
Did you aim the blowdryer in a downward direction?
Thanks for sharing.

 

[kgard7777]

So do u suggest to mist the hair like Macheri before blowing out?

 

[bravenewgirl87]

That's not a secret. I wrote a blog post about that not too long ago and posted it in a thread. Always keep a spray bottle right to you to keep the hair from breaking and tangling.

 

[Soliel185]

Ahhhhh ...sounds like your hair came out pretty and fluffy.
Did you aim the blowdryer in a downward direction?
Thanks for sharing.

I tried to keep it aimed downward at all times. Which is easier said than done! I used the funnel looking attachment. I used low heat also so if I had to re-adjust or something I wouldn't scorch anything

 

[Soliel185]

So do u suggest to mist the hair like Macheri before blowing out?

It would be very helpful. I know I will next time. My spritz bottle had more than just water in it though. I mix glycerine, aloe vera, SAA, and filtered water as a daily moisturizer, and that was the first thing I grabbed, but I think the hair being the right " dampness" really helps things. So provided you're using a good serum and protectant, plain probably works just as well.

 

[Soliel185]

That's not a secret. I wrote a blog post about that not too long ago and posted it in a thread. Always keep a spray bottle right to you to keep the hair from breaking and tangling.

I didn't see it

I think the issue was I was misjudging how wet/dry my hair should be b/c I've always been told that the wetter your hair is, the more fragile it is and the more likely to break. Also, the point of waiting till it was 80% dry was to cut down on the time that you had direct heat on your hair. But it didn't add much time, and given the end result it's worth it.

 

[honeybadgirl]

oh yeah, i use the paddle brush and chi silk infusions and my hair is, like you said, flowing. its usually almost str8.
oh and it usually doesnt come out as nice if its almost dry too.

 

[betty-boo]

I used to do this! I would blow dry my hair when it was wet (I was almost natural at the time). It would come out beautifully. I liked doing it this way, until I came here to the board and was told that the hair should be almost dry!!!!!
So what is the best way to do this???

 

[Hair Iam]

I learned this in 2006, on one occasion my hair dresser at the time , put me to sit before blowdrying my hair(hair became 80% dry). The process after that was normal, blow dried then flat ironed, it wasn't until the next day when my hair had no sheen , was lifeless and dull that it hit me. My hair will normally be bouncy for a week once it's flat ironed, so I new something was wrong. I called her and she confirmed for me why, my hair needed the water to be sealed in before it is flat ironed , if not my cuticles will not lay as flat. So lesson learned, since then I know my hair must be damp to wet before it can be blown dry. By the way she saw me that morning to spritz and redo my hair , it made the world of difference.

 

[Napp]

i always blow dry when wet. i would never try it when dry.
but i would add Hawaiian silky 14 in one to make it really nice.
With Hawaiian silky

without (dry cotton candy effect)

 

[kgard7777]

okay ladies I am still confused.. what if I am doing an at home rollerset and blowout? Should I let my rollerset only get partially dry? Then blow it out with blowdryer?

 

[cieramichele]

What about the ends?

I find that a fine tooth comb helps me.

I would like to see a video. (goes off to youtube)

 

[adf23]

I am going to have to agree with this approach- my hair has always come out smoother and silkier if I blew dry while wet- not dripping, but about 25% dry. For some reason, my hair freezes into a pattern if I let it airdry completely first, unless I airdried in a ponytail, in that case, i dont need to blow dry at all, simply flat iron.

Using past tense since I havent done this in a while I'm sure I'll be back to it once I do my BC (year from now )

 

[britskie]

Is his only for naturals? I'm relaxed and I rarely blowdry, but when I do it would be nice to not have to follow up with a flat iron.

 

[Soliel185]

Is his only for naturals? I'm relaxed and I rarely blowdry, but when I do it would be nice to not have to follow up with a flat iron.

I'm transitioning - 11 wks post, and the rest of my hair is texlaxed. I would guess this works on all hair types - the only difference might be how wet/dry your hair should be when you start blowdrying to get the best results. But you'll have to experiment with that the find the best balance.

 

[betty-boo]

Soliel, this has been very useful. I suppose those who have straighter hair would need their hair to be less wet than those who have more natural hair.
Thanks so much!!! I've learned something again.
xxxx

 

[BrownSkin2]

This thread is very helpful as I just bought a paddle brush.

 

[Neala21]

I myself have tried both ways and love how my hair comes out when its more wet.

Andre and other stylist will agree that blow drying on wet hair is not as damaging if done correctly (with high heat) but you have to keep the blowdryer moving at all times, use a paddle (I use round brush) brush and little products for the silky flowy straight hair.

I noticed that blowing drying correctly affects how my pincurls come out.

You can also tell when your hair is dry (when you go from wet to dry using high blowdrying) because the hair will give off a shine (or sheen) but more often shine for myself.

I use a heat protectant and shine serum during my process. I love my results.

I did the 80% dry technique and my hair came out eeekkk....not too good especially my ends...I got the whole frizzy dry look thing mixed it. Something terrible. Just practice to make perfection.

 

[melissa-bee]

I haven't tried blowdrying without the comb attachment before. I might try this with my denmen.

 

[bgsix]

Good to know.

 

[peachykeen]

Thanks OP for this. I noticed when I went to Too Grooby months ago that my hair was already silky shiny and straight before the flat iron even touch my hair. The blow out was just that good. I dont know it it was the 'hydration' or the fact that the blow dryer was extra good. But, my hair was already straight and shiny before the flat iron. I would LOVE to the trick to this.

 

[asubeauty]

I'm definetly going to try this. Thanks!!

 

[jetbeauty09]

WHOEVER RECOVERED THIS POST, THANK YOU!!!!

I tried to straighten my hair 2-3 weeks ago and it was 80% dry when I went to blow dry and it came out a horrible frizzy mess.

Now I know!!!!!

 

[blessedandlucky]

i just learned this too. i'm relaxed and it comes out so much better when i do it before it's 80% dry, which is what i was attempting to do in the past. about 25% dry works for me too.

 

[lana]

Okay I learned on LHCF to wait and let my hair get 80% dry before blow drying. So now I'm hearing that I should blow dry this texlaxed 4a/b head on wet hair. I'm already doing a dry deep conditioner right now. I'm about to go shampoo and do a 15 minute condition with heat and then rinse with cold water and blow dry while dripping wet. It's already close to 9:30p.m. so I probably won't report back until tomorrow. Thanks to whoever brought this post back. I'm so glad the OP started the thread.

I don't care if this is a hair secret revealed or not, it's news to ME and I appreciate it.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I swear by blowdrying on wet hair....my hair is in 8-10 braided sections to start out, I keep a spray bottle with me for the process and re-wet each section before I blow it out with the comb attachment.

When I came here and saw people talking about allowing the hair to air-dry I knew that didn't apply to me. It just would not work with my kinks and cause unnecessary breakage....I wet the hair with my dilluted spritz....add heat protectant and blowdry with the comb attachment. It allows the comb to glide through my strands as it straightens. I do this everytime I blowdry....works like a charm.

 

[My Friend]

Thank you for sharing