1. You can do a proper blowout at home!
We’ve all been there: you leave the salon feeling amazing and loving your style. After a day or two (or sometimes three, if we’re being honest! #dryshampoo), you wash your hair, and it never quite looks the same again. There are a few simple steps that will help you get a blowout that’s at least closer to the one you get from your stylist.

First, products are a necessity! You should never be applying heat to your hair without a thermal protectant. Kerastase Discipline Thermique is one of my favorites, but choose the one that best addresses your hair’s primary needs. If you stop here, at least your hair’s protected, but a mousse for volume, a cream to smooth or an oil for shine are all great options that can be layered or used on their own.

The next step is to power dry the hair to about 80 percent dryness. You aren’t shaping your style while its sopping wet, so its okay to put the brush down and just get most of the moisture out.

Next, section your hair and dry 1 to 2 inch sections with a round or flat brush, depending on the style you’re looking for. Finally, after the hair feels completely dry, keep drying just a little more to remove any internal moisture for a long-lasting blowout.

2. Pre-booking your appointment is a benefit to you
At the end of a guest’s appointment, its customary to set up the next one. Often its assumed that this is only necessary with a very busy stylist, but there are multiple reasons to pre-book, whether your stylist books out a year in advance or a day. A lot of us don’t really think about making a hair appointment until we look in the mirror and see that we desperately need it, but if you set your appointments in the time frame recommended by your stylist, you can avoid those days where you can only pull off an outfit that has a hat to match. Also, its nice to know that you have that “me time” on your schedule. Everyone deserves a little pampering sometimes, so plan for yours! 

Of course, appointment flexibility is also a major reason to pre-book. Your stylist actually does have a life outside of the salon! He or she may have family obligations, vacations, or may even make schedule changes from time to time. Even if you were able to get in on a whim once, that might not be the case the next time you need an appointment. Do yourself a favor and before you leave, set up that next appointment. If you have to reschedule it later, that’s okay, but at least you’ll know when it’s time to come in!

3. Sometimes less really is more
It happens all the time. A guest comes into the salon with jet black, box-dyed color and a photo of platinum hair that she just has to have. If Kim K. can do it, you can too, right? Well, yes and no. You may be able to, but there is a very good chance its going to take a while, and by a while, I mean months. A good stylist will only take your hair as light as they can in one visit while still maintaining your hair’s integrity. If you’re looking for a dramatic change, you’re going to need conditioning treatments. (Shu Bar by Shu Uemura is one of the best, and you can get it at your regular color appointments as well as between.) You’ll need to invest in great salon-quality products to use at home. You’re going to need time to make baby steps at multiple visits. And you’re going to need to plan for the expense. The saying is true: you get what you pay for.

4. Lighting is everything
Merriam-Webster defines color as a phenomenon of light or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects. In other words, how color is perceived is dependent entirely on the light it’s being exposed to. This absolutely applies to the color of your hair. If you look take a photo of the same head of hair under outdoor light, fluorescent light, LED light and halogen light, it likely would appear to be four distinct colors. If you loved your hair color at the salon and then go home and are unsure about it in your bathroom mirror, try looking at it in a few different lights. Whip out that selfie mode on your phone and take some photos in different rooms of your home and outside. You may just find you really do love your color in other lighting.

5. Don’t be so worried about offending your stylist
Number four leads me right into my final tip. Say you took those photos and it turns out you actually aren’t happy with your color. So often, I hear people say things like, “I didn’t like my hair, so now I’m going to a different salon.” If you aren’t happy, your stylist wants to know! She loves what she does, and cares about her guests, so if something needs fixed, let her fix it! Redos do happen sometimes, even for the most experienced stylists, and that’s OK. We can’t learn from mistakes if we don’t know we made them.

And what if you don’t think your stylist is right for you, but you love the salon? It really is OK to come back and go to a different person. Your stylist cares about you and your happiness, and she’s probably friends with the other stylists in the salon and enjoys seeing them busy. She won’t hate you, she won’t be upset wit you, and she won’t make it awkward. Stylists are artists, and like all forms of art, each artist has their own individual style. You deserve to find the person whose style best reflects your own.

I hope these tips help make your salon visits relaxing, keep your hair looking beautiful, and inspire you to ask your stylist that question you’ve been dying to know the answer to, but didn’t know if you should ask!

Ashley Guttridge
Owner
Fresh Salon & Spa
941.906.7709 
Fresh Salon Sarasota Website