A few weeks ago my father (who’s been a hairstylist his whole life) and I started a series on TikTok together called ‘Jimmy’s Hairstyling Bootcamp,’ where he’s teaching me how to style my hair before I move away from home to start a full-time job this summer. Although it’s been a bittersweet way to close out my ‘childhood’ and living in Atlanta all these years, this series has been a fun way to spread the innumerable and helpful knowledge about hair he’s acquired from decades of experience behind the chair. Without further ado, here is your blueprint to achieve a blowout that’s voluminous, long-lasting, and a living embodiment of absolute perfection.

The tools (or what Jimmy likes to call ‘instruments’) are key.

You want to make sure you have a blow dryer that will get the job done, as well as a large round brush that will help evenly distribute heat while building volume. Jimmy recommends using one that has a metal barrel with nylon bristles. Another important consideration is using products that will play on defense to protect your hair and offense to maintain the longevity of the hairstyle. A volumizing product, such as a thickening spray is great for the latter, and serums and hair oils are great for the former. All of the products we use in the series (and in our everyday lives too!) can be found on our family hair salon’s website.

Distributing the product properly.

Another major step that’s self-explanatory but can get overlooked is making sure the products are combed throughout the hair. If not, this could lead to a blowout with uneven textures and finishes.

Make sure the dampness of your hair is juuuuuust right.

When starting a blowout, keep in mind that your hair shouldn’t be too wet, or too dry. That’s because too much moisture will lead to more time having to be spent drying each section, and not enough moisture means you’ll have to use more heat to get the look you desire. Worse comes to worst, use a spray bottle to mist the hair to add more moisture or do another task for ten minutes to let the hair dry.

Apply a ‘measure twice, cut once’ philosophy when drying sections.

You want to make sure you don’t move to another section until the one you’re currently on is perfect. And by perfect, we mean it’s dry from root to tip, has the desired amount of volume, and even a swooped tip if that’s what you’re going for. You’ll know a section is finished when the brush glides through the hair smoothly without any snags while keeping a good amount of volume at the root.

Go with the (air)flow.

When blowing out a section don’t point the blow dryer against the direction of the brush; point it downwards on the brush. Doing so will prevent those annoying tangles that make it hard to remove the brush from a section, as well as an uneven blowout.

The recipe for success when in the thick of it.

To maintain volume, always keep the brush horizontally to the head. Then, once you’re actually blowing out a section, pull the brush forward, and follow it with a motion behind the section afterward that’s focused on the root. This can be achieved by lifting the brush up and out, starting at the root first. Moreover, be sure to limit the size of sections to the length of the brush or smaller. Doing so will help to maintain volume at the root.

Practice makes perfect!!!

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Blowing out your own hair, especially with a blow dryer and round brush, takes time to get used to. However, the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll start to feel with the undertaking, so give yourself lots of grace when first trying!

We hope this helps and let us know if there are any hairstyles you want to see demonstrated in the future!!

💘 Hanna