blo | north america's original blow dry bar

Heat, humidity, sweat – summer poses its share of challenges for hair. Revive asked the hair styling experts of Blo Blow Dry Bar for some help. With loca- tions across North America (including Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary), it knows what it takes to have great looking hair.

What should you do when your locks are frizzed and fried? To tame frizz, we recommend UNITE Eurotherapy’s smoothing sham- poo and conditioner. It tames rebellious flyaways, smooths unruly frizz and add sumptuous shine. To hydrate hair, blo recom- mends a deep conditioning treat- ment (like Morroccan oil) once a week.

Your summer essential hair kit should include a purifying sham- poo, like UNITE's Weekender Shampoo to get rid of pollution, grease and dirt in your hair. Then to freeze frame your do, Aerogel is a wicked hairspray with style memory and flexible hold. Don’t forget to protect your hair against the sun to avoid brittle, split-end prone hair. Try UNITE's 7seconds Conditioner. It not only repairs hair, but also protects and strengthens it too, thanks to a thermal/UV pro- tector that reduces blo out time and adds mega shine!

And when the good weather is here, you’ll want to have an easy hair strategy to get you from day to night quickly. The perfect ponytail can take your do from day to night in three steps: Start by backcomb- ing. Take one-inch sections around your crown and push hair down lightly to the root with a fine-toothed comb. Spray each section for hold. Then step two, pull hair into a pony, secure with a hair elastic and smooth with an Isinis brush.

To finish, adjust the position of the pony and wrap a strand of hair around the base of the pony to make this style seamless. Spray, shine and voila! If you want an extra shot of glamour, vamp up your pony by adding a few flat iron curls. Take a section of hair,clamp flat iron at root, turn flat iron about 90 degrees and slowly pull through to the end. Let curls set and then loosen with your fingers.

Once you have a great look, the challenge is how to keep it, especially in the heat of summer. A savvy way to make your do last longer (and to prevent dry locks from overdosing on shampoo) is to
use dry shampoo in the morning. It not only absorbs natural oils, but volu- mizes hair. Celebs like Kelly Ripa and Jennifer Garner use dry shampoo to maintain their blow-dried looks. Stylists use it when coifing models for the runway. Spray at root around the head, lifting hair to get in close to the roots. Work through with brush and blast with the heat of a blow dryer. Style as usual.

Another hot tip: Make sure your hair is completely dry. Any moisture left in your hair causes instant frizz. And the key to a smooth mane is to make sure your hair is finished with a blast of cold air. Your other stay-put strate-gy involves backcombing around your crown. An extra tease ensures that your do stays red carpet-ready for days.

Once styled, set your coif with a mist of Aerogel and don’t touch for 10 minutes. The longer your style sets, the longer it will last. At night, twist your hair on top of your head and clip or flip your head upside down and secure in a hairnet to keep your style bouncy.. (Remember to spray and bobby pin securely.) Sleep on a satin pillowcase to prevent snags.

Looking into the crystal ball for hair trends this sum- mer, expect to see hair feather extensions and hair tinsel. (Coming to a blo near you soon!) And stock up on cool headbands.... They are sizzling hot this sea-son.

Flip your head upside down and finger dry your hair from the root to the end. This technique maximizes volume. Once dry, gather your hair into three sec- tions.

Use a medium to large round brush to blow dry each section, starting from the bottom layer. Remember to start at the root and pull the brush straight up. The nozzle should be pointed down. When you roll the brush half way down the strand, pull back up to ensure smoothness.

Finish each section with a twist of your wrist away from your face for curl. Remember: The more ten- sion, the greater volume. By applying a cold shot to a section of hair wrapped around a large round brush, you set the curl and get bet- ter bounce and move- ment.

Once all sections are blown dry, shake your mane upside down and run your fingers through the ends using a shine spray (like Blo’s ‘knockout’) flip it back and place strands. Spray all over with a gel-based hairspray, like Aerogel, for maximum hold.

By Revive Magazine, Summer 2011

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