Why does it seem like blow drying your own hair is always (always) a struggle? Below, hairstylist Matthew Collins breaks down the five steps to an easier and more successful DIY blow dry. (And gives you a first look at the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer in action!) 

1. Pre-dry your hair before you actually start drying. “For the average person, hair will be 70% dry before we even take a brush to it. So you’re 70% dry, then you section it,” says Collins. “When I talk about 70% dry, I mean almost all of your roots are dry before you start [with the round brush]. At the same time, there’s always exceptions to every single rule with hair. If you have super fine hair, you need to blow dry those roots for volume. You can’t just tousle dry – you won’t have any volume.” For curls, make sure the ends of the hair are dry. "If they are really wet, they will get tangled," explains Collins.

2. Section, section, section. “The first and the most important thing to do is section the hair,” explains Collins. “[When you don’t] section the hair and then you get it caught in the brush, you’re going to be annoyed. Especially in a hot summer, you’re going to be sweating, and then the hair will start to curl on it’s own.”

Start by sectioning hair at the top of the head from behind the ears, and clip it up. “With [super curly] hair, once I get to the front, I’m going to re-wet the hairline, because I need it to be wet to really smooth it,” notes Collins.

With a round brush (the bigger the better, he says), dry the ends of your hair, then bring the brush right up to the root, as demonstrated below. 

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3. Acknowledge that the smooth blowout of your dreams will take longer than 2 minutes. “Take your time. If you take your time, it’s always going to be better. If you’re not going to take your time, don’t even start, because you’re wasting your time.” Noted.

4. Tension is key. “Tension does everything,” says Collins. “The more you work your ends, and the more you move your round brush [over the hair], the better.”

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5. Don’t be scared of using heat. Use as much heat as your hair type allows. “If you have finer hair and you’re using the styling concentrator [attachment], that’s when you maybe want to be a little bit more cautious on your hair, and maybe use a little bit lower of a heat setting,” he explains. “But to me, time is important, and you want to get your hair dry. So the hotter it’s going to be, the quicker you’re going to be able to blow dry your hair.”

Hair: Matthew Collins for Dyson 

Location: Brennen Demelo Studio, Toronto

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