9 Tips For The Perfect Blow-Dry

Simply hitting your hair with a whole lot of hot air won't get you that squeaky clean, shiny, bouncy quality of a salon blow-dry. To get the same finish at home, make these nine tips by Dimitri Lafiandra, salon director at the Rossano Ferretti Hair Spa in the Oberoi, Gurgaon, your blow-dry bible.

Before you begin, Lafiandra's one umbrella piece of advice is, "[to] be sensitive to the condition of the hair". "This will help understand which shampoo and conditioner suit your hair the best, thereby protecting the hair follicle," he adds.

1. Before washing the hair, massage Elixir Ultime by Kerastase into the hair roots and all the way to tips. He recommends you use "an upward and downward motion" to nourish the hair follicles.
2. Wash the oil out with shampoo. "Always shampoo twice," he directs.
3. Apply a conditioner for your hair type and leave it for five minutes. "Comb through to ensure even conditioning," he says, or "[wrap] a hot towel [around your head] for an effective treatment."
4. To ensure your tresses are protected from the heat, use a heat protection product in your hair before you blow-dry. Lafiandra recommends Nutritive Nectar Thermique or Nutritive Crème Oleo-Curl depending on your hair type.
5. "Never use a blow dryer at a high heat," he warns. "Always set at low or medium to avoid burning the hair."
6. Use a wide paddle brush to remove kinks and give your hair a straight finish. If you have curls, use a rounded brush instead.
7. To add volume to thin or fine hair, this should be your blow-dry technique: "Place the brush from underneath the hair and blow dry outwards," says Lafiandra. To calm down frizzy or rebellious hair, his advice is to "use the brush parallel to the hair and blow dry outwards".
8. At the nape of the neck, "pin the hair at the crown and start taking sections from the nape area," he says. Then roll the hair with the brush and blow dry from the top. And gradually come down. This will ensure the blow-dry is uniform even at the most difficult areas of the head."
9. Once the blow dry is complete, use a finishing and texturising product like a serum (according to your hair type) to lock the cuticle, keep the moisture in and amp up the shine.