Hair Technical File- Blow Drying: Creating volume with hair

| Blow Drying |

In our first practical session of the unit we started with hair and the art of blow drying. Blow drying I feel is a very valuable skill and is used often in the salon and for a lot of hair styles. I have never had any previous experience with blow drying and have always wanted to be shown how to correctly do it. I have attempted to blow dry before with no previous experience and found it quite difficult holding a brush and hair dryer at the same time as I wanted both equipment to be in my right hand. I was super excited to learn the technique of blowing drying and we started off with a demonstration by the lovely Lottie. The first demonstration was creating a lift at the root and then curling the hair at the end or creating a flick like effect with a rounded brush and the second style was body at the root and finishing with a sleek more straight ended with either a paddle brush or denim brush.

Equipment:

• Shampoo and Conditioner (if washing the hair)
• Hair dryer
• Heat protector
• Mousse
• Sea salt
• Comb (wide)
• Round brush
• Clip
• Grips
• paddle brush
• denim brush
• shine spray
• hair spray
• Pin tail comb
• Towel

I started with washing the hair so I took my Kate head over to the skin basins and washed it thoroughly with shampoo and then applied conditioner. I then used a towel to cover the hair and dry it through so there is no excess water dripping. I then put my Kate head on the stand of the edge of the seat so I could stand and making sure her head is at the right height for me. I then used the towel again to dry through the hair making sure its not dripping wet and able to work with. When combing through the hair you don't want to use a brush because it can break the hair

and the elasticity of the hair and a comb is much better for the hair. I used a
large comb with wide teeth so I can comb through and untangle any knot's.
I then used a heat protector on the hair which I sprayed all over and brushed into the hair, next was mousse which makes the hair easier to shape, I used a small amount in the palm of my hand, you don't want a sticky mousse because otherwise it can be difficult to work with. Next was applying sea salt to the hair which you spray from mid length to the ends of the hair and then I used my fingers to comb through the hair and then used a towel to wipe my hand in before using the hair
spray.

Once all the products were on the hair and it was all prepped for blow drying I sectioned the back off. I wanted to do half flicking and curl with the round brush and the other with body and straight so I sectioned the hair down the middle first. I started on the left side and section the top part us creating a diagonal line with my comb, and making sure the section isn't bigger than the brush itself and I then clipped the rest of the hair up. I got a hair dryer and put a nozzle on the end of it which gives the air flow direction when drying. I then got the round brush and put it under the hair and placed my thumb over in the centre and with the brush start brushing up lifting at the root and start blowing drying from the top, and then under, then working to the ends and finally wrapping the hair up in the brush and powering the hair dryer over it creating the curl at the end and unwinding the brush letting the curl fall. After the first section was done I then got a grip and wrapped the curl up and gripped it into place and started on the next section up, working up the side of the hair and finalising with the centre. It was just over half way through the lesson and I started on the other side because I wanted to make sure I was able to attempt both blow drying techniques. I started with taking the bottom section diagonally and I decided to use my paddle brush for this straight technique, I place the brush

under the hair blowing drying on top lifting the brush up, drying under, then working through the mid section and finalising with the end giving it direction. I then took the next section up and started working my way up the hair blow drying each section using the paddle brush, giving lift at the roots and directing the hair downwards. I worked my way up the hair until half the head was complete and I then used a hair shine spray all over the hair and then hair sprayed at the roots and gave it a slight back comb to give extra volume.

Overall evaluation

I felt the hair technical session was very successful and I have definitely improved my blow drying skills. To begin with I couldn't figure our which hand to hold the hair dryer and brush In however I soon figured out which one I was more comfortable in what hand. I think out of the two blowing drying techniques I felt I was better creating the body at the root and the sleek ends with the paddle brush I think the rounded brush was a little harder to grasp the technique as I kept getting the hair caught in it slightly. I think blowing drying is a very useful skill and I want to practice it more so I can get the technique perfect and be able to flow with the brush and the hair dryer. I think I definitely need more time practising the body curl/wave style with the rounded brush to perfect it, I really liked it when Lottie came round and was able to show us one to one the technique and the direction of the brush and hair dryer.

  

Health and Safety:

• Be careful when blow drying hair as hair can become very hot and so can the brush
• Make sure there is a vent at the end of the hair dryer because hair can get caught in it
• Be careful with trailing wires
• Make sure bags and coat are kept out of the way causing no trip hazard
• keep work area tidy