I got my hairdryer as a Christmas present from my parents, some time around 1992. It was a professional style dryer and came with a diffuser (which was handy for my then-permed hair), and a nozzle for blow-drying straight. I have since broken the diffuser and lost the nozzle but the hairdryer is still going strong. These days I only really use it to dry my fringe as, if I try to dry my entire head of thick coloured hair with it, I get the dreaded frizz. If I sort out the fringe and leave the rest to dry naturally, it looks lovely… until I brush it. Here’s a lovely shot of my slightly wild looking fluff (see right). Basically, I can’t win and so have to resort to spending ages with straighteners to get it looking smooth. I don’t always have the time or energy for that!
Hairdryers have improved a lot in the last 20 years though. Rather than simply blasting your hair with heat, these new ones claim to have all kinds of magic to help you look salon fresh with a minimum of fuss. Do they actually work though? The ideal approach would be to try before they buy, right? See the effects on your own hair rather than simply reading the blurb. Makes sense really. So, what do you think the best way to promote a professional hairdryer called the ghd air would be? How about sending a ghd air boutique – housed in a converted Airstream trailer – on tour around the UK for a month with a bunch of stylists who can show you how to blow-dry your hair at home? Funnily enough, that is exactly what ghd have done! The boutique will give members of the public the chance for a professional blow-dry from the ghd Style Squad, absolutely free.
The first stop was Covent Garden and I was lucky enough to be offered a 30 minute master class with Lorna Moore (Senior Educator and ghd Style Squad Mentor) on Saturday afternoon. The team were busily working away when I arrived at midday, and the temperature was already sky high, so I was pleased that I was able to sit outside in the shade with Lorna smoothing my locks to the strains of Imelda May and Blue Harlem. A fan of retro rockabilly styles herself, Lorna was only too happy to style my hair in victory rolls, but she gave me a demo of the ghd air and some tips first.
Lorna reckons you should aim to get your hair around around 60-70% dry before sectioning it off to create a smooth effect. Just turning your head upside down and blasting it is fine, apparently. Once that’s done, add a bit of root boosting spray to create texture and retain shine after styling, clip back the top and the middle sections (it only really needs dividing into three), and then start at the bottom using a paddle brush to smooth the hair as you dry it from root to tip. Doing this with all three sections should require minimum effort, as the ghd air apparently does the hard work for you! She showed me the change in appearance and texture of my hair after this was done, and it looked super-smooth and glossy. Hopefully I can recreate this myself! Lorna then created some soft curls for me, using a classic styler, leaving them to cool before brushing through with a paddle brush sprayed with hairspray. The rolls were reasonably easy to create – given triangular sections of hair, plenty of backcombing and lots of patience – and so I then put on some lippy to have my photo taken before heading off to meet friends. Sadly, I was a bit windswept before I had the ‘after’ shot taken for the blog, but I hope you can still see the difference.
I was given a fantastic goodie bag – containing an actual ghd air of my very own! – and so I shall report back soon on my own styling attempts. If I can manage to get smooth hair at home with minimum fuss, I shall be very pleased indeed. Lazy should really be my middle name! Check out the ghd air boutique on Facebook to see where they’re heading next and tweet #ghdmycity and the name of your city if you want them to come to your neck of the woods so that you can claim your free blow-dry. The team really do know their stuff so it’s worth a look.
Images of me kindly taken by Jon Topper. Image of the air boutique via ghd.