Nexxus creative director and celebrity stylist Kevin Mancuso shares the pro tricks that will completely change how your blow dry.
Yes, you want gorgeous hair, but you don't want to carve out half of your morning to get it. And that is where second-day hair comes in. That's because strands are still clean, semi-smooth, and have tons of movement. They just require subtle styling to make them look like they did on day one of your fresh blowout. "It's all about doing a perimeter polish on second—or third day—hair to create the illusion of a beautiful, just-done blow dry that has tons of movement," explains Mancuso. Here are his simple tips to look polished in minutes.
1. Put a small amount of a smoothing serum in your palms.
Then rub your hands together as if it was hand cream to create a super fine coating. "Prepping dry hair with a product like Nexxus New York Salon Care Encapsulate Serum helps strands wrap around the brush more efficiently because they're hydrated and have better brush glide," explains Mancuso. "So, it actually lets you move through each section significantly faster than if you just blow dried bare strands."
2. Apply the serum from midway on strands to ends.
Starting on one side of your head, grab two to three inch size sections, alternating your hands to lightly coat the bottom few inches of your hair. "This will do a lot of the smoothing before you even pick up a brush and blowdryer," says Mancuso, who adds that to get the same effect really fast if your hair is thick or textured, sweep your hair into a ponytail and use your other hand to apply the serum to the ends of the pony.
3. Wrap small sections of hair around a round brush as you blow dry.
First, separate hair into a top and bottom section. Starting with the bottom section of hair, grab smaller subsections and "move the brush very quickly, spinning it around and around underneath each section of hair, aiming the nozzle of the hair dryer directly on the hair going through the bristles until you see that the ends are holding the slightly curved shape of the brush," explains Mancuso. And never, ever blast the blow dryer on high heat. "Your hair is already dry, so it doesn't need an extreme temperature to get it smooth and over time, that will just cause damage," he says.
4. Pin each bottom section of hair into a large pin curl.
This may seem time consuming, but wrapping hair underneath and quickly pinning it only takes seconds and has a major payoff. "The most effective way to get hair perfectly smooth, but to still have volume and movement, is to let it cool down after you've heated it up because it locks in the shape," says Mancuso. Plus, it prevents strands from flying all over from the air flow of the blow dryer, and getting re-roughed up.
5. Create a severe side part then continue blow drying and pinning.
After you've pinned the entire bottom section of your hair into pin curls, take the top section down, carve out your part (an extreme side part helps to add extra bounce and volume, notes Mancuso) and repeat Steps 3 and 4.
6. Gently brush hair with a paddle brush to give hair more movement and separation.
"You want to use a brush that has bristles that are spaced far apart and is less populated than, say, your round brush because it allows strands to flow through it easily and simply soften the shape," says Mancuso.