Best Ways to Make a Blowout Last

A good blowout can last several days. Most of the difference between one day and four comes down to what happens after you leave the salon: how you sleep, what you put on it and how much moisture it meets. Near the ocean, moisture is the big one.

1. Start with clean, fully dry hair

Hair that is even slightly damp at the root will drop as soon as it finishes drying on its own. A professional blow dry gets the root completely dry, which is a large part of why it outlasts one done at home in a hurry.

2. Let it cool before you touch it

Hair sets its shape as it cools. Running your fingers through it while it is still warm loosens the shape before it has set. Give it a few minutes.

3. Sleep on silk, or put it up loosely

Cotton pillowcases grab at the hair and rough up the cuticle as you move. A silk pillowcase reduces that friction. A loose, high bun on top of your head, secured with a soft scrunchie rather than an elastic, also keeps the shape and the volume at the crown. There is more on what to look for in our best silk pillowcases for healthy hair.

4. Use dry shampoo before you need it

Dry shampoo works by absorbing oil, and it absorbs better before the oil builds up. A light mist at the roots the first night, brushed through in the morning, keeps day two looking like day one.

5. Keep water away from it

Shower with a shower cap, and skip the steam room. Humidity is what makes a smooth blowout frizz and a bouncy one fall flat, because hair absorbs moisture from the air and loses the shape it was dried into.

6. Plan for beach humidity

A walk along the Strand on a damp morning will soften any blowout. A light anti-humidity or finishing spray helps, and so does not fighting it: a blowout that has lost a little smoothness often looks better with a loose wave put back into it than it did straight.

7. Refresh the bends, not the whole head

On day two or three, a few minutes with a round brush and a dryer at the front sections, or a large curling iron through the pieces around your face, restores most of the look. You do not need to restyle the back.

8. Use heat protectant every time you refresh

Every hot tool pass on a blowout is heat on hair that has already been heat-styled. A heat protectant keeps the second- and third-day touch-ups from costing you condition. See our best heat protectants for beach hair.

9. Hands off during the day

Oil from your hands and constant touching flattens the root and weighs the ends down faster than anything else. It is the least glamorous tip on this list and one of the most effective.

10. Book the right blowout for your hair

Fine hair holds volume better with a root lift and a set; thick or coarse hair holds smoothness better with more tension and a cooler finish. Say what you want it to last through, whether that is a work week or a wedding weekend, and the style can be built for that.

The single biggest factor is humidity. Everything else on this list is about keeping moisture and friction away from hair that was dried into a shape.

If you have extensions

Blowouts on extensions follow the same rules, with one addition: dry the attachment points completely, and brush from the ends up with a brush made for extensions so you are not pulling at the bonds or wefts. Our list of the best brushes for hair extensions covers which ones.

Salon 11:11 offers a Signature Blowout, including the $60 Sunday Signature Blowout and blowouts on extensions. If you are comparing, see the best blowout salons in Hermosa and Manhattan Beach.