Okay, there — I’ve finally said it out loud. At least wrote it publicly anyway. For those who don’t know what a blowout is, and are likely assuming it’s something a little risqué let me get your mind out of the gutter stat.
A blowout is nothing more complex than paying someone to wash, style and blow dry your hair for you. I’ve had this obsession for so long, I can’t even remember when it started. I want to say at least 10 years ago, as I recall even in college getting my hair did in between the three jobs I was juggling while trying to graduate.
For those who know me well, you know how much I love a good blowout, and how much I go on about it. I’ve probably even tried to pop your blowout cherry. For those who don’t know me super well, you may have wondered how my hair is pretty much always on point. Now you know my secret.
I’ve been accused of being overly self indulgent with this addiction, I’ve even caught myself out loud, defensively justifying it.
That’s it though — no more getting defensive about this topic, I’m a blowout addict and proud. Here are my top five reasons why:
1. Efficiency: I have naturally curly, unruly hair and ain’t no one got time to tame this mane. (Well, I don’t anyway)
I get told all the time “You have natural curls? I would have never guessed, you’re so lucky, you should wear your hair down more often” and to them I say — Girl, you’ve never walked a day with my “I woke up like this” au natural do. It takes hours for my hair to air dry (notice the plural there), and from there, despite years of effort, styling it curly just makes no sense. How it looks the first hour will look entirely different the next, and so on. My inner control freak can’t handle this and I simply choose not to spend that much time on my hair when I could be doing so many other things. (Like writing a blog post about my hair)
2. The upside about my curly thick hair, is that although it’s unruly au natural it listens very well when being styled professionally.
I can get a blowout to last a minimum of 5 days. No joke. I travel, bounce from meeting to meeting and do media regularly. Just looking at my calendar sends some people into paralysis. Having full control of what my hair will look like throughout all of that, is just another thing I don’t have to think or stress about. I don’t know what it is about the hair whisperers and how they do it exactly, though a good quality blowout can set your tone and confidence for days. Maybe even the week. It can also save you hours of personal styling time.
3. If you don’t have may ‘vices’, it can actually be cost efficient.
What I mean by vice is a general habit where money is spent on yourself. I don’t smoke or buy lottery tickets, don’t drink or go out a lot, no shoe or shopping obsession, I just get blowouts. Some places can charge 60.00 and up — watch out for those salons as it just isn’t necessary. I once walked into a place blindly needing a quick fix and was charged 85.00. Ouch. That one really hurt.
However, places like my favourite US chain, Drybar, only charge 45.00 and you get a mimosa! How nice is that. I mean any opportunity to spend on myself and pair it with a mimosa, I’m going to take and enjoy it thank you very much.
Then the most incredible thing happened…
A few months back, my unicorn opened literally a few blocks away from me in the suburbs. Carte Blanche Blowout Bar in Orleans. They have blowout memberships. That’s right. It’s like a membership for the gym, but for your hair. For 80.00 a month, I get unlimited blowouts. Unlimited! I could walk in everyday and say “I’ll have my usual” and they will happily start washing and blowing away. I almost shed a tear when I found this magical place. Their service is also top notch, and they are fully licensed as well. It’s a great place to bring a few girlfriends before going out one night, or to simply just unwind.
