Sponsored: Save Time and Sanity with Sassoon’s New Blow and Style Menu
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sassoon, but written by your friendly local blogger, Kat Griffin.
I've written before about my love of blow-outs (including how to make a blow-out last for multiple days!), but here's what I don't love about blow-outs: the Question. You know the one: “How do you want your hair blown out?”
“Um…. the normal way. With a brush and blowdryer and stuff.” (I say this because I once asked for a blowout and got a flat-iron instead because that was all they offered, and I was too crunched for time to go elsewhere.)
“Yes, but straight? Wavy? Glamorous?”
“Ummmm… straight, I guess.”
I always feel a bit dumb for not knowing the answer to this question, and I suppose if I started a Pinterest board, or ripped magazine pages out, I could go to the salon and confidently say, “Give me X.” But I somehow always forget that this is an issue until I'm in the seat.
So I was THRILLED when I heard about Sassoon's new service: a blow and style menu that not only names popular styles and makes it easier to differentiate among them, it puts even more options right in my hands, right when I need them: when I'm at the salon.
Left to my own devices — even if I knew I wanted, say, a Polished Wave, any attempts to describe that verbally to my stylist (sans picture) would SO not work — I probably wouldn't even end up with a Glam Wave or a Loose Wave, just some vaguely non-straight concoction. I feel like the pictures are such a more helpful device — at least to start the conversation! — in a productive manner with your stylist. For my $.02, for work I think the Signature, Voluminous, or Loose Wave looks the most professional (or the Sleek Pony style, below), but I might try to get a Beach Wave on Saturday for a party and would still be fine with my less-wavy-but-still-blown-out hair for Monday work. (If you want a style to last a few days, be sure to talk about it with your stylist — the more products he or she uses, the more quickly your hair is going to need to be washed. Also, some of the curly looks may transition better to second- and third-day looks — so talk it out with your stylist.) Oooh: and I just realized they have how-to videos for a lot of the styles if you want to try to get them yourself — here's their Sassoon Signature look and their Glam Wave.
The style menu is pretty great too — these are all beyond my own abilities, and I probably wouldn't even think of them if I were going to a more casual event (e.g., a child's birthday party) where I would want my hair to look Better, but without being super obvious about it.
I got the chance to try the Sassoon experience recently (during New York Fashion Week) and tried the Beach Waves since it was a Saturday — what are your thoughts, ladies? (Also, while I'm still on the hunt for my everyday red, I took a chance and wore a bright red lip to the event. That's a layering of Nars Cruella and Hourglass Icon, if you're curious.) Many thanks to my stylist Kryssy Wood, who you can find in the NYC location uptown, at 56th and 5th.
Ladies, what kind of blowouts do you like to get? Which would be your first pick off the Sassoon Blow and Style menu?
The Sassoon Blow and Style experience can be found in the following cities: Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Miami, New York (downtown), New York (uptown), Northbrook, San Francisco, Scottsdale, and Seattle. Prices start at only $25 (for a style) or from $45 for a blow and style, which is far more affordable than I would normally think for a lux brand like a Sassoon salon.
Eh, this is hardly something new. Drybar and most of the other major chains have style “menus” with names that you can easily give, and they don’t have “From $X” pricing that makes it easy to upcharge once they have you captive in the chair, having made the time to get down there in the first place. I’m also not a fan of a single one of those styles. The loose wave is probably the closest to a traditional blowout but even that looks messy. I can airdry my hair with my fingers and have it look more put together than that.
I wasn’t a fan of any of those styles either. I haven’t ever had an issue with saying, blow dry straight, straight iron 3/4 from top to bottom, and curl under (or up) at the bottom.
+1
I am amused anyone would pay $45 for “disheveled” but I suppose it’s nice to be able to walk in and have a shorthand for “blow dry my hair straight but make it look like I did it myself at home with an old dryer”…. My hair is naturally wavy so I like to get it straight with a bit of body/very slight wave but I just say “Kate Middleton” and that’s usually enough to communicate what I want. And yes, most blow dry bars have menus.
I too would always just say ‘Kate Middleton’. She may not been Queen of the UK yet, but she’s certainly Queen of hair.
I’ve never been asked how I want my hair dried after a cut at a salon. I didn’t even know it was a thing!
I’ve only been asked once and didn’t know how to answer either.
I didn’t know it was a thing, either! Learn something new every day…
Possibly stupid question – do you leave with wet hair then?
No, they just blow it dry. Maybe it’s because I have straight hair, it’s not like I have many options.
Who actually has the time to go to the salon just for a blowout? Seems like it would be much quicker to do at home. It is really not difficult.
I think for people like me with very thick, very curly hair it is easier to go to a salon. I don’t often wear my hair straight so I wouldn’t get much practice. But I do want it straight more frequently than I want it cut, so an efficient blow dry bar is perfect. I get the earliest appointment of the day (usually 8:00) and can be in class/in an interview/at the office by 9:00. I don’t think I could hold my arms up long enough to dry it myself.
You’re lucky that it’s not difficult *for you*, but it is difficult *for me*, and I pass 2 drybars on my walk in and out of work so getting a blowout is not inconvenient *for me*.
Love this response.
+1 Personal experience is not universal.
I love getting blowouts. I usually don’t get them very regularly because I can do my hair myself but there’s just something about your getting your hair blown out before a big event or something that makes me feel amazing.
It’s not difficult for me to achieve anything resembling the style that a professional can achieve; it’s impossible. I cannot do it at home. I would spend more time for less optimal results.
I have gotten my hair did for pictures and a few other things. I have babyfine hair that stylists (who do this all day, every day) can whip into a real style (with some products, some backcombing, some pins, and heat / drying / hot rollers). While I do partner-level work at my job, I do a poor job at doing my own hair (and in a way that lasts more than an hour). I usually just go to the person who cuts my hair, but I’m not opposed to this and think it would be a fun treat to have majorly good hair.
Reason #1 why I love short hair. I can blow-dry it myself in 5 minutes! And it looks good! :)
Not knowing what kind of blowout to ask for is a real problem. Thank god there’s finally a solution.
LOL!
I have to laugh at the “disheveled pony.” I really hope that becomes a thing because I rock that (done all by myself) 70% of the time.
Yeah, I was not aware that was a high-end look, but I am sporting it at least three days a week, so I’m glad to know I look fancy.
Right? Also waiting for “matted,” “limp and stringy,” and “frazzled ends” to become popular.
My style is “I was in too much of a hurry to dry to 100%, so I called it done at 90% and now it’s frizzed out into this fluffy mess.” Thankfully, Sassoon shortened this name to “Loose Wave.”
Snort laugh.
Can we add ‘roots need a touch-up’ to this list?
So they’re opening up a blow dry bar that functions exactly like every single other blow dry bar in existence? Awesome!!!
Drybar, DreamDry, Blo, Bdry, Haute Air, etc. There are tons of salons offering exactly the same thing with a style menu, with multiple locations and fixed pricing regardless of style. There’s even a braid bar in Soho.
This is nothing new, just an advertisement for a single local salon trying to cash in and enter a saturated marketplace. Anyone who hasn’t heard of a blowout salon like Drybar is just out of touch at this point (no offense Kat!).