I've always envied those women who get weekly blow-dries. You know the ones — who get their hair done on a Thursday or Friday afternoon ahead of the weekend; their hair always looks immaculate for whatever lunches or dinners they have on.
It's a little luxury that, if possible, saves so much time and energy — and makes you feel and look good. But I don't have a disposable income (also, #cozzielivs), so it's TikTok tutorials and my two hands doing my hair until then.
I have been trying to achieve the signature salon blowout at home for who knows how long. I've sort of figured out curling my hair (a million YouTube videos later) but still can't get the volume or bounce that the professionals nail — I've tried countless straighteners, curlers and rollers but never seem to get it right — so when I heard about ghd's newest 2-in-1 wet to dry tool, the ghd duet blowdry ($595), I knew I had to give it a try.
Like so many others, I've become obsessed with Sabrina Carpenter over the past few months.
The singer, who was Taylor Swift's opening act for the first part of the Eras Tour, has blown up — not only for her music ('Espresso' has been dubbed the song of the U.S. summer) but for her look too. Everyone on TikTok has been recreating her glowy base, vibrant pink blush and signature blowout.
In an effort to perfectly recreate her bouncy-yet-effortless-looking hair, I used the ghd duet blowdry. Here's how it went.
But first, what is the ghd duet blowdry?
Good question! The ghd duet blowdry is ghd's latest innovation — delivering salon-quality blow-dries at home with three times more volume, no heat damage, no frizz and 50 per cent more shine.
Following the viral success of their ghd duet style 2-in-1 hot air styler (which launched last year and became a ghd best-selling tool), leading scientists and engineers from ghd have revolutionised the wet to dry category once again with the duet blowdry.
Designed for use on wet hair, it's the first tool to use Heat-Air Xchange Technology — a pioneering aerodynamic system that harnesses low temperature airflow with a unique heated barrel and bristles, creating salon-worthy blow-dries at home on all hair types.
My review of the ghd duet blowdry.
Over the weekend, I had a lunch to attend, so there was no better time to try the new ghd duet blowdry. After showering and washing my hair, I towel-dried it and made sure it was tangle-free.
Then I went in with the ghd volume forever blow-dry cream (roughly a pea-sized amount) and evenly distributed it from mid-length to ends. The cream helps to hold the shape of the style, and uses ghd's iconic heat protection system, giving an invisible protective barrier between hair and heat.
Then it was time to start using the tool.
Using the 'rough dry' technique, I loosely dried my hair with the ghd duet blowdry by brushing it through my hair until it was mostly dry.
On days when I’m in a rush, I would completely dry my hair using this method — nothing fancy, but my hair was frizz-free, smooth and shiny.
But we were after Sabrina Carpenter hair today.
Once my hair was mostly dry, I sectioned it from top to bottom, holding the tool underneath sections roughly the same width as the brush, holding it at the root for three seconds.
I then lifted the tool up and away from my head to create volume before gliding it through to the ends.
Each time I finished with a section, I sprayed it with hairspray while it was still warm so the shape would hold as long as possible.
When I was done with my whole head, I left the curls for roughly 10 minutes (again, so they would hold) before brushing them out and doing a once-over with hairspray again.
Oh. My. Goodness.
As I said earlier, I've tried everything to achieve a blowout at home — I've gotten sweaty, annoyed and had sore arms from all the fussing around I've done with my hair. But that was so easy.
It really was as simple as drying my hair, sectioning it and going over it with a bit more precision.
The ghd duet blowdry also has much more hold compared to other hot brushes I've used, making the curl actually stay in place — my blow-dry lasted days.
I know I don't have Sabrina's short curtain bangs to create that sweep around my forehead, but I'm pretty impressed! (It's better than anything I've done before.)
I also wasn't sweaty, cranky or had sore arms by the end — winner. Guess I don't need that weekly in-salon blow-dry after all.
Shop the ghd duet blowdry online, or find your nearest ghd stockist.
Feature Image: Supplied.