I’m not talking about the kind of blowout the Buckeyes had against Wisconsin last month.  I’m talking about hair!  Specifically, hair blowouts.  Sorry, fellas – this one’s for the ladies!

Ladies, if you’re anything like me, you’ve been hearing about and seeing these “blow-dry bars” popping up all over the place and have been wondering what the heck they are all about.  At first I envisioned old ladies with 80’s style perms and big hair – no thanks.  But then I realized that what really goes down at these places is just a nice styling of your hair – like a haircut, but without the cut (and color perhaps).  Just wash, blow-dry, and styling of your choice – no perm necessary.

I, for one, am inept at doing anything with my hair other than blow-drying and straightening it – despite it being part of my 30 before 30 list, I never quite got the hang of using my straightener to create beautiful waves.  I’ve always envied girls (like my friend Shep) with long, beautiful loose curls – think Charlotte from Sex and the City!  So when Wyatt asked me to attend a wedding with him in late December – a black-tie optional wedding, nonetheless – I figured, what better opportunity than to check out one of these fancy blow-dry bars?

I did a quick Google search and arrived at The Blowout Bar in Grandview.  At $35 for a blowout, I felt the price was reasonable.  I also liked visually seeing the “menu” of hairstyles, and the ability to schedule an appointment right then online won me over.  I made an appointment for 2 PM the Saturday of the wedding and crossed my fingers.

The Blowout Bar did not disappoint!  In fact, I loved my experience.  For one, the space was gorgeous – simple, clean, elegant, and modern.  The staff was friendly and my stylist was rockin’ a cutoff sweatshirt and short spiky hair.  They offered me coffee, which I happily consumed given my date with the dance floor later that evening.  My stylist washed and blow-dried my hair carefully (much more painstakingly than I ever do), and then got down to the business of styling.

I told her I was interested in something between the “cosmo” and the “flirtini” (see menu).  I’ve had my hair curled by my hair stylist in the past, as well as for bridal parties, and I’ve always felt like it was too “cute” – the curls were too much or something.  I explained this to my stylist at the Blowout Bar and she assured me we could make it curly and loose with lots of volume, without looking like I “tried too hard”.  I was going for sexy and glamorous, not cute!

Less than an hour after walking in, I walked out looking like this:

Which turned into this a few hours later:

As you can (hopefully) tell, a few hours and some makeup did me wonders!  My hair loosened a bit and took on this wavy, voluminous look.  Every time I went to the bathroom I was thrilled with my hair – so much so, that I kept telling Wyatt all night (alcohol-induced, mind you), “My hair looks FABULOUS!”.  And after all – isn’t that what matters?

I highly recommend The Blowout Bar in Grandview – or any blow-dry bar near you!  They would be great for bridal parties (listen up, Nash and Pam!) or would even be fun for bachelorette parties or divorce parties (yes, that’s a thing) or just for the hell of it!  I’ll be back.