Hair: ghd air in rose gold and the fancy blow dry attempt
A few years ago I had a ghd air hairdryer when they first came out, and I'd actually forgotten just how amazing it was until I had the chance to try one again, and this time it's in a beautiful rose gold finish! The ghd air has got to be the most powerful dryer I've had - it dries my hair incredibly quickly but leaves it sleek and shiny without a tonne of effort.
The ghd air hairdryer is 2,100 watts, so really powerful, but it's not overly loud and it doesn't feel really hot if that makes any sense. Even when I have it on the highest heat setting, it feels comfortable. When I previously had a ghd air I didn't really use the nozzle attachments it came with, but I've bothered to do that this time, and I've found that using these and having the air concentrated gives me a much smoother result as the air's all directed one way down the hair shaft.
The dryer has "ionic technology" which helps your hair dry to a sleeker and shinier finish, and there's also a cool shot, which gives a blast of proper cold air to set your finished style. If you're doing a proper fancy blow dry with a round brush, after each section blasting with cold air before you release your hair from around the brush helps to set the volume and bounce.
Lastly the dyer's also got a really long swivel cord, so no annoying tangled wires. It's also quite lightweight, so I don't get arm ache drying my hair even if I am trying that super fancy blow dry!
Having mentioned that 'super fancy blow dry' a couple of times, I'd better tell you how it went. On the whole I managed it fairly well and was super happy with the result. My major fail was taking photos of the process. Oh my goodness, have you ever tried to photograph yourself doing you hair? If you're a blogger then guess the answer's more likely to be a yes, but let me tell you, it's practically impossible. Even after figuring out my tripod and remote for my camera, it was all a total fail - the pictures really wouldn't help you understand what I was doing at all!
I managed just the one passable action shot of drying my hair around a round brush, and then one posey shot of me pretending to blow dry my hair once I was at the point of giving up! I'm laughing about this now, but at the time, being unable to get proper photos of how I did this blow dry was quite literally ruining my life. Even taking photos of the end result was a nightmare - long hair problems! So anyway, now I'm over that trauma, we shall resort to words which never fail me - here's how I 'fancy blow dry' my hair with the ghd air.
Step 1 - start with towel dried and combed through hair and start rough drying upside down to give volume at the roots. Use a brush to keep directing the hair forward and use a concentrator nozzle on the drier.
Step 2 - flip your head back up the right way and continue rough drying - don't make a parting in your hair as this will help with the volume.
Step 3 - once completely rough dried, it's time to bring on the fancy. Taking the front middle section of your hair, lay it over a round brush (I used the older version of the ghd size 2 ceramic vented radial brush) and with the drier on the high heat setting, direct the nozzle down the length of your hair as you pull the brush through, curling under when you get to the end. I did this twice on each section. After the second time, wrap your hair around the brush starting at the tip of the section and winding all the way up to the root. Hold and blast with hot air all around the brush, followed by a generous blasting of cold air to set and then release.
Step 4 - clip the done sections out of the way and repeat on the rest of your hair until complete. If you're extra fancy and have more time and patience that me, you can curl each done section into a roll and clip it up to help keep the shape while you work on the rest of your hair.
Step 5 - once all of your hair is complete, unclip and shake into a parting of your choice - by not choosing a parting at the start of the drying process I find I get a more natural look with more volume at the roots.
I didn't use any styling products at all on this occasion as I really wanted to test the performance of the drier and the effects of the fancy blow dry effort. I was so happy with how sleek and shiny my hair looked, and whilst not wildly voluminous, by my flat and lifeless hair's usual standard, this is pretty bouncy! I'll certainly be trying this again when I have the time, and I'll probably add some root lift spray to the mix and maybe some volumising mousse.
The ghd air in rose gold is limited edition and available now on special offer at £79 from ghdhair.com.
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