The best blow-drying advice you'll ever receive

No matter what service you provide to clients, if it's not finished with a mind-blowing blow-dry then it can let down the entire appointment. No matter what length, texture or hair colour your client has, a great blow-dry is required for them to walk out the door with a boost in confidence. We asked some experts for their blow-drying advice for creating a show-stopping style.

Brush choice = crucial

Brush selection is always going to impact the finished result. A paddle brush is great for creating a flatter, high shine, head-hugging look with a glass like finish whereas a round brush should be your go-to when looking to create body, movement & texture. A one-brush-fits-all approach just doesn’t work for me and I don’t think it works for clients either. For me the secret of a great salon blow-dry is taking the opportunity to educate your client on how to recreate the look at home; this is the most effective way to create a walking, talking advert for your own brand. Paddy McDougall Indola global colour ambassador

Nail the basics

Firstly let’s start with how we need to use our brushes and hair dryer– it’s like a delicate dance, we start by sectioning the hair then apply your choice of product, place your brush in to your neat section of hair at the root and follow it down with a professional hairdryer, with the nozzle mirroring the brush all the way down but not touching. Never touch your brush with your dryer, that way your brushes will stay fresh and new, most brushes use nylon bristles that direct heat can melt and we don’t want that. Keep the air flow down the hair shaft, that way you will keep your cuticle closed and achieve a smooth shiny result, if you direct the air against the hair in the wrong direction it aggravates the surface of the hair leaving it rough and frizzy, it’s like going against the grain and will make your job much harder. Christopher Southern, ghd brand warrior

Remember, you’re the artist

Blow-drying always makes me think of being an artist. Hair is like a canvas and just as painters layer up their work using different sized brushes, so do we. A paddle brush preps the hair ready to be a clear canvas, detangling and smoothing, whilst the round brush follows on and creates the lift, body and finer detail. They work in tandem and each are essential tools on the hairdressing belt! I tend to use paddle brushes only on wet hair to take out knots, and switch to a round brush for giving a cleaner finish to the cuticle. The large curves give great oomph which is impossible for the paddle brush to achieve. Each definitely does ‘what it says on the tin’. The paddle brush reflects what it can produce – flat and sleek, great for gliding through hair and producing long lasting straight, yet soft hair, but the round brush’s big body is the real deal for creating a similar big and bouncy blow-dry. The magic behind it all is product ingredients, which act as the strengthening and structuring agents. I love to combine a mousse and salt spray from the Osis+ Session Label range by Schwarzkopf Professional, and you’ll have some incredible hold for keeping a curly, loose beachy finish lasting longer than usual. Gary Taylor, owner Edward & Co, Brighouse Lead image River Island via prshots.com