National blow dry day: 10 top tips for a perfect finish

Today is National Blow Dry Day and to celebrate, we grilled ten of our favourite stylists for their ultimate blow-dry advice. Got your own styling secrets? Share your tips and techniques for the perfect blowdry using #NBDD and get involved with National Blow Dry Day! Don't part too soon "For a voluminous blow-dry, don't part the hair when it's wet. The best way to achieve volume is to blow-dry everything upwards and backwards. When your hair is completely dry, you can create your parting where you want. If you part the hair when your hair is still wet, you’ll lose a lot of volume. By doing it this way, it give more freedom and movement in your blowdry and adds that va-va volume right at the root." Heather Nelson, Nelsons, North Lanarkshire Move that hairdryer "Keep the hairdryer moving constantly to avoid applying too much heat in a single spot at any time. The way to avoid overheating is not to shake the nozzle, but to use a medium heat setting and hold the nozzle at least 6 inches away from the head, then control the air flow through the hair section from neckline to crown for just a few seconds at a time." Robert Kirby, London Don't over-blow! "Avoid overblowing. The worst thing you can do is overdry your hair as it will just result in unmanageable frizz. You need to keep just enough moisture in the hair to maintain control. Too much air or heat will over-blow the style. If the other side of the head hair dries while you work on one side, simply spritz with a little water to add the moisture back in." Gary Evans, Taylor Taylor, London Pre-dry "Pre-drying the hair is extremely important. You need to get the hair about 70 per cent dry before you try and style it. Either pat the hair with a towel (pat - never rub) and leave to dry naturally or rough-dry with your hair dryer and fingertips. Don’t waste your time trying to style your hair while it's dripping wet as it will take away a lot of your hairs natural volume if it is overworked." Jonathan Long, Lockonego, London Watch out for dents "Avoid sectioning clips that will dent your hair. Parting and sectioning the hair is necessary to get that perfect blow-dry but there’s nothing worse than finishing and noticing clip dents. If you need to, wrap a tissue/cloth over the hair to avoid this - or look out for professional clips that feature a bit of padding. Emily McMahon, global education director, Ego Professional Keep it taut "Keep your hair super taut throughout your blow-dry. It will ensure the cuticles stay smooth and the hair will have a shiny, silk-like finish. As you pull the brush tightly through the hair, just follow through with the dryer. The main thing to check here is that the hair is thoroughly brushed throughout and is completely tangle free. The worst thing to happen is for your brush to be caught on some tangles on the way down as you will lose your blowdry momentum and hair will become frizzed. Taut and tangle-free, the key to the perfect blow dry. Samantha Cusick, Taylor Taylor, London Invest in the best "The hairdryer itself is one of the most important parts of achieving the perfect blow-dry. It’s worth investing a little money in your hairdryer to ensure you are using a high quality tool that not only gives you an easier blow-dry with fantastic results, but also protects the hair from excessive heat damage. Look for at least 1,800 watts with multiple heat and air settings." Simon Bryer, Michael Van Clarke, London Heat or speed? You turn up the heat to quicken your drying time right? Wrong. When you need to speed up drying time, use a higher setting for the air stream, not for the heat. Turning up the heat will just overheat the hair causing damage and frizz. My top tip would be to finish with cold air once the hair is dry. Julia Gaudio, Elaje Hair & Beauty, Cambridge Use your fingers "Always start with your fingertips for the perfect blow dry. Pull your fingers through your hair starting at the roots, pull hair out a few inches and hold it while you use the dryer to blow some air through the crown downwards. Get as much movement in as you can before styling with a brush to allow your hair to move naturally. This will give you more control over the hair during your blowdry. You can then hold the hair super-taut at the root which will avoid moisture staying in the hair shaft and frizzing up." Tracey Devine Smith, Aberdeen Section, section, section "The key is to divide the hair into manageable sections; there’s no right or wrong way to do this, just whatever works best for you and your hair. If you have thick hair work with smaller sections. If you have long hair twist them up into mini buns to keep out the way. The secret is that each section shouldn’t be wider than the width of the brush or taller than the depth of the brush. Working with manageable sections means that you will avoid any stress and your blowdry will run as smoothly as possible." Mark Moutney, Zoology, Wanstead