Here at Hair.com, we live for a good love story. Few are more romantic than the fairytale of our time: a beautiful American actress falls for a British prince and the two get married in a swell of flowers and gospel music. Most importantly, the new duchess has really, really good hair.
To celebrate the newest member of the royal family’s truly excellent mane, we tapped a pair of professional stylists to show us how to mimic her blowout. Jessica Sclamberg and Priscilla Kangas are the owners of SF Color Collective in San Francisco, CA, and L’Oréal Professionnel brand ambassadors.
Whether you prefer your blowouts happen at home or in the hands of a professional at a salon, there are tips here worth learning. This is a lived-in, modern style is a fit for all occasions. While the duchess’s hair is reportedly keratin treated, you can try this technique on any hair texture.
Start with the right shampoo.
Professionals recommended working backwards from your ideal hair goal. If a lived-in, tousled blowout is the final product, then you’ll need to start with a salon quality shampoo and conditioner that create volume without weighing down your mane.
Because our model has fine hair, Kangas starts out with L’Oréal Professionnel’s Volumetry Shampoo. Formulated with salicylic acid, the shampoo creates an anti-gravity effect.
“[The shampoo] will actually give her a nice volume and lift and the movement that she might not get if we used something a little bit heavier,” Sclamberg says.
Before blow drying, the professional stylist applies a thin coating of Vitamino Color A-OX 10 In 1 Spray to the hair, detangling and helping protect it from heat damage.
“It adds nice shine, smells super good, nice and light—especially for [the model’s] fine hair. Really, this is probably the go-to product if she had to have one,” Sclamberg says.
Before switching on the dryer, Kangas runs Absolut Repair Lipidium Double Serum through the hair to help seal any split ends. Focus on the mid-lengths and ends, making sure to keep any heavier products away from the root. Nobody wants dreaded oily roots when they’re feeling like royalty!
“It’s a dual pump, so it’s really important that when you are using this product you’re using two fingers to pump it out so you get an equal distribution of the product,” Sclamberg notes. “One side is more of a cream and the other side is more gel-like. It’s just important that you get an equal distribution of both and you want to work that through your hands before you put that in the hair.”
Now, we’re ready to dry.
Aim for bouncy waves and volume.
A good blowout should have volume and wave to it before you’ve even touched it with the curling iron. Sclamberg starts hers with Tecni.Art Siren Waves defining elasto-cream, running it through our model’s damp hair for refined waves.
“We want her to have some memory in her hair so that when we actually go in and do the style there is some hold,” Sclamberg notes. “We didn’t want anything that was going to be too sticky or too heavy, so this was our choice to help give her some real movement.”
The duchess famously loves hair that moves and looks lived-in, so products that provide a no-effort look will always mimic her final product better than stiff, heavy formulas.
Once your hair is sectioned off and rough dried, it’s time to begin the real work of the blowout. Because our model’s hair is fine, Kangas and Sclamberg use a metal brush to create her style. Focus on lifting each section and concentrating the airflow at the root for maximum volume before moving to the end of the section.
“When [Kangas] lets go of the hair, she does it in kind of a twisting motion. Instead of pulling it out immediately, she’s letting it cool that way,” Sclamberg explains. “The heat is opening the hair cuticle and then when it cools it closes. By leaving it in that shape, it’s actually cooling, closing the cuticle, and creating that memory in the hair in that twisted motion.”
Curl, curl away.
Once the blow drying is totally finished, move on to the curling portion of this royal hairdo. Kangas uses a Marcel iron—a double-handled professional curling iron—but a standard wand will work just as well. Aim for a bigger barrel to mimic the loose, easy waves of this celebrity style. Anything wider than an inch will do.
“[The duchess] really doesn’t have a lot of curl at her root. She likes it smoother and flatter and sleeker,” Sclamberg explains. “Imagine if you were to pull your hair back in a ponytail. That’s where you’re going to start that initial wave."
Curl patiently, remembering that you’ll be breaking up those ringlets at the very end of the style. To create a final look that isn’t too salon perfect, Sclamberg recommends adding a texturizing spray as a last step.
“We wanted to give her some texture and movement. We didn’t want it to look too glamorous, too curly, too slick, so in order to create more texture we chose Next Day Hair. It gave it a little more grit and movement. As you can see from the end result, she looks stunning,” she explains.
Want to live life more like a princess might? This blowout is the place to start.
Interested in having a professional style your lived-in blowout? Use our salon locator to book an appointment with a stylist near you.
