Why weekly salon blowouts are the one beauty treatment I won’t quit

My kind of therapy.

My grandma was the most glamorous woman I knew. Up until her late eighties, she wore a face full of Clinique makeup every day, painted her natural nails in pearly pink lacquer, and had her hair blown out in the salon every Friday by her friend Trish.

“I haven’t washed my own hair in 30 years,” she loved to declare. This was definitely an exaggeration – I know the bottles of Pantene in her bathroom weren’t her husband’s – but these sorts of outrageous statements only made me love her more. 

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My grandma taught me that self-care was a non-negotiable. She also taught me that taking pride in your appearance as a woman wasn’t something to feel guilty or apologetic for. She wasn’t obsessed with how she looked, she just really believed in “a bloody good pampering.”

Now, there are a few differences between my beauty routine and my grandma’s. I spend four minutes on my makeup in the mornings, not 40. I get monthly builder gel manicures, instead of painting my nails every week. I’m not brand loyal, I constantly try out new beauty products. But like her, I spend an hour each week in the salon, getting my hair washed and professionally blow-dried. And before you think I must be a rich housewife, I’m not – I just go to Hairhouse.  

Starting at $60 for their Signature Blow Dry (it’s priced based on your hair length), I’ve simply given up my daily iced oat matchas to be able to do this once a week, without any difference to my bank balance. It’s the best girl math I’ve ever done. 

High maintenance to be low maintenance

Prior to my weekly Hairhouse visits, a typical ‘wash day’ for me would take around two hours, or longer if I really wanted to smooth out my thick, curly, just-past shoulder length hair. It always felt like a chore I had to dedicate too much time and effort to. But with hair texture like mine, at least the effort lasted a full six to seven days. 

I relate to the trending ‘high maintenance to be low maintenance’ approach to beauty. I’m all for investing the time and money in treatments once in a while, if it means I can essentially roll out of bed, put on sunblock, run a brush through my hair and be out the door. 

When I have my hair washed, conditioned and styled by a pro, it takes one hour, tops. The glossy effect also lasts so much longer than my DIY attempts. I adore feeling like a ’90s supermodel whenever I leave my Hairhouse appointments, but I also love the results on day two-three-four and beyond, when my natural kinks and waves start to show and the vibe is more grungey and lived-in. 

A therapeutic cleanse

We’ve all heard people compare hairdressers to therapists – it makes sense, when you develop a relationship with someone who ‘looks after’ you, who you have one-on-one chats with on the regular. I totally get the impulse to debrief on everything going on in your personal life when you’re in the salon chair. But for me, the therapy happens in silence, at the basin. By the time I’m at my Hairhouse appointment on a Friday, I’m on day seven. I’m feeling a bit gremlin-y and ready to be cleansed, both physically and mentally.  

Knowing the end cap to my working week will be spent at the salon with lovely professionals who know how to give the best scalp massage is honestly what gets me through the tough days. When my work-life balance feels off (which it often does), spening an hour doing something nice for myself involving zero effort on my part is worth more than 20 iced matchas, IMO.

Experimenting with style

Most of the time, I make beauty decisions like Steve Jobs approached his wardrobe, or David Lynch his lunch: “Same again, thanks.” Choosing a different nail colour at the salon stresses me out too much, and cutting more than an inch off my hair will end in regret. I prefer not to think about it, there’s enough to think about as it is.

The thing with weekly blow-dries, though, is I can indulge in a bit of ‘experimenting’ without it feeling like such a commitment. I won’t be stuck waiting for my hair to grow back or my nails to grow out, ’cos I’ll be back in the chair, same time next week.

The stylists at Hairhouse are so well-trained in the art of the blow-dry, I’d be silly not to have a little fun with different trends. The full-service salon at Hairhouse operates seven days a week, so I can book in whenever is most convenient, but usually I get mine done on a Friday. Lately I’ve been asking for big, voluminous ’70s style waves which always get me in the mood to go out. I’ve also tried a sleek, side-parted Charli xcx look for a date night, which I loved. When in doubt, though, I always ask for a ‘soft bend’ – my version of mermaid hair, which makes me feel most like myself. 

Besides the low-cost, high reward aspect of my weekly salon blowouts, I think the real reason I’ll never quit getting them is because at some point in the process, I’m reminded of my grandma. If I catch myself feeling guilty about ‘treating myself’, I hear her sassy voice saying, “You deserve this.” And you know what? She’s right. 

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