How to Do a Blow-Dry Wrap

When it comes to blow-drying your hair, the point-and-shoot technique does not always serve you well. To add a little finesse to your blow-drying routine, turn to the wrap technique -- this method helps smooth your hair for a flat, fine and glossy look similar to one you get from a flat iron, without the risk of singeing your tresses. For this technique, avoid the age-old temptation to keep your head down; keep your neck straight, blow-drying in the direction of the cuticle to smooth and seal it, making for shinier hair.

Apply a very light mist of smoothing spray to your hair. Go with one pump for short dos, two for medium cuts and three or four for long hairstyles.

Rub a small dab of glossing straightener into your palms and fingertips, then massage it into your hair. Work from roots to ends if your hair has curls or mid-length to ends if you have straight or wavy hair. For the latter types, follow the application with a quick brushing to distribute the product, and then pre-dry your hair -- facing the dryer downward toward your head -- until your hair is about three quarters of the way dry.

Brush your hair starting at the nape of your neck, moving the brush toward the left side of your hair so that your hair is flat and tight against your scalp, essentially wrapping the hair around your head -- hence that catchy name.

Attach a concentrator to your blow-dryer and set it to low. Dry just the roots -- roughly the first inch or so of hair growing from your scalp -- of the wrapped section, holding the dryer above the hair and aiming it downward for a flattening action. Keep the dryer about 8 inches from the hair at all times. Dry the roots moving the blow-dryer in one direction -- left, in this case, to follow your brushing. Continue to brush more sections of hair over to the left, and dry the roots, progressing from the nape up to one side of your hairline with each section.

Repeat the process in a reversed fashion, this time wrapping each section of hair around the right side of your head with your brush. Keep the sections small and easily manageable -- each one should only measure about as wide as your brush.

Hold your brush underneath each part of your hair one section at a time, and hold the section taut. Once again aiming from above, dry each section from its mid-length to its end, slowly moving the brush from middle to end as you dry. Once you reach the end of each section, wrap a few inches of the ends of your hair around your barrel brush -- wrap more hair for a more curled edge and less hair for a looser edge. Dry the hair on the brush, pointing the dryer downward. This gives the hair a bouncy, rounded edge and smooths the cuticles. Finish with a quick, all-over stream of cool air to bolster your hair's elasticity.