How to Get the Perfect ’90s Blowout at Home

After years of embracing undone air-dries and natural texture, the ‘90s blowout has made a serious comeback with red carpets, runways, and street style embracing its signature glamour, volume, and polish. 

"People have always loved a beautiful blowout, but a blowout today feels vastly different from the one we were doing five years ago," explains celebrity hairstylist and founder of Hindsgaul Hair Sarah Hindsgaul. "It's less set, stiff, and overly styled and instead, cleaner, softer, with beautiful root lift, natural bounce, and shine—just as though you were simply born with incredible hair." 

Part of the resurgence, says top LA-based hairstylist Adir Abergel, is that we're not only seeing a desire to return to that old-school ’90s glamour, but we’ve also got the new and improved tools to help us get there. “A blowout today can have a smooth, polished finish while still keeping body and movement,” says the creative director of Virtue Labs. “It’s less about layering a ton of products and more about building the foundation with the right products.” Case in point? The few distinct blowouts Abergel created for Mariska Hargitay at this year's Emmys. "We started with high-gloss, undone cascading waves for the red carpet before moving into a polished supermodel blowout focused on major root volume and a soft bend at the ends, inspired by Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer," he says. "Then we transformed hair into va-va-voom bombshell fullness à la Mariska’s mother, Jayne Mansfield." The linchpin of said blowout? Maximum volume and lift. Whether you prefer a sleek, glossy look or a full, bouncy one, here are Hindsgaul and Abergel's incredible tips for creating the most voluminous blowout at home.

1Root Lift Starts in the Shower

According to Hindsgaul and Abergel, the foundation is everything. "The scalp and hair need to be completely clean and free of buildup; otherwise you are trying to create volume on top of weight," Hindsgaul says. "A scalp scrub can be wonderful for this, or shampoo more than once when needed for a freshly cleansed scalp."

For lengths and ends, Hindsgaul recommends nourishing with a lightweight hair mask so hair stays  soft and flexible—especially at the ends. "You want conditioning without a heavy coating," she says.

2Wring Out Excess Moisture

When you step out of the shower, don't reach for the blow dryer quite yet. Abergel recommends drying sopping-wet hair between paper towels or with an old cotton T-shirt. "They absorb excess moisture and create less friction than a traditional cotton towel, so hair dries smoother," he says. A microfiber towel can deliver the same effect: drying hair quickly without exacerbating frizz. The idea is you still want your hair to be damp, just not dripping wet.

3Build in Volume with Mousse

While mousse instantly makes you think of crunchy, sticky, frozen hair of the ’90s, it's gotten a major upgrade. "A truly great mousse should have enough memory to hold the shape, while leaving the lengths soft, flexible, and touchable," says Hindsgaul, who created her own formula that balances professional hold and root lift without stiffness, stickiness, or residue. "The hair should still feel completely natural, and you should be able to run your fingers through it." Abergel agrees, noting that mousse can amplify any curl formation or blowout. 

"It gives the hair instant definition, hold, and moisture, while boosting volume and enhancing the natural body of the hair without ever sacrificing softness or movement," he says. 

The key, Abergel says, is to apply mousse to damp hair. "That’s how you get all that beautiful volume and hold without the hair feeling crunchy or stiff."

Start by dispensing a small palmful of mousse, emulsifying it thoroughly between your hands first. "Spread it evenly through the root area, concentrating where you want the most lift," says Hindsgaul. "Then distribute another two to three pumps through your lengths with your fingers." Hindsgaul says to focus on working it through evenly because if too much mousse collects in one area, that section can feel "hard and become difficult to blow dry smooth."

4Rough-Dry or Air-Dry and Grab Your Tools

Once the mousse is in, Abergel likes to rough-dry or air-dry the hair until it's about 80 percent of the way dry before picking up a round brush. "It makes the hair more manageable so you can really start shaping the hair and creating that smooth, polished finish while still keeping body and movement," he says. A great round brush and blow dryer are essential tools. For fine to medium hair, Abergel likes dryers with really precise heat and cool settings. For medium to thick hair, he suggests a dryer with powerful airflow and technology that cuts down drying time. "A high-tech dryer gives you better control over heat and airflow, which helps reduce drying time and leaves the hair smoother and more hydrated," says Abergel. "And the concentrator nozzle helps direct the airflow exactly where you want it."

For every blow-dry, Abergel and Hindsgaul use a natural boar-bristle round brush. And when it comes to your round brush, size matters. "Very long hair needs a large barrel to create a broad, sweeping movement at the ends; that scale gives softness rather than a curl," says Hindsgaul. "At bob length, a smaller round brush gives you enough movement to see a gentle bend." As a general rule of thumb, as the hair gets shorter, the brush should become smaller. "If the barrel is too large for shorter hair, the ends can look flat and overly straight," adds Hindsgaul.

5Work in Sections

Section your hair and separate each portion with clips. Each section should be about 1 to 1.5 inches thick. "Sectioning clips help keep the work clean and controlled," says Abergel.

6Style with Tension

For a sleek, straight style, place your round brush underneath each section of hair as close to your scalp as you can, then pull the brush slowly through the section. "Use controlled tension with your round brush and lift the section of hair away from the direction in which it naturally falls," says Hindsgaul. "Keep the dryer nozzle pointed down the tightly pulled section of hair so the cuticle remains smooth as you turn it on and follow the pulled-taut section slowly as you move the brush." For bounciness, curls, and bends, follow the same steps above. Then wrap the ends of the dried section of hair around the round brush, like a curling iron. Blow warm air on it for about 20 seconds and let the hair sit on the brush until it cools. 

Most importantly, make sure the roots are completely dry. "Even a little moisture near the scalp can bring back frizz and cause the volume to collapse," says Hindsgaul. Both Hindsgaul and Abergel agree the cardinal rule is letting the hair cool in the shape you created before moving on. "Heat creates the shape, but cooling is what helps lock it in," says Abergel. "Always let the hair cool in its lifted shape before disturbing it."

Extra credit: For more glamour, Hindsgual recommends putting your dried hair into hot rollers and leaving them in while you do your makeup. "Once they have cooled, you get that glossy, voluminous 1960s and ’70s Italian screen-siren movement rather than a defined modern curl," she says.

7Finish with Glossy Softness

High-gloss shine is key to making this blowout feel sophisticated and chic. "I use oil as the finishing touch on all my looks for a healthy, glossy shine that catches the light from every angle," says Abergel. "Warm a drop between your palms and then skim it from the midlengths to the ends." Note: You’ll want to avoid applying creams and oils at the roots so you don’t undo all the work you just did—and a little goes a long way, Abergel adds: “If the hair starts separating into heavy pieces or losing movement, you've used too much."