Live Free and Dry Hard

  By ALLISON KAPLAN, Pioneer Press. Article Launched: 07/18/2007

Ah, the thrill of the blow dry. Jessica Barker of Minneapolis demonstrates what she has learned during Blow Dry Boot Camp at the Jon Charles Salon. (RICHARD MARSHALL, Pioneer Press) 'Lift it! Turn it! Turn it! That's right. A half-turn more. Come on. You've got it!'

Jessica Barker exhaled long and slow. She examined her work. A smile spread across her face. She had done it. She had successfully blow-dried a piece of her long hair.

'Look!' she said with a gasp to the stylist who was cheering (challenging?) her on. 'I got volume!'

This is Blow Dry Boot Camp. Enter with frizz; leave shinier and sleeker than you ever thought possible.

The flat iron's day has passed. Now, the buzz is all about the blowout. On the coasts, there are salons that do nothing but blowouts. The trend, like most, has been slower to catch on in the Midwest, where women consider paying someone to blow-dry their hair (for any reason other than a wedding) to be unusually decadent or oddly reminiscent of their grandmothers.

Jon Charles is determined to change that. His eponymous Uptown salon, which just marked its one-year anniversary, is putting big emphasis on the blow dry and offering free lessons - i.e., Blow Dry Boot Camp - for groups of women. He's not the only one. Fringe Salon & Spa in St. Paul is promoting Friday-night 'Fringe Benefits' parties. The $99 charge per guest includes a manicure, brow wax, makeup application, three-course meal, wine and a blow-dry lesson. 'Women really want to learn how to do their hair better,' says Fringe owner Molly Carry.

Blow-dry lessons are becoming the new girls' night out, and not only among friends. Jon Charles Salon