To treat yo’self or not… the Blow Out Bar

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

In honor of one of my favorite sayings, I’m introducing a new type of review.

The “TREAT YO’SELF REVIEW.”

 

This theme will review the pros and cons of a particular product or service.

 

The question that will be answered:

Is this Treat Yo’self worthy?

What does treat yo’self mean? Well, to me it means indulging in something just because you want to. But “treating yourself” should also involve being ‘choosy’ about what you consider worth a treat. If you’re going to spend extra time, money, or calories; let’s first determine if it’ll be worth the investment.

Today we’ll be reviewing the Blow Dry Bar – specifically my experience at Drybar in Chestnut Hill, MA. Link here

Sooooooo is it Treat Yo’self worthy?

Let’s find out…

What is the Drybar? It is a blow dry bar. They don’t do haircuts or coloring – just blowouts for $40. An extra $10 gets you a head massage during your shampoo. This doesn’t include gratuity.

• Click here for Drybar locations

The blow dry bar concept isn’t unique to Drybar – there are other franchises including: Blo Blow Dry Bar, which has two locations in Boston – click here to check it out.

Luckily, the Drybar had a last minute Friday at 9:30am appointment – Side note, I bet they’re crammed on the weekends so I suggest booking in advance – A week or more, if you’re looking to get your hair done for a special occasion or event.

 

The experience @ Drybar Chestnut Hill:

Pros:

1. The store is adorable. It is designed beautifully with white and yellow pastel colors. Everything looks new, clean, and pretty.
2. You start with a wash in the back room, which is your typical lean-back wash station. I opted for the added head massage. Maybe I’m spoiled, but when I get my hair done in the city I want it done right. The folks at G2O Spa on Newbury St. have mastered the art of the head massage… it almost puts me into a trance. This was a nice wash but didn’t blow me away (pardon the pun).
3. The have a lovely styling area. You sit in a comfy chair facing a bar area that’s decorated with hair products. There is a menu from which you can pick out your preferred hairstyle. There is also complementary tea and coffee. They even give you a little saucer to place your used tea bag on. I heard they even offer you complementary wine if you want it!
4. There are magazines to read and even a charging station for your phone. I was super impressed with that. It’s the little extras that make this a fun experience.
5. It took a while to blow dry my hair – it’s thick and long! I picked out a natural wavy style from the menu, but you can also opt for a simple updo or bun. It was helpful to have a picture to refer to.
6. All in all, it was a relaxing experience and everyone was super friendly and attentive. They re-filled my tea 2x and kept asking me if I wanted more magazines.

Cons:

1. I thought the head massage was a bit of a let down.
2. I was bummed that the stylist started curling my hair before it was completely dry – I was in the chair for a while, so I suspect she needed to move onto the next phase of the style or I would have overlapped with the next appointment.
3. Although the products smelled lovely, the stylist kept mentioning the ‘Mai Tai’ spray and how great it is for the summer. It is a sea salt spray that gives your hair more of a textured/“straight from the beach look.” I didn’t like how much she sprayed in my hair. I couldn’t run my fingers through it when she was done. I was going for that silky blown out look just like the picture I’d chosen.
4. The experience was lovely and such a treat, but between the blowout ($40), the head massage add-on ($10), and 20% gratuity which I consider a standard amount to give a stylist ($10 in this case), I spent $60 which creeps eerily close to what many people pay for a haircut AND blow dry at some places.

The result aka once my hair was done:

Pros:

1. My hair looked great! I recently got bangs and was having trouble styling them. The manager came over and did a cute braid to help sweep them off my face.
2. The blow out lasted me a couple of days. I had to run a brush through it to get rid of some of the residue, but all in all I didn’t have to wash or style my hair for a couple of days which was lovely!

Cons:

1. My hair felt dirty because of the spray and it kinda smelled funky after an hour or so (can you tell I really hate that spray?).

Overall rating on a scale of 1 to 5 – 1 being forget it and 5 being Treat Yo’self NOW…

• 3.5 – I’d call this the ponder it for a few before doing it rating.

What I’d recommend it for:

• This would be a great gift for someone, be it a birthday, Mother’s day, Valentines day, anniversary or ‘thank you’ gift. It certainly is fun to take an hour or so to be pampered! Or maybe this is just a sweet gift to give someone just to say ‘thinking of you – go treat ya’self, you deserve it!
  • I think it’d be a great gift for a new mom – an opportunity to get out of the house and treat herself.

• I can see why people opt for this vs. a traditional updo from a salon. Depending on where you go, the pricing is a bit more reasonable. Some updos in the city cost as much as $100.
• If you’re going to an event or even a business trip, then I could see this service coming in handy. Go get ya hair done before you leave and then you have one less thing to worry about on the road. It also can last longer than a traditional at home wash & dry, which could mean you get an additional day or two where you can sleep in.

If you wanna see where the saying ‘Treat Yo’self’ originated – check out THIS clip from Parks & Recreation:

 

**Click HERE to Like & Follow Cupcakes & Nailpolish on Facebook!**