Many of us have been wooed by the beautifying powers of the professional blowout. But getting addicted to the salon splurge? That's one we haven't heard before.
Until we heard about Sandra Ballentine. The NYC-based fashion and beauty writer was commissioned by W Magazine to write an article about her blowout addiction after a friend who works at the magazine noticed Ballentine didn't even own her own shampoo. "I don't wash my own hair, unless I'm at some kind of boot camp or on safari," she told her friend, which prompted him to put her up to the challenge.
ABC News caught wind of Sandra's struggles and followed up with an interview this week. Her addiction, she confessed, cost her $250 -- each week. For three blowouts. "That's like somebody's rent every month," host Linzie Janis remarked.
"To write the piece, he said, I would have to abstain from dryers, flat irons, hot rollers, and curling irons for three months—the salon-a-holics equivalent of checking into Promises," Ballentine wrote in W. "The first time I lathered up and air-dried, I looked like an extra from Game of Thrones."
Thankfully, Sandra heroically overcame her hardship and learned how to properly air-dry her hair. By limiting shampoos to once a week, deep conditioning every two weeks to add body and texture and planning a routine without heat-styling, she learned to embrace a downtown, "cool-girl" look inspired by Saint Laurent's runways. When she ran into an ex-boyfriend, he didn't even recognize her.
"The whole thing reeks of 'first world problem,'" The Gloss writes of Sandra's experiment. Can you relate to her addiction? Watch the GMA segment here for more info on her struggle and its solution.
How much would you pay to look like this every day?
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