The "Faux-Out" Is the Secret to a Fluffy Blowout—No Round Brush Required

As someone with thick, wavy hair, learning to give myself a blowout with a round brush and blowdryer was practically impossible. I’d be standing in my bathroom swearing and sweating, head covered in claws and clips, trying to get my damp hair to transform into the bouncy, shiny goodness I loved at the salon and not the weird, frizzy, tangled-up mess I was seeing in the mirror. It wasn’t until I met the now-legendary Revlon One-Step Volumizer Hair Dryer & Hot Air Brush that I, too, could craft that luscious blowout look on my own. (Literally life-changing.) 

The ‘90s supermodel blowout is back in a big way; you’ve probably seen those tumbling waves and touchable, tousled textures on your favorite celebrities and all over TikTok. Think the Supers on the runway at Versace in the ‘90s, Cindy Crawford in that Pepsi commercial, or Beyoncé glammed up for a night out. But if sweating it out in the bathroom and giving your biceps a workout with the blowdryer doesn’t sound all that appealing and you can’t get in at the salon in time, you may want to familiarize yourself with TikTok’s latest favorite styling technique, the “faux-out"—all you need is a curling iron.

The Trend

The faux-out technique can be used to refresh a blowout or to get that polished blowout look without a dryer and brush. The latter technique works best if you have fine, straight or slightly wavy hair that doesn’t require smoothing out. The faux-out requires a few tools at the ready, depending on which style you’re trying to emulate; a classic clip curling iron is a must, as are claws and clips to pin your hair up in sections as you work. Velcro rollers and some duck-bill pins are must-haves for the full bombshell look.

“The faux-out is very on trend this season, as hair is all about fullness and volume,” says hairstylist Sophia Flores. It’s also a more accessible approach to styling, especially for those of us who just can’t master juggling a round brush and blowdryer.

“It’s easier to handle a curling iron,” says Boston-based bridal stylist Sarah Naslund. “You have one hand on the hot tool and one hand on your hair… if you wrap it up on rollers, you can put your hot tool down. One tool at a time!” Naslund adds that a faux-out is generally less heat styling than a full blowout with an added curl, so if you’re trying to turn down the heat in your beauty routine, it may be a great option for you.

The Hype

If it’s a hairstyling method worth trying, it’s probably on TikTok, and the faux-out has become a popular tutorial for styling pros and newbies alike, with several different variations on the style to get you started no matter your curling iron dexterity. 

TikTok user Marissa Spagnoli calls her technique the “lazy girl blowout” and claims her technique lasts longer than a traditional blowout. “You don’t need a Dyson, you don’t need a big blow dryer, all you need is a curling iron,” she says in her tutorial. Spagnoli sections her hair into sections, curling sections away from the face with a 1.5 inch iron and rolling it on a Velcro roller for extra volume.

User Nykita Joy shared her refresh technique, which includes giving the roots a quick shot of air, then sculpting those voluminous bouncy waves by curling the hair with a warm curling iron—not super hot. Once the hair is warm, Nykita wraps the hair around a large Velcro roller away from the face and pins it in place. For a classic supermodel blowout, Nykita recommends pinning the hair in the front away from the face and the hair in the back towards your face. After each roller has cooled completely, unpin and voila! 

Another user, Olivia Rose Demuro, combined a curling iron and smaller Velcro rollers to give her straight hair touchable volume and movement. She curls each section thoroughly, then uses the rollers to really enforce the shape—a key step if you have fine or super silky hair that doesn’t typically hold a curl. After she removes her rollers, Olivia flips her head upside down, shakes her head and reappears on camera with a full, feathery blowout look.

The Technique

Whether you’re sculpting waves and bounce with a curling iron or hitting refresh on a two-day old blowout, volume is key for that throwback bombshell vibe. Flores recommends prepping your hair with a volumizing product to get that covetable oomph. “A great way to achieve this fun and flirty trend is to maximize density,” says Flores, who uses Nioxin Diamax Advanced Treatment ($55) for instant volume. Before you hit your hair with a hot tool, spritz your hair and comb through to make sure it’s evenly distributed.

Once your hair is fully dry (simply rough dry it with the blowdryer if you’re short on time), section the hair and curl it in your chosen direction, then wrap the still-warm hair around a Velcro roller and pin. “Let the hair cool to lock in the cuticle and you will have a beautiful, voluminous result,” says Flores.

“The reason [a faux-out] works is because the larger the iron, the straighter the hair,” explains Naslund. A bigger iron—1.5 to 2 inches is perfect—is essential to avoid veering into barrel-curl territory. The Velcro rollers play a pivotal role too. “The hair retains the shape that it’s cooled on. A blowout is really concentrated curls at the ends, so whenever you roll the hair and set it, the hair on the inside is cooling in a smaller shape than the hair on the outside.” Letting the hair fully cool so the curls can set is an essential step for a long-lasting style. If you skip the cooling process, your style may fall flat throughout the day—not the vibe you were envisioning. 

To finish, consider skipping any heavy serums, creams or hairsprays so you don’t overdo it and deflate your hard work. “A product overlooked by most consumers that stylists use all the time is powder,” says Naslund. “You can refresh that even the next day and the next day because it creates a dehydrated tackiness at the root. You can rub your fingers and fluff up your hair and you don’t have to do much else.” (She likes SexyHair Big Powder Play, $19.)