Chic Dry

Much to my dismay, I’m turning 30 on Wednesday and to “celebrate” I threw a party with 50 of my closest friends and family this past weekend. The party was wonderful and for most of the weekend I had a house full of eight guests who had travelled from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. The thought of all of us having to shower, wash, dry and style our hair in our two washrooms had me thinking about what we could do to maximize our time. Last fall, I had noticed that a hair “blow dry” bar had opened in downtown Kingston. Chic Dry is located at 350 King Street East and is the city’s first and only blow dry bar. What is a blow dry bar, you ask? It’s a no-cuts, no-colour salon– just washes, blow dries and styles. The idea is that in about 30 minutes you can enter the salon with bed head and leave looking like you’ve got “move star” hair.

The concept has proven successful in bigger cities, but questions arose about whether such a salon would make it in downtown Kingston, where the competition for hair salons is fierce. Open seven days a week, Chic opened charging $35 (including tax) for a wash, dry and style. Since the spring, the price has dropped to a reasonable $20 (plus tax) for the same services, with the option to upgrade to a variety of different treatments (massage, up-dos, and different hair products).

So instead of primping at home, five of us decided it would be fun to give Chic Dry a try. It being a busy summer Saturday, we were not all able to get appointments at the same time, but the wait was not too bad at all and we were all done within an hour. The salon uses Redken shampoos and conditioners, but for a few extra dollars, you can upgrade your experience with Living Proof products, which a few of us did. I was impressed with the time they took to wash and carefully blow dry my hair. Then I had my choice of how I wanted my hair styled: straightened, volume boosted, lightly curled, curled, flipped, etc. When it was all finished, I loved the look and wish I could have hair like that every day! We all did something a bit different with our styles and were all satisfied with the experience. It was a good hair day all around!

I think the $20 price point is extremely competitive for the same services at other downtown salons which I`ve seen charge up to double that. This is also a great option for those who have trouble washing and styling their own hair (for example, the elderly or people convalescing). They even have monthly memberships for $120 for those who want to come in often.

I definitely will visit Chic Blow Dry Bar again when I am in need of some pampering or have a special occasion.

Have you tried Chic? Any Hairy experiences? Will you be a return customer?