Nineties blowouts have been back on the beauty block big time this year, a fact that resonates particularly with TikToker Brigette Pheloung of Acquired Style whose hair videos have gone viral this year. When we say viral, we mean her blowout videos have garnered over 53 million likes.
Since the 90s hair look shows no sign of going out of style any time soon (collective sigh of relief) HELLO! sat down with Brigette herself to find out exactly what her secrets are for creating a hairstyle that Jennifer Lopez would have loved thirty years ago and is still rocking to this day.
© GettyCasting her mind back to when her videos started to take off, Brigette, 26, tells us why she thinks the 90s hair videos went viral in the first place. "I think that because people were excited to think 'I can create a salon blowout in the comfort of my own home, I don't have to spend a tonne of money to go out and achieve that perfect blowout look','" says the Tribeca-based influencer. "I think TikTok helped with the craze of people creating it at home again because of all the viral videos with the rollers and I think part of it too was people using rollers, people like me, it was the shock factor like 'Oh my God, people are using these again!' and that kind of helped the 90s blowout look come back."
© GettyWe don't blame TikTok users for jumping back on the trend. Who wouldn't want hair like JLo or Jennifer Aniston in Friends – two of Brigette's personal 90s hair icons.
© GettyPrep, prep, prep
© TikTokBrigette tells us that the prep is so important when you want to nail a perfect blowout. "First of all, you have to prep with heat protectant always and a leave-in conditioner," Brigette tells us saying the Gisou Propolis Infused Heat Protecting Spray is her favourite alongside the Ouai Leave-In Conditioner. "For really keeping it, I think it's really underrated that if you use a really good mousse it can help to not only add volume to your blowout but something about it helps the volume stay." Brigette is a die-hard fan of the Paul Mitchell mousses.
Drop your straightener now
© LuxyBrigette tells us that although it can be tempting to grab your straightener for a quick blowout effect, there really is nothing like doing it the old-school way with a round brush and a hairdryer. She tells us: "I always say, aside from the easy heated blowout brushes and the Dyson [Airwrap], I think that when you're using a blow dryer and a round brush to create the curl for your blowout, that's what's going to make it last longer too because you're putting so much time into each piece and that's what ultimately makes it last longer."
"I feel like a lot of people try to cheat the look with a straightening iron and flipping the ends and I feel personally I just think go the extra step with the blowdryer and the roundbrush," she adds. "It will take maybe five or ten more minutes than using the straightener and will look ten times better."
© GettyBrigette says the same technique applies to having naturally curly or textured hair. She says: "Regardless of your hair type, the main thing to do to really achieve it if you have curly or straight hair is to go piece-by-piece and it doesn't have to take super long but just focusing on a piece at a time, especially if you have curly hair as it's going to take a bit longer, make sure that the whole piece is dry before you set it in the roller and that it has that perfect flip at the end."
Velcro rollers take practice
© LuxyNo one said creating a blowout as perfect as JLo's, or Brigette's for that matter, is easy. But the TikToker says to just keep trying. "My biggest tip is patience because it's not exactly the easiest hairstyle ever. Patience is key, practice makes perfect, the more you do it, the better your blowout will be."
Nailing the Velcro technique
© LuxyBut staying patient isn't the only tip Brigette can offer. She says the key to getting the curl to last is to put the hair in the rollers when it is hot straight from using the hairdryer and allow it enough time to set before taking the rollers out. Take it out too soon and the curl will drop. "I always do it on hair wash days and it looks best on clean hair," she says adding: "As long as you're leaving it in for 15 minutes you're going to get the result but sometimes I'll do my hair and then I'll do my makeup so it's sitting for an hour but I think the longer it sets the bouncier it's going to look but regardless, in 15 minutes you're going to get the look that you want."
Maintaining the look
Brigette tells us that setting the curls with hairspray will also ensure that your JLo look stays throughout the day and night. "I will take all of the rollers out and let it set and then I'll spray it with my favourite hairspray. Sometimes I'll even brush it out after the hairspray and let it sit," she says telling us that she loves the Paul Mitchell hairspray or the L'Oreal Elnett for a more affordable option.
© LuxyRefreshing the look
Once you have nailed the perfect blowout, you are likely going to want to maintain it for a few days before you wash your hair again. Brigette has a handy tip from experience. "Sometimes if I'm refreshing it and I don't want to add more heat since the curl will be at the end of my hair, I'll put them in the rollers and let them set almost like the heatless method for 10 minutes and you've re-achieved the blowout look," she informs us. "I also think if you want to keep your blowout throughout the night, sometimes I'll put my hair in a bun in a big scrunchy and it keeps it overnight."
Brigette has launched her own line of brushes and rollers
All of Brigette's experience creating viral blowout videos that the likes of JLo and the 90s supermodels would be proud of inspired her to create her own brush set and velcro set with Luxy. Brigette was keen to create rollers that were easy for women to use – the key being that they actually grip the hair. "We tested lots to make sure it is gripping your hair in a way that's not breaking your hair," she tells us. "People ask me all the time why can't I buy the set from CVS? And I'm like, 'Well you can if you want, but I think that mine is the best because again with the texture of the velcro you want to make sure it grips that hair', because if not it's not going to set, and be able to create that bouncy blowout that you want."
The variation in size of the rollers was also important to Brigette and will be key to creating JLo-worthy curls. She says: "It comes in a bunch of different sizes so we have a large and a medium, the small and the extra small. The extra small rollers were really important to me because roller kits didn't have that one and I love it for my short front pieces because I found that having a mini one really makes the perfect flip to frame your face."
© LuxyYou can vary the size of your roller depending on how tight you want your curls to be, but also how thick your hair is. "I use mostly the medium and small ones because my hair isn't as thick," Brigette explains. "Some of my friends who have super thick hair will use all the large and medium-sized rollers so it definitely depends on thickness, hair length and you can use the bigger ones for volume. If you do have thinner hair and you want more of the voluminous look and not the really curly look then you can use the large ones throughout the head."
© GettyKeeping those Velcro rollers in place, no matter the strength of the grip, are the perfect clips. Brigette says: "The clips were so important to me when creating the roller kit because there are long-stemmed clips so they perfectly fit into the roller and will stay and they're not going to crease your hair and they come in a beautiful vegan leather case."
© GettyBrigette's hair brush set comes with two roller brushes in different sizes, a paddle brush, and a fine-toothed comb with a rat tail end for sectioning the hair. "I personally just like to section the front pieces," she says. "I don't have time to section my whole head and I think it looks great when you just section the front pieces. And then it also comes with a paddle brush which you can use before you blowdry or just whenever you want regardless of if you're doing a 90s blowout or not."
Although it may seem technical, the bristles of the particular brush are as key as just opting to use a round brush in the first place, Brigette says. "Something that was important to me because I've used a round brush my whole life to create a blowout is that the round brush bristles can really stick to your hair and have grip because I've had round brushes where the hair just falls out so the quality of the bristles has to be rigid and that's how you get the perfect flip at the end."
© GettyDISCOVER: How much should you be spending on haircare? Experts explain
As we go into party season nailing that iconic 90s blowout will be rising to the top of our to-do lists. Luckily, with Brigette's handy tips and her wealth of TikTok tutorials on hand, it couldn't be simpler. We'll all be going from being a 'Jenny from the Block' to a red carpet star in no time.
