Blow dry bar trend heats up in Winter Park

Women step into Cherry Blow Dry Bar wearing messy top-knots and thrown up pony tails. They leave with tresses fit for the red carpet, with glamorous big waves of a Victoria’s Secret model, or sleek, shiny straight hair for a more cutting edge feel. All it takes is 45 minutes in one of the bar’s lipstick red chairs, a glass of champagne in hand and the blow drying, curling, straightening skills of a Cherry stylist.

“They’ll either come from the gym or they’re running errands, and when you’re running around doing errands you’re kind of just in your gym clothes or whatever and they’re just rushing in,” said Cherry Blow Dry Bar owner Jeannette Jarnes. “After they’re done with their experience they feel so beautiful, so the inside matches the outside, and they just feel like they can conquer the world, they feel just absolutely glamorous.”

That’s what they’re all about at Cherry Blow Dry Bar in Winter Park. They want every woman who steps into their salon to feel gorgeous and important walking out. The concept of a blow dry bar, where clients can get the professional blow dry styling they crave in between their regular cut and color visits at a traditional salon, isn’t new to bigger cities — places like New York and Miami have had them for years. And Central Florida has seen the trend come in quietly in the past couple years. A few full-service salons in the area, including Mosaic Hair Studio & Blowout Bar and Sanctuary Salon & Med Spa, both in Orlando, offer hair blowouts in their service lists.

Jarnes thinks Central Florida is hip enough for more options. This year she opened stores in Orlando and Winter Park, where they specialize in the service. While they do offer some hair treatments, extensions and up-dos, they don’t do hair coloring or cutting. They focus on the finished look, which costs $35.

Many women come in before a special occasion or a date night. Other women make it part of their hair routine, coming twice a week — the blowouts can last up to three days — and some come in just as a treat for themselves. Often they’re completely transformed after the service, glowing, even, Jarnes said.

“I like the feeling of how I can make somebody happy in less than an hour; their whole day can change,” said Ashley Tuten, a stylist there.

Tuten had one special client who came in before each of her four baby showers to get her hair done. When it was time for her labor to be induced, she stopped in on the way to the hospital to get a blowout. It was a little nerve-wracking; Tuten worried the hair dryer might stir up some labor, she said with a laugh.

The salon has a list of blowout styles they do, from straight to big curls and beachy waves, but they can also do specialized looks. Women are quick to pull out their Pinterest inspiration pages, and they’ve done 1920s finger waves, ’50s retro looks and even taken a woman’s thick, sandy colored hair and turned it into a signature “Frozen” braid.

And no matter what the look, they want clients to feel relaxed and pampered.

Cherry Blow Dry Bar is located at 1430 N. Mills Ave in Winter Park. Visit them at Cherryblowdrybar.com

“I think any service that makes somebody feel special should be important,” Tuten said. “People have stress in their jobs, they have stress in their home life, this is an escape route to get an experience that makes everybody forget those stresses, even if it’s a short period of time.”