There's no universal rule for how often to get a blowout - it depends on your hair type, lifestyle, and how much you're willing to spend. But frequency is the single biggest lever in the cost equation. Someone who goes once a week pays roughly four times as much per year as someone who goes once a month, which changes everything about whether buying a Dyson Airwrap or Shark FlexStyle makes financial sense.
Typical Blowout Cadences
Reviews and salon data suggest that regular blowout clients fall into a few camps: weekly (typically fine-haired clients who want volume that lasts a few days), every other week (the most common cadence for people using blowouts as a primary styling routine), and monthly or for special occasions (lower cost but also lower incentive to invest in an at-home tool).
Heavy at-home Airwrap users tend to style one to three times per week. That's more often than most salon clients, which is part of why the cost-per-use on the device drops so quickly for frequent stylists.
Annual Cost by Cadence
At a $50 blowout plus 20% tip ($60 per visit), here's what different cadences cost per year: weekly is about $3,120, every two weeks is about $1,560, monthly is about $720, and six times a year is about $360. These are the salon costs that an at-home device can potentially replace.
The break-even calculator here lets you set your own frequency. At the biweekly default, a $600 Dyson Airwrap pays for itself in roughly 10-12 blowouts (about 5-6 months). A $325 Shark FlexStyle gets there in about 6 blowouts - around 3 months at the same cadence.
Hair Type and Blowout Longevity
Finer hair tends to fall flatter faster and may need more frequent blowouts for the look to last. Coarser or curlier hair can hold a blowout for several days to a week, which means a lower cadence works. Very thick hair takes longer to dry and style, which is a reason some people find at-home blowouts with a multi-styler less practical.
Most stylists suggest washing and blow-drying every 3-7 days to balance style longevity with scalp health. If you use dry shampoo in between, you can often stretch a blowout to 4-5 days regardless of hair type, effectively lowering the number of styling sessions you actually need.
When Going Less Often Beats Buying a Device
If you're only getting a blowout for occasional events - six or fewer times a year - the total annual spend of around $360 is well under the $325 entry cost of the Shark FlexStyle, let alone the $600 Airwrap. In that case, buying a device purely for cost savings doesn't add up unless you'd also use it for regular at-home styling on top of the salon visits you currently have.
The device makes the most financial sense for anyone currently paying for blowouts every one to two weeks. At that cadence, the annual salon spend is $780-$1,560 or more, and a device pays for itself well within the first year.