Blowout Vs Silk Press, What's the Difference?

Many techniques can create sleek, bouncy hair, and two popular options are blowouts and silk presses. For a long time, these popular techniques have helped textured women straighten their hair.

However, they are not the same.

While a blowout helps you achieve airy volume, a silk press gets you an ultra-glossy finish.

Choosing the right method depends on the look you wish to achieve (airy straight hair or sleek, bone-straight-looking hair)

To help you understand the method that best works for your natural hair type, we will walk you through everything you need to know (step-by-step breakdown), highlighting each technique.

What is a Blowout?

A blowout is a technique that leaves your hair smooth, voluminous, and polished using a blow dryer and a round brush. This method also adds curls of different sizes to the hair, making it one of the most sought-after techniques for a gorgeous style.

But a blowout isn’t just about creating a polished style you can rock; many people likewise use this method to straighten their hair for braids, twists, and other hairstyles.

Think of those times when you want to braid your hair immediately after washing and conditioning it. Well, blowing out your hair helps stretch it, making it easier to braid. It also helps remove knots and makes it easier to create clean, sharp parts.

Blowouts are usually quick, as the goal is to achieve smooth strands that last for days.

What is a Silk Press?

A silk press is a heat styling technique that straightens the hair into a smooth, shiny finish. It involves using a blow dryer to smooth the hair before straightening it further with a flat iron.

This method can turn naturally coily, wavy, and curly hair into a temporary silky, smooth look.

Just imagine getting a bone-straight texture; that's what a silk press technique can achieve. But beyond wearing your hair bone straight, you can add loose curls, flipped ends, and bouncy waves. It's a great method to get silky straight hair for dramatic and stylish updos.

However, similar to a blowout, a silk press is not permanent. It lasts for a while before returning to its natural texture once water touches it.

Styling silk presses can take hours to complete. The entire process can last between two and four hours, depending on the density and length of your hair.

Are Blowouts and Silk Presses the Same?

No! Blowouts and silk presses are totally different. This is one of the questions that often gets people confused. But the truth is, they differ in both technique and final result.

While both are heat styling methods, a silk press uses a flat iron after blow-drying, resulting in a sleeker and silkier style. However, blowouts require just a blow dryer and a round brush. You can notice the difference in how they look. Generally, a blowout appears airy and full with a natural finish. On the other hand, a silk press looks more glossy and straight. It lies flatter against the head than a blowout.

Differences Between a Blowout and a Silk Press

Let's take a look at some of the differences between a blowout and a silk press.

1. Tools used to achieve the techniques

One of the key differences between these methods is the tools you need. While you need the same tool to begin both processes, which is a blow dryer, a silk press takes a lot more.

For blowouts, you need different sizes of round brushes and a blow dryer, depending on your style. You can also make use of a paddle brush and a nozzle attachment to control and direct the airflow. However, silk presses require not just a blow dryer, but also a flat iron after the initial process.

2. Technique

Let's run through the steps for each technique:

A blowout requires:

Shampooing and conditioning your hair first before using a blow dryer.

Next, apply a heat protectant to shield your hair, then create a few sections in your hair to make it easy to blow-dry.

Once that's done, you’ll need to use the brush to dry each section while directing the warm air downward. You can use the blow dryer to shape your hair as you want; create waves, go for a straight style, or achieve bouncy curls.

A silk press:

Starts with prepping your hair. It includes carefully shampooing and conditioning your hair with nourishing products.

Next is to apply a leave-in conditioner and heat protectant to your strands while it is still damp.

Once you've prepped properly, use the blow dryer to dry your hair completely. It has to be fully dried before you straighten it in sections with a flat iron.

3. Process

Just as we discussed above, achieving a blowout involves a different process from achieving a silk press.

While a blowout requires just the use of a blow dryer and a round brush to dry, shape, and add volume to the hair, a silk press finishes the steps with a flat iron to achieve that straight and silky look.

4. Temperature Levels

We'll advise you to take preventive measures to avoid burning yourself and damaging your hair with heat-styling tools.

But unlike a blowout, which uses moderate heat to achieve a smooth, airy, and natural style, the temperature for a silk press depends on your hair's texture and health. This means there is no particular heat setting you can follow when it comes to silk presses. You simply adjust the flat iron based on your hair texture.

5. Volume, body, and Finishing

When distinguishing between a blowout and a silk press, another clear difference is the volume and body each of the styles has. While a blowout has high volume, big body, and rounded ends created with a round brush, a silk press doesn't. Instead, it lies flatter with a silk, straight style.

In other words, the finishing of these techniques is not the same. The smoothness and straight appearance differ from each other.

6. Movement

Another major difference is in their movements. Typically, a blowout will retain the natural fullness, body, and air of the hair. It results in voluminous hair with bouncy movement. On the flip side, a silk press removes bulkiness and gives you a lightweight, silky finish. This means it doesn't have the same bounce as a blowout. Instead, what you get is bone-straight, glossy, and smooth hair with shine.

7. Longevity

Generally, a blowout doesn't last as long as a silk press. With proper care, it can last for a few days or up to a week. But a silk press can last for up to two weeks.

What plays a major role in their longevity is how you maintain your hair. If you do not maintain your blowout or silk press properly, they won't last long.

Note: The best way to care for your style is to avoid humidity and water. Also, protect it at night by wrapping or pinning it, then wear a silk or satin bonnet.

Tips for Achieving the Perfect Blowout and Silk Press

Are you worried your blowout or silk press won't turn out the way you imagined? Here are a few tips that help you create the perfect styles.

For a nice blowout

- Always start with clean, damp hair before removing about 80% of the water with your blow dryer.

- Section your hair before blow-drying it. This gives you better control to achieve a smooth style.

- Use the proper tension when you begin the process. You can place the brush at the root before following with a dryer nozzle that points downwards.

- To build volume, lift the hair upward at the crown of the head.

- Seal the hair cuticles by blasting each section with cool air afterwards.

For a nice silk press

- Cleaning and nourishing your hair thoroughly is the first step to lay the perfect foundation for a silk press.

- Dry your hair completely with the blow dryer before using a flat iron on your hair.

- Don't work without putting your hair in small sections. This helps the heat penetrate the strands well.

- Control the heat to avoid damaging your hair and do multiple passes.

Blowout Vs Silk Press: Which One Should You Choose?

Honestly, we can't make the call for you. These styles achieve different results. So, it depends on your preference, how long you want your style to last, the final look you want to achieve, and the time you have to create it.

You should choose a blowout if you want a voluminous, bouncy hairstyle with soft movement. This style requires less commitment, unlike a silk press.

However, you can go for a silk press if you want a silky, sleek, chemical-free alternative to relaxers. This method resists humidity better for a longer period than a blowout, but you will need to spend more time styling since it involves blow-drying and flat ironing.

Want to get a blowout or silk press look without manipulating your natural hair? Consider getting blowout kinky straight wigs and yaki straight wigs. They mimic the same result!

Recommend Kinky Straight Wigs and Yaki Straight Wigs

1. Kinky Straight Blowout Wig with 4C Edges

2. Silky Yaki Straight 8x5 Lace Closure Wig

3. Glueless Kinky Straight Hd Lace Human Hair Wig

4. Ombre Brown Yaki Straight V Part Wig

5. Kinky Straight Headband Wig

6. Auburn Brown Kinky Straight Glueless Wig

Conclusion

The choice between a blowout and a silk press depends on you, as neither is greater or lesser than the other.

As we've already mentioned, these styles achieve different results for textured hair. So, choose the best option for your hair and style it. Remember to take precautions and use a heat protectant to help avoid damaging your strands.