Blow dry bars in Toronto

Blow dry bars in Toronto promise to get the job done fast and easy. That simple premise seemed to spawn several stand-alone bars, emerging over the past few years with trendy relevance and a fresh take on the traditional salon experience. Some of the veterans began to take notice, and existing salons started adding on or emphasizing the blow dry services available at their businesses.

Still, the popularity of the stand-alone blow bar doesn't seem to be weakening yet, as evidenced by the fairly recent opening of Cranberry Flirt, as well as the Bayview Village Blo-to-be, set to open this summer. It seems to me the stand-alones offer a completely different experience--sort of like a grocery store exclusively geared toward picking up last-minute dinner ingredients, as opposed to weekly shopping lists.

Wherever you go, expect to pay around $30, expect to spend about 30 minutes, and, regretfully, expect to have to choose a style from a list with some sort of unwieldy flirty name.

Blo
Blo trumpets itself as the "original" North American blow dry bar, with 12 locations in Canada and the U.S. At Blo, you order off a "hair menu" of seven blow-out styles including the curly, flirty "Holly Would" and sleek, straight "Executive Sweet." Picking a style off a menu is one reason why Blo can guarantee you'll be in an out in about 30 minutes, as those of us who often try fruitlessly to verbalize our hair conceptions can understand. Blo has five locations in Toronto, with another opening up this summer. A regular blow is $33, and for all you fellas, a "bro job" is $21.

Cranberry Flirt
Cranberry Flirt is the new kid in town offering blow outs to west-enders starting at $20. On Annette Street east of Jane, it's more than just blow and go, though, offering manicures, pedicures, and all sorts of waxing. You can get a quick peel, paint, and blow, in other words. Doesn't that sound like something to tell grandma? Cranberry Flirt also offers a full head of curls starting at $30, and up-dos starting at $45.

Blowdry Lounge
Blowdry Lounge claims itself to be Toronto's first blow dry bar, offering blow outs starting at $35. It does, however, offer cuts, starting at $20 for "dusting" and $30 for style cuts. On Yonge just South of St. Clair, Blowdry Lounge will also come to you, for all those occasions when bad hair is just too repulsive to see the light of day. No appointment necessary.

Blown
Located in Hair on the Avenue at Davenport and Avenue Road, Blown is a blow dry bar within a salon, offering a wash and dry for $35. Like Blo, customers can choose from a menu of looks that also come with cheeky names. Regular clients (I think I'll avoid referring to them as those "hooked on blow") can opt for package deals, including 10 for $280 and 20 for $490.

Do My Hair
Do My Hair is a blow dry and makeup bar on Mount Pleasant south of Eglinton. For those on a budget, it offers a discounted blow dry on Tuesdays and Wednesdays ($25), as well as regular blow outs ($35) the rest of the week. Thirty seems to be the magic number again, since Do My Hair promises you'll be in and out in around 30 minutes. The makeup bar is where you'll get a "fabulous fresh face" in around the same amount of time, and the rest of the space offers a full range of salon services.

Ritual 2
Ritual 2's "Blow & Go Bar" on King West is following the trend with its punny-named blow outs, offered for $33 by a "Blowfessional" in under an hour. You can choose from "The Straight And Narrow," "The Basic Blow Out," "Diffuse The Situation" and more. For perhaps a more superior blow, you can opt for a stylist or senior stylist, which will cost you a bit more.

Blow Me Dry
Careful Googling this one. I ended up...uh...somewhere else. Anyway, the Blow Me Dry for hair is the blow dry bar in Domenica & Drea inside Novo Spa in Yorkville. For about $30 and 30 minutes, you can get one of the blow outs on Blow Me Dry's menu, including the "Giddy Up," the "Smooth Talker," or the "Up Up And Away." There are six options, one of which is extension maintenance. Appointment not required.