It’s not every day that I get to coin a new eco-fashion word. Actually it’s only happened once, and technically it was a phrase (eco-fashionably late). Regardless. Introducing….

Verb: Faux-dry

1. The imitation of blow-drying hair; making hair look so fantastic, one perceives it to have been blow-dried
“Suzie the fashionista likes her hair to look great, but she also values energy-efficiency, so this summer she’ll choose to faux-dry her hair.”

I stand no legitimate chance of getting this word Websterized without a case study. Below my successful experiments with faux-drying.

Case Study 1: Out on the town

The hub and I went to see our musical genius buddy Darius play at the Liquid Kitty last weekend. Instead of a blow-dry, I went with a slight poof topped high pony tail. This sleek look will work all summer long… without the shweaty blow-dryer. Asembly was easy: I washed up morning of, air-dried during the day, and swept the hair up in a pony tail before heading out.

Case Study 2: Dinner time, after the beach

Oh glorious salty sea air! I spent hours on my hair this 4th of July … laying on the beach! Why use mechanical air flow and heat, when you’ve got primary solar and wind power?

After yapping away with the fam in the sun, I shook out a little sand, fluffed up the hair, applied lip gloss, and trotted off to dinner and fireworks.

Great looking hair, low wattage. Happy Birthday, America.

Case Study 3: Ravishing while rushed and running errands
This morning I woke up at 11:30am. Something I haven’t done since, well, senior year. I blame it on my urban rooster (aka trucks in the alley) for not waking me up (plus I was having one of those very relaxing where-are-my-clothes?-I’m-in-front- of-my-work-associates dreams).

Being that this Saturday I had 7,000 things to get done, I jumped out of bed, hit the shower, and came up with my fave faux-dry yet. I brushed dripping wet hair into a side part, braided it to the opposite side, hand swept the bangs, and ran down the street to do my first errand. By the time I arrived, the hair was more or less looking good, with air-dried bangs, and a cute 80′s reminiscent do.

Stay posted for my call from Webster. And meanwhile, put that blow-dryer back in it’s holster and go, um, haute-natural.