I have a hard time letting people in my hair. When I say a hard time, I mean A REALLY HARD TIME. I don't just mean I don't want anyone in my hair, I mean I don't like to have other hands in my hair. Well it just so happens that I have been seeing blow dry bars popping up around the city and just in general and I got a little curious. A blowdry bar is a salon that you can go to get a shampoo,condition and blow out. You don't have to get your hairstyled when you go there, you can just get it blow dried. They offer styling options but its your choice. I decided to take the plunge and test it out for myself. I called "BLO BlowDry Bar" on Magazine St in New Orleans and the receptionist informed me that it would be about $45 bucks to get my hair blow dried. I personally don't think that's too bad. They accept walk-ins and last minute reservations so I made it and I went over there. Before she started, I had the most unimpressed look on my face EVER. It wasn't intentional. It's just my face and I must also admit I had my skepticism . The Staff: The staff was very nice! They were so friendly. There were about 3 people in there but when I called ahead to ask if they even did African-American hair, she told me that they all stylist were required to take a course on dealing with natural hair in order to even work there. My initial thought was "yeah, ok" but I must say I was impressed! The Stylist: She detangled my hair in sections. I didn't even have to tell her to do it, she already knew to! I could have had a better wash experience because I really like my scalp to be scrubbed vigorously so I kept dropping hints that she could be a little rougher. I was saying things like "well i'm really not tender headed so you can be a little rough". Needless to say, she never picked up the hint -___- Halfway there... The Atmosphere: BLO has a very minimalist/chic look to it. It doesn't feel like your just in a hair salon. It has a calming yet fun atmosphere about it. Really laid back but at the same time really girly. I hope that makes sense. The Products: Oh yall thought I wasn't paying attention to that? OF COURSE I looked. They were using "UNITE" hair products. They smelled amazing and left my hair with a lot of body! Overall I give BLO a 8/10 and I say that because of my wash bowl experience. When I get my hair washed , I want it SCRUBBED! I want to fall to sleep at the wash bowl and get ready to go to sleep when it's over. It took about 2 hours from start to finish but that's to be expected. Overall, I can see myself returning to BLO in the future. I really enjoyed it and it was nice to have someone else blow dry my hair for a change.