More than 400 people packed into Dee Lincoln's Dining Room & Bubble Bar for the Blownaway launch party. The beauty app, which went live in the App Store right before the first celebratory bottle was popped, gives Dallas its first-ever on-demand beauty service.
If the number of party girls with perfectly tamed tresses is any indication, we suspect Blownaway's future looks bright.
Blownaway delivers beauty services to your home, office, hotel — wherever you are, essentially. Simply download the app, select a hairstyle, enter your address and info, hit book, and a stylist heads your way.
"We take the hassle of finding a stylist out of your day and help make your evening out a carefree success," says Blownaway CEO Smoot Carter.
CEO Smoot Carter invested in the company and moved to Dallas after observing the success of two wildly popular companies: Uber and Dry Bar. In fact, he was so inspired after listening to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick speak at a Harvard Business School conference last fall that Carter bought a Toyota Prius the next week and began driving an Uber himself to learn about the system, the back-end logistics and how the company operates.
"Uber is a phenomenon that has changed my life, and I hope to be one of the first 'Uber-preneurs,'" he says. "That's a term used to describe people who have actually spent time with Uber in some capacity, be it a driver or at the office, who have gone on to invest in and develop an Uber-inspired technology that provides an efficient, secure, comfortable experience that betters people's lives in metropolitan areas."
You will see the best features of both Uber and Dry Bar in the Blownaway app. Pricing and timing are both critical; blowouts start at $55, performed in the comfort of your own home — or the location of your choosing. Makeup application is priced at $70. Gratuity is built into the price of both services.
"Drybar is $40 with a $10 suggested tip," Carter says. "For the same money (or less, using our promo code SUMMER14), wouldn't you like to not have to go anywhere and have a stylist with similar or superior skills come to you?
"We take the inconvenience and hassle of finding a stylist out of your day and help you make your evening out a carefree success."
Also, it doesn't matter where you live. Stylists travel within a 15-mile radius of their salons or home bases; it does not factor into the price. There are stylists stationed in all quadrants of Dallas-Fort Worth, and they do all sorts of blowouts, from "The Dallas," a bouncy voluminous 'do, to "The CEO," a sleek, straight look. There is even a gorgeous updo called "Greek Goddess."
Plans for the future include growing to 100-plus stylists Dallas-Fort Worth, who can book their downtime on a weekly basis. Blownaway will also be in Houston in the next month and hopes to expand to 10-plus cities in the future.
This bubbly launch helped get the party started: More than 350 people have downloaded the app and requested blowouts since its debut in the App Store.
Ice skaters showed off their moves in the "Central Park" rink.Photo by Ashley Gongora
The Kilgore Rangerettes channeled the Radio City Rockettes.Photo by Ashley Gongora
Dessert included a cake that looked like a blue Tiffany box.Photo by Michael Merry