PUBLISHED: 09:26 EST, 24 October 2013 | UPDATED: 09:55 EST, 24 October 2013
A woman has told how she hadn't washed her own hair for almost 20 years and made regular trips to salons so experts could do it for her.
Sandra Ballentine, a New York-based fashion writer, revealed to GMA that at one point she was spending $250 a week on blowouts - which came to over $14,000 a year.
In a bid to break her hair-raising habit she decided to go cold turkey for three months and write about it for W Magazine, but during the assignment she admitted that she would probably go back to her old ways.
'Once my three months are up, I can always go back to those biweekly blowouts - not because I have to, but because I want to.'
At one point she said she 'gouged' her cheek 'with a thumbnail after slipping on some shampoo in the shower.'
And when she ran into an ex-boyfriend he didn't recognize her with her with bends in her tresses.
'I vowed never to go au naturel in the city again,' she wrote.
Detailing how her addiction started she said: 'Like most addictions, my dependence on haute hairstylists didn't develop overnight.
'The initial blow(out) was struck almost 20 years ago, by Brian Devine at Garren New York, who somehow managed to make me look like a Pantene model for my 10-year high-school reunion.
'A few black-tie events later, I was well on my way to being hooked. A fix every month increased to one a fortnight, and pretty soon, nary a week went by without a couple of trips to the salon.'
'Like most addictions, my dependence on haute hairstylists didn't develop overnight'
She became aware that she had 'a problem' this year, when a friend asked why there was no shampoo in her apartment. It was then she decided to see if she could forgo her blowouts.
Despite finding it difficult to see herself without salon-perfect hair at first, Ms Ballentine said she slowly warmed to her new look.
She gradually changed her make-up, and even her clothing, to suit her softer, more natural 'do'.
Now, she has scaled back her salon visits to once every two weeks and is using the money saved to buy a house.
Mintel Group researchers wrote in a report in June that express salons, such as blowout bars, are 'poised to be a trend with ample opportunity for growth post-recession'.
Indeed, Drybar, which has the motto 'No cuts. No colour. Just blowouts', launched in February 2010 and today it has almost 30 locations across the U.S.
Celebrity clients include Maria Shriver, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Cindy Crawford and actress Rose McGowan is an investor.
And most who visit, like Ms Ballentine, say they would find it hard to go back to DIY blow-dries.
'It's OK when I do it, but this is much better,' the blonde writer said, back in the salon chair.
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