Re: blow drying
It does take a lot of practice to get your hair looking as good as it does when the hairdressers do it and the best way to learn is to really watch them closely to see how they do it when you're next at the hairdressers (however tempting it is to bury your face in a magazine)
Rough dry your hair first untill its three quarters dry and then apply any styling products......there's no point in applying it to wringing wet hair as the water just dilutes the products (apart from products like heat protection spray which you would need to apply before using your hairdryer)
If you're trying to get your hair sleek and straight then work on your hair in sections, clipping the rest out of the way while you work on each section. Don't move onto the next sections untill the previous one is bone dry. If it's not totally dry then it will frizz and kink again. Use a nozzle on your hairdryer if you have one and point it downwards to get a sleek finish.
When you're finished with the blow drying then lightly run some serum over the ends and top layers of your hair and off you go.