La peluquera me dijo que no hacía falta que llevara secador, porque ella ya tenía uno en la peluquería.

Hacer falta is a very common Spanish expression meaning to be necessary / to be needed.

In this sentence, no hacía falta que + subjunctive means:

• there was no need for...
• it wasn’t necessary to...

So:

• No hacía falta que llevara secador = There was no need for me to bring a hair dryer

A useful contrast:

• Me hace falta un secador = I need a hair dryer
• No hace falta que traigas uno = There’s no need for you to bring one

So the structure is very common and worth learning as a chunk: (no) hacer falta que + subjunctive

Because hacía falta is the imperfect, and here it presents the lack of necessity as a background situation at that moment in the past.

• No hacía falta = there was no need / it wasn’t necessary
• No hizo falta = it turned out not to be necessary / in the end it wasn’t needed

In reported speech like this, Spanish often prefers imperfect for the ongoing situation being described from a past point of view.

So:

• Me dijo que no hacía falta... sounds like she was telling me about the situation.
• Me dijo que no hizo falta... would sound much less natural here.

Because hacer falta que normally requires the subjunctive when what follows is another action or event.

Here the idea is not a simple fact, but necessity:

• No hacía falta que llevara... = it wasn’t necessary that I bring...

Spanish uses the subjunctive after many expressions of:

• necessity
• doubt
• emotion
• influence
• possibility

Since the main verb is in the past (dijo, hacía falta), Spanish uses the imperfect subjunctive:

• llevara

This is why you do not get:

• no hacía falta que llevaba
• no hacía falta que llevé

Yes. Llevara and llevase are both imperfect subjunctive forms.

So these mean the same thing:

• No hacía falta que llevara secador
• No hacía falta que llevase secador

In modern everyday Spanish, especially in speech, the -ra form (llevara) is more common.

Because decir often takes an indirect object to show who was told something.

• La peluquera dijo que... = The hairdresser said that...
• La peluquera me dijo que... = The hairdresser told me that...

So me means to me.

Because the sentence contains two different subordinate clauses.

1. me dijo que...
   After decir, que introduces what was said.

2. hacía falta que llevara...
   After hacer falta, another que introduces the action that was or wasn’t necessary.

So the structure is:

• She told me [that ...]
• inside that:
  • it wasn’t necessary [that I bring ...]

English can do the same thing with that, although English often omits it:

• She told me (that) there was no need (for me) to bring...

Because Spanish usually omits subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form or the context.

Here, llevara is understood as referring to I because of the context:

• the hairdresser told me
• there was no need for me to bring a dryer

You could add yo for emphasis, but it is not necessary:

• ...que yo llevara secador

That would sound more emphatic or contrastive, not neutral.

In Spanish, especially in everyday speech, a noun can sometimes appear without an article when it is being mentioned in a practical, general way.

So llevar secador can mean something like:

• bring a hair dryer
• bring your hair dryer

without needing to specify it more closely.

That said, un secador would also be perfectly natural:

• No hacía falta que llevara un secador

Using un is a bit more explicit. Without it, the sentence sounds a little more compact and colloquial.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns, so ya tenía uno would also be possible.

Here, ella is probably used for:

• emphasis
• or clarity

It helps underline that she already had one.

Also, uno stands for un secador so that the noun does not have to be repeated:

• ya tenía uno = she already had one

Because tenía describes a state or ongoing possession in the past.

• tenía uno = she had one
• tuvo uno would sound more like she got one / she had one for a completed event

Here the point is simply that, at that time, the hairdresser already possessed one in the salon. That is why the imperfect is the natural tense.

Because Spanish often uses uno / una to avoid repeating a noun.

So:

• ya tenía uno = she already had one
• uno = a hair dryer

This works a lot like English one:

• I don’t need to buy a coat; I already have one.

This is a very common point for English speakers.

Spanish llevar often means:

• to take
• to carry
• to take along

But in situations like this, English may use bring where Spanish naturally uses llevar.

Here the idea is taking a hair dryer with you to the salon, so llevar works well.

A Spanish speaker could also use traer in some contexts, depending on viewpoint, but llevar is very natural here.

So do not expect llevar and traer to match English take/bring perfectly every time.

They are related words, but they mean different things:

• peluquera = female hairdresser
• peluquería = hair salon / hairdresser’s shop

So in the sentence:

• La peluquera = the person
• en la peluquería = in the place

The masculine form is:

• peluquero = male hairdresser

Because en gives the idea of location:

• en la peluquería = in / at the salon

If you used a la peluquería, that would express movement toward the salon:

• Voy a la peluquería = I’m going to the salon

But here the dryer is already located there, so Spanish uses en.