HAUTE Hair Tips: Pro Ways to Add Volume to Your Hair
“What can I do to add lift to my locks?” and “How can I add volume to my thin hair?” are two of the most common hair questions our clients ask at our salon. While most covet thick and lustrous hair, the reality is that fine, thin and limp hair can (and often does) happen to a lot of us. So what’s the solution? Check out these volumizing hair tips for the best way to boost and thicken hair from the professionals at HAUTE European Salon.
Give Your Roots a Big Boost
When it comes to giving your hair max volume with minimum effort your works starts at the roots. Adding lift at the scalp starts in the shower, mostly with a good volumizing shampoo and conditioner, but there’s many ways to boost your body without lathering up. The only way to manipulate the roots is while they’re wet, so dampen your locks and apply a volumizing product that will create a lift when blow-drying. Root-boosting products, like Schwartzkopf’s Volumaniac Root Lifting Spray or Bodifying Mousse, provide structure and stiffness that will keep the volume going all day long. Next, blow-dry your roots while gently tugging at them and make sure the nozzle of your drying is pointing up. Alternatively, a shortcut is just flipping your head upside down and blow-drying from the roots towards the tips (till your hair is almost dry, then flip it right sight up and do a final smoothing with a round brush).
Change Your Part
For most of us our hair falls naturally into a part - whether it’s in the middle or off-center to one side), but that’s also where it lies most flat. Changing up your part will give you instant volume. This simple trick gives you the most voluminous bang for the least amount of effort as it creates lift right at the crown. Try a deep side part opposite your usual part and slightly spray it with hairspray to hold.
Roll It Up
Playing with a set of your grandmother’s old rollers is a rite of passage for some, but don’t be quick to judge those traditional hair-care products as useless. Actually, those old-school rounds of hair-raising goodness are still as useful as ever when it comes to giving your hair lift. Plus, there’s no special technique required; just pop them in while letting your hair or if they are already dry just throw in hot rollers while putting on makeup and 20-minutes later, BAM, honest-to-goodness volume.
The direction of the rollers will create different effects (glam waves versus more vintage-esque feel) but to make them last, spray each section with hairspray before rolling. Also, it’s important to let the rollers cool off completely before taking them out - like a cookie from an oven, they need to be room temperature for best effect. Brush and shape your new waves for full effect and enjoy all that oomph.
Dust It Good
It’s a well-known trick to add dry shampoo to help lengthen the freshness of hair between washes, but usually by the time you use it the natural oils of your scalp are already weighing down your locks leading to limp, less-bouncy hair. Prevention is key here, so start adding a layer of dry shampoo right after you finish blow-drying to add a barrier to the oil and add a layer of lift to your strands.
Alternatively, try the Osis+ Dust It Mattifying Powder by Schwartzkopf - a secret weapon for volume our stylists at HAUTE European Salon swear by. Sprinkle a little in different sections of your hair and massage in your roots and strands to give you life and versatile control when styling. It’s especially useful in humid climates (here’s looking at you Texas) and gives a soft, matte effect to your look.
Cut and Color
The longer your hair, the heavier it is so the weight of the length can pull down your hair and reveal a lot of your scalp. Getting a shorter cut (mid-length or shorter) with some layers will give instant lift and make the texture bouncier. This is a good choice for both thin and thicker hair - just shorten, layer your strands and gain some volume.
Hair color can also add the illusion of more volume. Lighter highlights with a bit of bleach creates added body by roughing up the hair cuticle a bit so it doesn’t lie flat on your scalp. Adding a few different shades strategically (like a medium base with a mix of lowlights and highlights) can create a multidimensional look with the illusion of movement and volume.