Bigger, Better, Bouncier Hair: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving Hair Volume

Last Updated: 10/05/2023

There’s nothing more glamorous and luxurious than a full head of hair with the perfect amount of volume—who doesn’t want that? While getting the right amount of lift at the root in thin and fine hair can be more challenging, you can do it. The trick to creating enviable volume is arming yourself with the proper root-lifting products, tools and techniques. Whether you want big, bouncy hair or a slight boost in all the right places, creating volume can take your hair from drab to fab in minutes. Here’s everything you need to know about getting the voluminous hair of your dreams.

Understanding Your Hair Type and Texture

Different hair types and textures have unique concerns, and when it comes to a lack of volume for hair, your hair types and textures can be an influencing factor. Genetics and the current condition of the scalp predetermine how hair grows out of the follicle. Still, the amount of hair volume can vary throughout one’s life, significantly as the hair experiences changes in density and thickness.

Typically, the finer and thinner the hair is naturally, the less volume that’s there. But before you go loading up the hair with thickening and volumizing products, you’ll want to assess your hair type since different hair types benefit from other hair products that add hair volume. For example, when hydration and a lack of volume are both pressing hair issues, the hair may need hydrating ingredients packed into a dry shampoo to achieve the ideal amount of volume for hair, whereas fine yet curly hair may need a mix of different volumizing products.

Prepping Your Hair for Volume

Achieving good volume comes down to a lot more than luck and good genes. Sticking to a well-rounded hair care routine and following it regularly is how to get volume in the hair.

The easiest way to prep the hair to obtain more hair volume is by starting with the right shampoo and conditioner. Heavy, oil-based shampoos and conditioners can weigh down the hair, leaving it limp and flat. Instead, you’ll want to wash the hair every other day with hair-thickening and volumizing shampoos and conditioners to give the hair fullness, especially at the roots. To prevent the roots from appearing weighed down and heavy, apply conditioner to the midshaft down to the ends, always avoiding the roots (unless your hair is dehydrated).

As far as post-washing styling products go, keep with ones on the lighter side so they’re less inclined to weigh the hair down.

Easy Tips for Adding Volume to Your Hair

Start with a Strong Foundation: Towel Dry

When the water holds on to too much water, especially at the roots and crown, it can weigh it down, making it harder to achieve the desired volume for hair. And that’s where towel drying comes in.

The key to successfully towel drying the hair is to be gentle. Instead of using just any old towel, reach for one made with microfibers, such as the Daily Concepts Daily Hair Towel Wrap, to help remove moisture and water from the hair and decrease drying time. Scrunch the hair into the towel with light pressure, making sure not to pull on the hair. Then, twist the towel around the hair until all the hair is covered and secure the towel in place. While the hair is wrapped in the towel, the towel will work to absorb excess water.

Choose the Right Volumizing Products

Volumizing products run the gamut and include shampoos, conditioners and styling products, and each plays a vital role in the volumizing game. When hair naturally lacks lift and volume, these products can be the secret ingredient your hair routine needs to boost hair volume.

Different volumizing products work differently. While it is best to start with a volumizing shampoo and conditioner that contains ingredients like vitamins B5, C and E and sunflower, almond and soybean oils, which add volume to hair, you’ll need to continue with volumizing styling products, so your style doesn’t fall flat. Mousses often contain dimethicone and panthenol, which allow them to lift the roots and hold the hair higher up at the base. Avoid hydrating and moisturizing products since they can make the hair too soft or limp, making it hard to achieve voluminous hair.

Volumizing and root-lifting sprays and powders and sea salt sprays are also easy to use and beneficial. Typically, these products contain volumizing ingredients that give the illusion of added thickness and volume, like kaolin clay, rice powder, biotin, and keratin; the latter two comprise the hair’s natural makeup and help bulk it up.

While you don’t need to oversaturate the hair in them, a little usually goes a long way to keep the hair from falling and product buildup from occurring.

Blow Dry Hair the Right Way for Added Lift

One of the best-kept secrets in getting voluminous hair is to nail down the blow-drying technique. After applying product to wet hair, turn on your blow dryer to the fastest setting and medium heat and start by drying the roots first with the dryer’s nozzle pointing upward. Then, blow dry the roots opposite to how you wear your hair. For example, dry the roots to the right if you wear your hair parted to the left. Spot dry any areas where you want added volume, like the face-framing pieces, by lifting the hair in small sections and drying the roots from underneath instead of on top.

After combing dry hair with a wide-tooth comb:

Begin by rough drying the hair with the head upside down, which pulls the hair away from the scalp for additional bounce with movement.
Once the hair is about 65% dry, use a large round brush with boar and nylon bristles (it detangles while adding shine) to blow dry and smooth out small sections of the hair.
Lift the hair off the scalp and wrap it around the brush, keeping the dryer moving a few inches away from the hair, repeating until it is fully dry.

You can also use a diffuser instead of a brush to retain curls and waves while creating volume. Plopping hair into a diffuser while keeping the head upside down creates extra volume in the hair.

Another technique to get even more volume is to wrap the hair in Velcro rollers once completely dry. Setting the hair in rollers immediately after blow drying allows the hair to cool in the formation of the roller, so there’s extra lift and height when they’re removed. Finally, lock everything into place with a shot of cool air from the dryer and a spritz of a lightweight hairspray.

Get Even More Lift at the Roots: Teasing and Backcombing

Despite your best efforts, getting volume at the roots sometimes requires teasing the hair. Using the right products and tools and being gentle on the hair is key. Otherwise, you can damage the hair, break it or rip it out. Always take it slow and go easy on your strands.

Gently teasing the roots is effective but you need to use the right products and tools and be gentle on the hair. Being too rough on the hair can damage the hair, break it or rip it out, so always take it slow and go easy on your strands.

To tease and backcomb the hair, start by creating a few sections at the top of the head with a fine-tooth comb, which allows for better delineation than a brush. Next, with the comb in one hand, use the other hand to hold a section of hair straight up. Then, use the comb to slowly and gently push the hair from midway to the roots. You can push the hair down a few times to add more volume, gradually building up with each pass. Then, comb the hair back while lightly combing through the pushed-down hairs without disrupting them out of place. Spray a light layer of hairspray or root spray on the hair that’s been pushed down, then smooth the rest.

While teasing and backcombing lends stay-put volume to the hair, this is not something you’ll want to do every day, particularly if your hair is fine or fragile.

Add in Texture and Definition

Adding texture and definition to the hair is another way to add more volume, especially in thin, limp hair that always falls flat and feels like it does nothing. Texturizing sprays, powders, pastes, and serums create hold and a bit of grit in the hair without a crunchy or stiff feeling. Stick with lighter-weight powders and pastes for thin and fine hair; thicker hair can use any texture product.

The key to using them to enhance volume is to apply a bit of product just to the base of the root on dry hair. Applying the product too close to the root can make the hair feel stiff and unpliable (no one wants that!), so make sure to spray it from about four to six inches away, and always brush it out every so lightly.

Heat Styling Strategies

There’s no denying the power of a heat-based tool for adding volume to the hair. For the most part, curling and flat irons, hot brushes, and rollers are the go-to for creating additional lift and volume in the hair, but you want to do it the right way so as not to cause unnecessary damage.

Hot tools can create a variety of different volume-packed styles. For example, if big, bouncy, voluminous curls are your thing, use hot rollers or a one-step dryer with a big barrel to give a good amount of lift at the roots. A hot brush, available in various sizes, can also help lift the root and brush through the hair for the ultimate blowout while reducing drying and styling time. For more of a sleek finish, run a flat iron through the hair but avoid undoing the lift created at the crown.

The Magic of Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo isn’t just for sopping up excess oil in second and third-day hair and extending the life of your blow. If you’re still confused about how to add volume to hair, you can also use dry shampoo to amp up limp locks. That’s because dry shampoo works in mere seconds to eliminate oil and dirt on the scalp to make it look fresh with added body.

However, you can still use dry shampoo to keep your hair looking fresh in between wash days. The volume may fade as oil and product build up on the root and hairline. But getting voluminous hair in a flash is easy—spraying a small amount of dry shampoo at the root refreshes the hair with little effort. Then, massage it in with your fingertips and brush through.

If you’re not ready to shampoo and condition just yet, you can extend your blow a bit longer by wrapping the hair into a loose top knot and securing it with a large, soft scrunchie. Then, in the morning, let your hair loose and touch up any areas that need lifting with dry shampoo.

Nighttime Volume Maintenance

While it may sound too good to be true, you can preserve the volume you’ve created within your hair while sleeping so that, come morning, you’re not faced with flatness. An easy way to wake up to volume-packed hair that sports pretty waves is by using a heatless wave styler. Whether used on damp or dry hair, these satin- and silk-ensconced rods help to give volume at the root by lifting the hair off the scalp and a slight wave and bend throughout.

Sleeping on silk pillowcases is another way to help preserve your style and maintain volume. Unlike cotton pillowcases, which create friction in the hair, satin and silk pillowcases allow the hair to glide across the fabric to retain lift at the root.

How to Style Hair for Added Volume: Haircuts and Layers

Specific haircuts, like those with layers, can give the look of more volume at the roots. Your hair type will dictate the type of layer, the quantity and where they should be placed. Since layers are essentially sections of hair cut at a shorter length than the rest, these pieces can ‘spring up’ due to less weight in the hair. However, your stylist doesn’t need to go scissor crazy and cut too many layers or too much discrepancy in length, which can create a flattening effect. Usually, just a few well-placed layers should suffice for added volume, depth and movement so the hair appears naturally full.

Changing up your part with a new cut can be the solution for how to get volume at the root. A deeper side part gives the most volume, but switching from a center part to a slight side one may be all you need to boost volume.

Straight, long layers can create volume and body by mitigating thinness throughout and bringing up the bounce factor. For shorter, straight and curly styles, incorporate at least a few light layers throughout, especially at the don’t of the hair, so the style doesn’t fall flat. Naturally, shorter hair has more volume than longer hair, which can lay flat with its length, but it’s still critical to make sure the layers are placed strategically for movement plus volume. Even super short cuts like crops and bobs need a little layering for added definition, giving the illusion of fuller, thicker hair.

Nourishing Hair for Ongoing Volume

Hair health is essential no matter your ultimate goal, and that’s no exception when maintaining voluminous hair. Nutrition is vital for full, thick hair, especially at the roots. Following a whole diet full of nutrient- and vitamin-dense foods, including vitamin D, biotics, zinc, and essential fatty acids, will help provide hair with the fundamentals it needs to stay strong. Adding a hair-boosting supplement into the mix can aid the hair growth department and help fill areas where the hair may be thin or sparse and likely lacking volume.

To keep the roots healthy and circulation stimulated, massage the scalp a few times weekly to get the blood flowing. Increased circulation helps aid in hair growth by stimulating the hair follicles.

Better Confidence Through Voluminous Hair

We all want hair that looks good, which makes us feel good. For many people, the simple addition of volume can be all the difference they need to boost their self-esteem and have hair confidence. When the hair falls flat or appears thin, these easy-to-follow tips and techniques can help you get the hair volume of your dreams.

Last Updated: 10/05/2023

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