Best Ways to Add Instant Volume To Your Hair

12:21 PM

 
Check out Kristen Stewart's big hair in her W magazine Photo shoot!  Wow this is the best I've ever seen her look by far!  Could it be her hair?

I've always loved having long hair.  The shortest I've ever had it was in between chin and shoulder length bob and that was only cause I accidentally told the stylist I wanted it that short thinking it was longer (curly hair bounces after it dries)!  My hair has always had a ton of body naturally, because it's curly to wavy (depending on the weather and the length of my hair at the time). So I usually just wash it and go.  No blow drying, hair products (except for frizz products in the summer), or tools or anything. But for the last 10 years I've had occasional hair loss.

My hair now looks like it has is average volume, but feels really thin in the shower and a pony tail.  So not too bad.  I still often just wash and go, but lately I've been dreaming of big fat thick voluminous sexy sixties inspired hairstyles.  I've been so inspired I decide to do an entire series on Big Sexy Sixties Hair.  This is the second article in the series.  In this article I will share my favourite tricks for thicker fuller hair with lots of volume that I use myself and have found online. 
Volume Lift Inserts
Volume insert for extra volume Nicole Balche of Making it Lovely and Extra Petite for Babble


I purchased a volume lift insert from Conair at Walgreens and it works OK.  There are lots of different brands another one is Bumpits (probably the first one to come out).  It's basically a comb that sits on top of your head that you hide with about 2" of teased hair, and hair spray.  It adds a little more extra volume than you would get from teasing but the downside is you have to worry about it showing and make sure your hairstyle is secure enough that it won't fall out! I always wear mine as a half updo (with the sides up)in a clip.  That way it's secure in place and I don't have to worry about it falling out!  Below is an instructional video from Bumpits to give you more of an idea of how to use it and a video from Extra Petite on how to make a cute bun with an Asian bumpit.


You can also try an Asian Velcro Bumpit like Nicole Balche of Making it Lovely  and Extra Petite did in the picture above and video below.  I have not tried this myself but I am curious to try it.  

 
Voluminous hair bun tutorial w/ asian bumpit & Goody spin pin (7min)

Teasing

tutorial on how to tease from the Freckled Fox
Of course there is always the classic way they got that big hair in the sixties, teasing!  If your new to teasing or need a refresher check out this tutorial from the Freckled Fox.



Crimping
The Freckled Fox has a tutorial on how to get volume with a crimper
If you compare the before and after with The Freckled Fox's teasing and crimping pictures with the same model you can see that they don't look very different.  Image: The Freckled Fox

 The Freckled Fox has a great tutorial on how to get volume without teasing.  She basically uses a crimper where you would normally tease your hair.  This is something I never would have thought to do!  The good thing with this method versus teasing is your less likely to get snarls and tangles from teasing.  The bad part is your hair can get heat damaged. So I would only use this method every once in awhile when you want extra volume.  Check out The Freckled Fox for the full tutorial.

Really Thick DIY Hair Extension

Make Your Own Really Thick Hair Extensions
Of course the easiest way to get thicker hair instantly is to add hair extensions.  I bought some clip on hair extensions to try only to find it didn't make the huge dramatic impact I was hoping for.  It was a bit disappointing and I realized after spending a little over $140 on my full set of hair extensions I wouldn't likely use them hardly ever. I started to look at them and was wondering if I could double or triple the hair pieces together to make thicker hair extensions.  Well I figured out a way and it's super easy and saves you money from buying hair extensions.  If only I knew this to begin with I would have saved a lot of money!  Check out our first post in this series Big Sexy Sixties Hair for a full tutorial on how to make your own thick hair extensions.


Achieve Lift at The Roots
image source

Brushing and drying hair upside down allows gravity to lift your strands away from the scalp. Using products can further accentuate this.  You could use hair spray or a lightweight mouse, just blow dry your hair upside down after spraying at the roots.  To lock in the volume even further, flip your head over again and spray on some volumizing spray, such as Aveda Pure Abundance Volumizing Hair Spray (aveda.com).  

Curl Your Hair
Marilyn Monroe used the pin curl method image found via jadabeauty
As I mentioned earlier I have naturally curly hair and now even with my hair being thinner after losing some of my hair as mentioned before it looks much  thicker than it really is because of the body in my hair.  So curling your hair is a great way anyone can achieve more body in their hair. Just be careful that you don't use any heat methods (or do so sparingly) so that you don't damage your hair and cause your hair to start to break.    If you already have curly or wavy hair you can use a curling product and scrunch your hair with your hands to help increase your curls. This is what I do and I use Be Curly Curl Enhancer from Aveda. Another good option to curl your hair without heat is the pin curl method, or to use flexirods.


DIY Sea Salt Surf Spray 

DIY Natural Sea Salt Spray
The salt from the ocean naturally adds texture and waves to any hair, aka body and volume.  Surf spray not only simulates how swimming in the ocean gives your hair body but it does so in a less drying way if formulated correctly.  There are two important elements need to not dry out your hair.   Sea salt can dry out hair so it's better to use epson salts than salt.  It has the same effect but is less drying to your hair.  Then you want to add a touch of oil to the spray which will turn it into a light leave in conditioner.  I created a great version of surf spray that's all natural easy to make and easy to find the ingredients.  I posted the recipe  on my other blog (where I post about gardening, natural health, and recipes)Minneapolis Homestead.  


Other Articles In the Big Sexy Sixties Hair Series:
How To Make Your Clip On Hair Extensions Thicker and My Hair Loss Story
Big Sexy Vintage Voluminous Sixties Retro Hairstyle Tutorials
  
http://ohyoucraftygal.blogspot.com ©Oh You Crafty Gal! All rights reserved. 

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