How Do I Add Volume to Hairstyles?

When you want to add some "oomph" to your style, start at your roots. Flat hair weighs you down and can make you look a bit frumpy. Volume lifts your locks and your sex appeal. Whether you wear your hair short or long, straight or curly, up or down, volume can take your hairstyle to new heights. Get ready to pump up the volume and work that body, girl! 1. Conditioner goes on after shampoo, right? Well, not always. Before you even wet your hair, apply a deep conditioner and leave in for five minutes. 2. Lather your tresses with a protein-based shampoo. The protein attaches to your hair fibers to add volume. 3. Rinse and apply your regular conditioner, skipping your roots and focusing on the tips, which are the driest. Putting conditioner on your roots weighs down your hair. 4. If you have curly hair, flip your head over and scrunch your curls with a towel to dry and add volume at the same time. Skip the blow dryer but set your look in place with hairspray. 5. For straight or wavy hair of any type, spray the roots above your ears with volumizer. Then, get in a head-banger stance and, with your head flipped over, blow dry from the roots to the tips. The gravity helps lift your hair up from your head, says Nexxus Creative Director Kevin Mancuso. 6. Tease your hair like it's been very, very naughty. Grab a 2-inch section of hair at the crown of your head in one hand. With your other hand, start at the roots and comb the back of the hair downward with short, quick strokes. Continue teasing the hair in the back of your head. 7. With a soft-bristle brush, lightly brush the top of your hair over the teased hair, leaving your hair looking nice and smooth. No one ever has to know about the rat's nest underneath. 8. Keep your style in place with a once-over and all-around mist of hairspray. Things You'll Need 1.Deep-conditioner treatment 3.Conditioner 5.Hairspray 7.Blow dryer 9.Soft-bristle brush 2.Protein-based shampoo 4.Towel 6.Volumizing spray 8.Fine-tooth comb Tips & Tricks When you don't have time to tease, part your hair on a different side for an instant lift.

add-volume-straight-hair

Flat, lifeless hair can leave you looking tired, but adding a little volume can add lift and life to those straight tresses. With the right styling products, tools and techniques, you can pump up the volume without having to spend hours in the salon. Your hair will look full, healthy and as sassy as if you've just spent hours preparing to walk a Hollywood red carpet. 1. Start your beautiful-hair routine from the inside out with proper nutrition. Although vitamins won't automatically make your hair thicker, a diet that includes plenty of growth-promoting protein and iron can turn your hair from drab to fab, Paradi Mirmirani, a Vallejo, California, dermatologist tells "Redbook." Add some salmon, dark green vegetables, nuts, eggs and low-fat dairy products to your menu, or at the very least, take a a good multivitamin or omega-3 fatty acid supplement. 2. Get a layered 'do to add instant volume. Long layers at sharp angles that blend in with the rest of your hairstyle will prevent the droopies without the choppy look short layers have. Lose some length, too, to create bouncier tresses that are springy and not weighed down. Ask your stylist to cut with scissors rather than a razor to banish frizz. 3. Start creating your big hair in the shower, with a volume-boosting shampoo. Look for one that contains niacin, which makes your hair visibly fuller-looking, and wheat protein, which can double each hair strand in size, says Lisa Chiccine of the Lisa Chiccine Salon in New York City. Follow it up with a light-weight volumizing conditioner formulated for thin hair. Only wash a few times a week, because overwashing can leave your hair limp. If you have to wash your hair daily, apply products only to the ends. 4. Use a thickening, or volumizing, spray or cream on your hair while it's still damp to add texture. Blow-dry your hair, lifting a three-inch section away from your crown with a large round brush, and point the dryer nozzle under the section for a few seconds. Then move on to the next section. To finish, while your hair is still slightly damp, flip your head upside-down and spray a light-hold root-lifting hair spray to lock in fullness. But make sure it's an aerosol hair spray, because it dries much faster than non-aerosol formulas. 5. Tease your hair when it's completely dry with a fine-tooth comb. Starting closest to your head, drag the comb halfway up your strands down to your scalp, creating a cushion of hair at the base and smoother hair at the ends. Don't worry if your hair looks too teased at first, as it will settle down in a few minutes. If you find your hair has too much volume after teasing, use the paddle brush to flatten it out a little more. 6. Finish with more spritzes of hair spray to the roots only when you've teased all sections. Don't use too much spray; which can cause your hair to droop. Things You'll Need 1.Vitamins 3.Volumizing mousse or styling cream 5.Light-hold hair spray 7.Paddle brush 2.Volumizing shampoo and conditioner 4.Blow-dryer 6.Fine-tooth comb Tips & Tricks Add some hair color, since dyeing hair fattens up strands for an overall volume boost. Instead of teasing, you can also use hot rollers after your hair has dried to add volume and soft curl. Bring a small comb with you during the day for spot-teasing if your hair begins to droop. Be gentle with your teasing. If it's too vigorous, is can lead to hair breakage.

How to Volumize Haircuts

Volumizing ladies' hair was in vogue long before Priscilla Presley did it to the max with her beehive 'do, and it seems to grow in popularity with each generation. Big hair stands out in the crowd. It commands attention, envy and even awe. When you get a new haircut, you naturally want your hair to look its best. Volumizing your haircut is essential to creating a sultry siren style. Volumize your own haircut and be the belle of the day. 1. Shampoo your hair with a volumizing shampoo and apply a conditioner. When it comes to shampoo and conditioner, shop carefully and look at the ingredients list. Lisa Chiccine of the Lisa Chiccine Salon in New York City tells "Good Housekeeping" magazine: "There are ingredients now, like wheat protein, that can swell each strand to almost twice its size." Go for a shampoo that's formulated for both volumizing and meeting the needs of your hair type. 2. Brush out your new hair cut gently with a wide-toothed comb. As you do this, also apply a volumizing gel. Opt to put the gel a bit at a time on the teeth of the comb to evenly distribute it throughout your hair. 3. Whip out your hair dryer and a soft-bristled round brush when your hair is damp, not soaking wet. 4. Separate your hair into five different sections, keeping them apart with clips. Let the first section down. Start blow drying it while brushing the hair of that section from its very root down to the tip of the hair, then brushing the ends under. 5. Once your hair is dry, bring out an oversized curling iron. Alternatively, if you want small curls, use a smaller curling iron. Just to add volume, however, a larger curling iron is best. Curl small strands at a time. Once you've done this for all of your hair, your hair should be rocking with volume! 6. Spritz your hair with a light volumizing spritz, and you should be good to go. Voila! Go show off that volumized hair! Things You'll Need 1.Wide-toothed comb 3.Blow dryer 5.Hair clips 7.Volumizing conditioner 9.Volumizing spritz 2.Soft-bristled round brush 4.Oversized curling iron 6.Volumizing shampoo 8.Volumizing gel

The Best New Haircuts for Volume

Don’t be fooled into thinking you can’t get lush, full-bodied locks to rival any Hollywood starlet's. The secret to hair with volume turned up to 11 is to find the perfect haircut. Don’t waste time lusting after somebody else’s locks when voluminous tresses are just a hair snip away. Clever layering, tapering and feathering are sure-fire ways to create the illusion of full, thick, limelight-stealing locks that you’ll be desperate to show off. Pretty Pixie The pretty pixie cut has become this season’s it-style for good reason. Celebs including Carey Mulligan and Ashlee Simpson have been spotted rocking sexy pixies with oodles of volume. Celeb hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai notes that shorter locks don’t fall limp. Ask your stylist for a super-short pixie with lots of softly layered strands. The differing lengths will give you plenty of texture and definition to play around with. Team your pixie crop with peek-a-boo angled bangs for a fresh and flirty finish that turns heads. The Shab Rock this season’s latest cut and try a shaggy bob, or "shab." This choppy, razored do is a contemporary take on the shag cut and is full of flirty layers. Ask your stylist for a shab cut that falls around lip-length. Lots of razor-cut strands will give your hair a textured look that is bursting with attitude. Those contrasting layers ensure your locks are full of body and volume. Use a touch of styling wax to manipulate and tease those tresses into position. Asymmetric Lob The "lob," short for long bob, has become the haircut of choice for seriously stylish fashionistas. Give this trend an injection of quirkiness and wear yours asymmetric. Ask your stylist for a shoulder-grazing lob that is shorter around the back for a fun, versatile ‘do. Add choppy layers throughout to really vamp up the volume. Wear your lob sexy and tousled for a full and flirty finish. Lightly backcomb your roots before curling for a sexy, evening style. Choppy Bob Give the bob a modern twist and wear yours choppy and textured. Keep your do full of flirty volume and wear it chin-length. Ask your stylist for a bob with layers throughout to retain that all important body. Team your bob with straight-across wispy bangs for a feminine finish. A cute bob is low-maintenance and seriously stylish, perfect for gals that don’t want to be a slave to longer locks.