If you have fine, thin, or thinning hair, it may seem impossible to achieve a glamorously full head of hair, but there are a few tricks you can pull out to instantly boost volume. You could be pleasantly surprised by how much noise you can make.
We polled a small group of professional hairstylists for their go-to methods for creating the illusion of thicker, fuller hair in an instant, and they delivered in spades, recommending everything from strategically placed braids to innovative styling products to blow-drying techniques.
Powder for Adding Texture
Don’t discount the ability of the texturizing powder to add fullness to your hair! This versatile hair care product is most commonly used to improve hairstyle hold, but it also adds lift and volume to the hair.
Hairstylist Brooke Clarke recommends starting at the crown, holding the roots up, and spraying the powder at the base of the root. To wear your hair down or style it, simply repeat the process until the desired amount is in your hair, and then rub it in gently with your fingers. You can re-puff your hair whenever you like because this method leaves the roots of your hair slightly gritty.
Body-Building Mousse
Maintain a supply of volumizing mousse and texturizing styling aids. When used on wet hair, this can add significant volume. According to celebrity hairstylist and Leonor Greyl brand ambassador Trace Henningsen, “volumizing mousse instantly creates thicker density from root to end while leaving the hair with a beautiful shine—even for the finest and frizziest strands.”
Exquisite Ponytail
Here’s a simple trick to make it appear as though you have twice as much hair in your ponytail. Jill Marinello, proprietor of WISH Hair Studio, recommends parting hair horizontally, just behind the ears, using two elastics. “Create a tiny half-ponytail at the top, and divide the lower half of your hair in half vertically. Thin hair can be made to appear thicker by pulling up both sections and tying them into a small ponytail above the first. For thin or fine hair, the reduced tension is a major benefit.
Hair and Scalp Cover-Up
Hair loss can be caused by either having too much of your scalp on display or by having grey roots, which give the appearance of a larger scalp. Both can be dealt with using a minimal amount of effort thanks to products like coloured dry shampoos, scalp foundations, and root concealers.
Hairstylist and creator of The Roslyn Katelyn Ellsworth recommends, “brushing and fluffing your hair to its full capacity, then giving it a little upside-down blow-dry and your best hair flip.” The next step is to spray into the crown in the direction of the part. Any thinning or greying at the crown will be completely eradicated with this. You can also use a powder or a sponge-on product to achieve a fuller look, and then set it with your preferred hairspray to keep it in place all night.
Flipped-Over Blowout
The “upside-down blow dry” is not limited to the silver screen, despite what you may have seen in movies and commercials. This method of adding volume to thin hair is effective. Henningsen recommends that you dry your hair backwards, without the dryer’s nozzle. Then, when the roots are done drying, you can flip your hair over and use the dryer’s nozzle and a boar bristle round brush to tame the ends. This will permanently maximise the sound level!”
Rollers with Velcro
After blow drying, velcro rollers can be used to add even more volume. Henningsen recommends that after blow drying each section of hair, the hair be wrapped in velcro rollers and left in the dryer for 15 minutes to cool. Overdirecting the rollers will result in more volume.
Wet and Cold
Try Ellsworth’s suggestion for adding instant volume to your dry hair. To lightly dampen the hair, she recommends misting it with a water bottle around the hairline and the roots at the crown of the head. Then, using a blow dryer set to high heat and either a forward motion or a blow-dryer brush to lift the hair away from the scalp, dry the hair completely, and finish with a blast of cool air.