These Tips Will Help You Volumize Your Way to Instagram-Worthy Hair

Whether you have short, long, wavy, curly, coily, or straight hair, hair with volume and body can completely transform your look. It can make fine and thin hair look bouncier and healthier. And it can elevate even the simplest hairstyle.

If you find yourself lacking in volume, there are many options to give your hair an extra lift, and quite a few are quick and easy!

From products and tools to at-home tricks that are completely free, let’s take a look at how to get some volume into limp, flat hair.

Blow Dry Your Hair From the Roots

The first way to add volume and body to your hair is a simple step I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember. After washing and towel drying your hair, flip your hair and lower your head so that your hair hangs down in front of your face.

Turn on the hairdryer and focus the heat on the roots starting at the back of your head. I only spend a minute or two doing this, and it ALWAYS helps give my hair a nice boost in the roots.

If you don’t want to lower your head and would prefer to stand upright, you can use your fingers to lift your hair at the roots and apply the dryer to the roots. This will help, but lowering your head and using gravity will give you a bigger volume boost.

Wash and Dry Your Hair for Volume

Some good advice to remember is to shampoo roots and condition ends.

While everyone’s hair will respond differently, you may find that applying shampoo to only your roots to cleanse your scalp will help with volume, as some shampoos can weigh hair down if applied on the entire length of your hair. Remember to massage your scalp to stimulate your roots and increase circulation.

You can also use heat to your advantage to add volume and boost to your hair. Blow dry from underneath and finish with a shot of cool air. For fine hair, your best bet may be to avoid high heat, which can create dry, brittle hair and breakage.

Wash Your Hair Less Frequently

If you wash your hair daily, you may want to consider washing every other day or a few times a week. Shampooing too much can weaken hair and reduce volume. I’ve found that washing my hair 3x a week is the sweet spot where it doesn’t get too oily in between washings.

Use a multi-tasking dry shampoo to help when you don’t wash your hair. It will help control oil and also give your roots a boost. Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk has been a favorite over the years, and they now offer a non-aerosol version for all hair types to combat dryness and give hair a little lift.

When you do wash your hair, consider trying a volumizing shampoo and/or conditioner. John Frieda Volume Lift Weightless Shampoo and Conditioner are affordable options that start the volumizing process from the very first step of your haircare routine.

Suitable for daily use, this shampoo and conditioner cleanses and conditions gently while adding featherlight volume (and they’re color-safe, too). They’re particularly effective for fine hair, boosting body and shine without weighing your hair down.

Try A Volumizing Mousse or Spray

A throwback to the ’80s and ’90s that really works: mousse. This time, you won’t be using half a can and scrunching up your entire head of hair (unless you want to)! Apply mousse with your hands to dry or damp hair and work it to the mid-length of your strands.

Kenra Volume Mousse Extra 17 provides a strong, reliable hold without making your hair stiff or sticky. Work a dollop of this mousse through damp hair from roots to ends before drying. It’s perfect for creating voluminous, high-impact styles that need to withstand the elements.

Paul Mitchell Extra-Body Boost Volumizing Spray helps you get lift at the roots. Apply it directly to the root area when your hair is still damp, and style as usual. This spray gives fine hair volume and thickness and is perfect for round brush blowouts.

Use the Right Brush and Brushing Technique

A quality hairbrush will be gentle on your strands and work through your hair easily. Here are a few options:

• A large round brush is a fantastic tool for adding smoothness and volume to your hair, especially during blow-drying.
• A teasing brush is excellent for adding volume, especially at the roots. Unlike regular brushes, it has densely packed bristles that help in gently backcombing your hair.
• You might even consider a hot air brush, which is a multi-tasking hair styler and dryer in one. Use it to add volume, curl, or straighten your hair while saving time.

Always be gentle when brushing your hair. Start by gently detangling the ends of your hair and working your way up to the roots. This minimizes breakage and fallout.

Tease Your Hair

It may take some practice, but teasing your hair will provide a lift at the crown and some beautiful volume for your hair. Apply a texture spray to the roots and ends in sections to provide some grip for the tease.

If you use a teasing comb, be sure to be gentle with the comb and pull it straight out so you do not damage your hair. Then, follow with hairspray to hold the tease.

Use Hot Rollers

Hot rollers may not be as popular today as they were years ago, but they will provide luxurious volume! You can use rollers around the crown of your head to give your hair some bouncy volume.

Looking for a new set of hot rollers? You don’t have to worry about burning your fingers with the CoolGrip rollers that come with the T3 Voluminous Hot Rollers Set. So much better than the hot rollers we grew up with!

Get A Trim/Color/Layers/Change Your Part

A simple trim of your hair can remove heavy ends and instantly give hair a lift.
I’m not sure about you, but every time I get a trim, it seems like an instant infusion of volume into my hair. This should come as no surprise since the more hair you have, the more weight you have, which flattens your hair.

Layers in your hair will provide the illusion of volume. Even brightening your hair with simple highlights will add dimension to an otherwise flat look. Multiple shades give even more dimension and movement. Ask your stylist to find the best color and style to maximize the volume of your hair.

For a special occasion, you may even want to consider hair extensions. The payoff in extra volume will be immediate.

And for the easiest suggestion of all, simply switching your part can provide an immediately noticeable boost in volume. If you wear your hair the same way every day, it may flatten, so switching from one side to the other or from a middle part to a side part will provide a nice boost to your locks.

Try A Hair Supplement

While most of these suggestions lean toward external manipulation of your hair, don’t forget about ways to boost your volume through the use of supplements. Biotin, a B vitamin, is widely used to improve hair health and reduce hair loss. Hair supplements specifically formulated to thicken hair will provide that much-needed volume boost.

A favorite of ours is Viviscal Hair Growth Supplement. Viviscal contains biotin and other vitamins, plus their proprietary AminoMar Marine Complex. In published clinical studies, users saw a 92% increase in thickness after 3 months of use.

If you continue to have issues with volume and have thin hair, you can always speak to your stylist about in-salon volumizing treatments that go way beyond a volumizing shampoo or conditioner. These treatments will also last longer for extended volume and body.