How To Add Volume To Your Hair: 5 Main Rules

The chief stylist of MOROCCANOIL in Russia, Airat Gadelshin, and the art director of the creative team of MATRIX, Mila Zyukova, share valuable advice on how to give volume to hair and, more importantly, to preserve it for a long time.

Get a haircut (optional)

Volume is difficult to achieve with long hair cut in one line. Layers add splendor to the hairstyle, i.e. graduated haircut: hair in it will, like bricks, support each other. If there is not much hair (and at the same time they are thin enough), a bob with a tight edge line can be a good solution. We look for inspiration here ─ "To get a haircut or not: 25 stellar examples to solve this dilemma."

Wash your hair

Professional shampoos and conditioners "for volume" are not just an advertising gimmick, but a good base for further styling. Such products thicken each hair, which, as a result, gives a tangible increase to the natural volume (by the way, leave-in care works in a similar way, sometimes with a slight degree of fixation). Unlike grooming products, styling works to create and maintain shape. Freshly washed hair "keeps" the volume best of all, because with shampoo we wash off the secretion of the sebaceous glands, styling products, environmental pollution, due to which the hair becomes pristine and light. A secret move that will help create a stable styling is to abandon the conditioner (of course, you need to use it only in exceptional cases). Applied to hair with cuticle open after using shampoo,styling products will work as hard and deep as possible.

Our choice:

Shampoo for all hair types for daily use with acacia and aloe extract Source Essentielle, L'Oréal Professionnel

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Check the weather forecast

The weather strongly affects the durability of the hairstyle: in hot and dry weather, styling will last longer than in wet weather. Hair, like a sponge, absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, becoming heavier. In addition, styling products dissolve with water and begin to work worse. Therefore, the more humid the environment, the faster the volume will decline.

Why does the styling lose its appearance in the rain?

Several types of chemical bonds are responsible for the natural shape of hair, including hydrogen bonds, which are easily destroyed by moisture and restored when dried. By moisturizing the hair, we break these bonds, and by drying it with a hairdryer, we restore it in the reverse order, while forming a voluminous or smooth texture. As soon as the hair gets back into a humid environment, the hydrogen bonds break down and join in their original order. And that means goodbye styling. In order to fight weather conditions and keep your hairstyle, always choose styling products (including varnishes) with a moisture protection factor - the higher it is, the longer the volume will last.

Choose styling

When creating volume, it's important to consider whether your hair is thin, medium or dense. For the former, you need to choose products with a light degree of fixation and with fewer caring ingredients, since light hair needs strength to "lift" and maintain volume for a long time. A big mistake is the desire to "concrete" thin hair with products with the strongest possible degree of fixation. This cannot be done, since the hairstyle will simply fall off under the weight of styling.

Suitable: medium to light hold products and varnishes with movable hold as a finish.

The so-called resistant hair, smooth and bouncy, can also cause problems for its owners. If you run your fingers along strands of such hair with your fingers along the growth, and against the growth, you practically will not feel the difference: the cuticle scales are so well closed. This hair is unusually smooth and shiny, but at the same time it is very difficult to mechanical stress, and it is difficult to create voluminous styling or persistent curls on it.

Suitable: caring products for volume - shampoo and conditioner; mousses, gels and sprays with strong and extra strong hold.

Our choice:

Multifunctional styling spray for the revival of styling "Luxury of gold", Oribe

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Do the styling correctly

When it comes to styling, it's not just the "what" that matters, but the "how." The laws are simple: uniformity of application and moderation in the amount of applied product. Even if you take a little more styling, this will not add volume to your hair, but it is quite greasy and sticky. Apply a small amount of styling product, brushing through the hair with your hands, and in no case grab onto individual strands. When working with an iron, remember the rule of fixing with cold air: fix the curls twisted on the tongs with clamps and release only after the hair has cooled.

Photo: Getty Images, press archives