Big hair has been around for years, it will never go out of fashion and for some of you out there, with fine, oily and generally flat hair, this look seems impossible!
And so I’ve composed a few little tips that I find helpful, when I am working on creating full and fabulous locks, with these hair types. I have also included some products that I find work really well for “puffing up” those roots.
Getting the Perfect Base
Maintaining body in your hair, lies in the way that you blow-dry it. If your pulling it straight and flat, its too much work to try and reshape it when its dry! When your blasting that “heavy wet” from your hair after washing, try doing it with your head held upside down. Drying your roots in the opposite direction to the way that they would normally sit, will give you an instant boost. You could also try finger drying your roots. Using your hairdryers medium heat setting, remove your nozzle and hold the dryer quite close to you root, while massaging the scalp with small circular motions. “Root Boosting” sprays do work, but only if your blow-drying in the right way. If you spray your roots and dry them flat, that’s how they will stay! Once these lotions are dried into the hair, they set.
I loved the root boosting spray from Avon and was distraught when the company finished up, here in Ireland. Now I use, Extreme Volume Root Lifter by Osmo. Once you have gotten some lift into those roots, follow on with drying your mid lengths and ends with a large round ceramic brush.
An Extra Lift
Velcro rollers are a must have for every girl out there. The bigger, the better. I usually follow on from blow-drying, by putting some rollers through all of my hair, however, if you only have one pack, place them all around your crown area, give them a really light spritz of hairspray (not too much if your planning to backcomb), and leave them in for a minimum of 10 minutes. I usually leave them in while I am putting my make up on. I use Elnett Hairspray, its nice and light and can be brushed through easily.
Always be aware of the way hairspray actually works. Yes, it holds the hair in place, but if you are in the rain or anywhere with humidity, i.e. a nightclub, your hair will probably get wet or frizzy! When your hair dries, the hairspray actually resets itself, so if your fluffy, you will stay fluffy! Keep the really strong hold sprays for upstyles, full buns and curls.
Backcombing the Easy Way
When you have removed your rollers, take the entire crown area and clip it off. Decide where you want to begin your bouffant from front view. Take the first section, starting at the front and put it to one side. Don’t backcomb this section, as you will need it to cover up you “puff” later. Continue working from the front, towards the back. Take sections of your hair and hold them up, tightly with one hand, while using a large toothed comb or backcombing brush, to brush the section that your holding, back towards the root with the other hand. Go right against the grain here, when you have about an inch of tangled mess, give it a light spray, throw it forward and continue onto the next piece. It is optional, if you want to backcomb every piece of hair on you head, I tend to just stick to my crown area, then I spray some hairspray onto my finger tips and massage it into my roots underneath and around the front of my hair. This holds the root lift that I would have already created with my blowdry and velcro rollers.
When you have finished all your backcombing, throw it all back, along with the smooth section that you left at the front when you started. Brush that section back over the rest, using a paddle brush. These brushes are really soft and wont pull out all your hard work, or tufts of tangles. When you have covered up the messy bits, give another light spritz of hairspray and off you go!
