Your Go-To Hair Guide to add insane volume to your curls (+6 pro tips)

A common misconception associated with curls is that they are inherently voluminous and stay that way eternally. Can’t be further from the truth. Only those of us from the curling squad know how easily they go limp whether you’re battling frizz or fighting the product buildup and definitely can diminish confidence levels.

To ensure that your bounced-out curls pop for days, not mere hours we’ve created this exhaustive article to help you understand the ins and outs of adding volume to your deadbeat curls without breaking a sweat.

What Makes Our Hair Lose Its Characteristic Bounce and Volume Over Time?

The natural sebum oil our scalp produces helps keep hair healthy, soft, and protected day-to-day. But in some hair types, quick excess oil accumulation outweighs down follicles plastering hair flat against the scalp particularly concentrated at the visible crown and hairline. Ultimately gravity wins out flattening hair’s natural volume over time. Infrequent washing allows this to build up sabotaging volume.

Additionally, daily friction and heat styling gradually weaken strands through the breakdown of essential proteins and lipids comprising each hair’s structure. This physical damage causes once-full strands to thin out, break more easily, and lose resiliency resulting in overall thinned flat density.

Curly hair is prone to extreme fluctuations in bounce becoming flat due to changes in moisture balance. Too little moisture, and brittle curls lose definition and elasticity collapsing inward giving way to frizz and flatness. Not to mention curls hide uneven loss of volume and thinning density more easily than straight styles initially.

Lastly, changes to hair growth cycles mean the ratio of thicker actively growing hairs (anagen phase) to dormant shedding hairs (telogen phase) shifts with age. The decline of fresh thicker hair depletes our body’s volumizing efforts over decades.

The Role of Volumizing Hair Products To restore volume and fullness

The right volumizing shampoos, conditioners, mousses, sprays, and texture powders all aim to solve these issues in varying ways. For example, deep cleansing shampoos remove built-up oils, serums, and product residue from the scalp and hair strands allowing fresh revived volume and lift to shine through. Volumizing conditioners then smooth overreached cuticles and reinforce protein content to increase thickness and allow each strand to expand to its fullest shape without collapsing flat.

Many volumizing products also contain emollients that coat strands with flexible polymers increasing grip and friction between neighboring hairs to push outward visibility making hair feel and appear fuller.

Further volume support continues with additional styling aids like root lifting mousse or spray reinforcing lift at the roots and dispersed throughout hair for enhanced all-day bounce factor. And finally, texture powders soak up new oil production preventing slicked-down spots by absorbing oils for refreshed height on demand between washes.

6 Tips to Incorporate Into Your Hair Routine To Make Your Curls Extra Voluminous

The following tips are super easy to follow and include in your hair care routine to give your hair a competitive edge in terms of volume without compromising on time and hair integrity.

1. Begin Your Wash Routine With Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner Combo

The very foundation for pumped-up curls begins with your regular hair-washing routine. You can build in bonus volume right off the bat while heading into the shower by swapping out your usual shampoo and conditioner duo for formulas specifically created to add volume to limp locks.

While hunting for shampoos and conditioners look for ingredients like wheat extracts, panthenol B7 vitamin(biotin), PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, and hydrolyzed keratin (some of these ingredients can cause product buildup so make sure to use clarifying shampoo every other week).

Avoid harsh sulfates which can undermine fullness and expansion by stripping away needed proteins and oils. Opt for a more basic pH shampoo that’ll help open up your hair follicles better and create that voluminous effect.

Volumizing shampoos like Moroccan Oil Extra Volume Shampoo are packed with the much-needed vitamin B7 that swells up each strand with strength and flexibility for enhanced volume.

2. Diffuse Upside Down for Proper Lift at the Roots

Flipping wet hair over to diffuse may feel silly but makes a world of difference in expanding volume specifically at the roots. Positioning hair upside down allows hot airflow downward to open up the cuticle and expand strands. This enables greater swelling and circulation to pack inside each strand for added thickness and resilience.

Plus it takes advantage of gravity to lift all those curls sky-high as they set and dry protruding outward from the head. The key is keeping hair flipped over almost entirely through the drying process to build volume at the interior portion of hair near the roots. Rock head side-to-side to coat all sides avoiding direct heat on any one spot too long.

Finish upright with a cool shot to lock everything in place molded upward.

3. Strategic Clipping and Velcro Rollers Place Volume Right Where You Want It

Perhaps you nail volume at the crown but struggle seeing it slip downward leaving flat roots behind bangs or limp layers near the neck and sides. This frustrating problem stems from incorrect roller or clipping placement rather than the tools themselves failing you. Hair tends to dry how it sits placed so always aim to put velcro rollers deeply and clips securely at the interior base of hair you want to stand out from the head.

Section hair in squared-off parts from above the ear over to sit pin curl clips deeply near the curve of the head around the perimeter. Then place medium velcro rollers aiming up within the interior underneath a layer of the top and crown to push height skyward as they set. Mist all over to blend with a firm hold finishing spray. Allow it all to dry thoroughly down to the roots while gently massaging the scalp to encourage lift.

Pinch velcro rollers to squeeze near the roots propping hair vertically rather than laying rollers flat against the head. Position them to tip hair up away from the scalp as it sets.

4. Get Deep Condition Treatments To Build Up Individual Strand Volume

While most of our volume-boosting efforts aim for product and technique to lift hair high from the roots, the truth remains achieving bouncy curls requires an intrinsically strong structure within the entire hair strand to hold shape.

Using reparative deep conditioning hair masks helps build back up compromised bonds providing greater strength, shine, and flexibility – the foundational unit that adds volume.

5. Don’t Forget Volume-Boosting Styling Products for Finishing Touch

The right mousse, root lift spray, volume powder, or curl cream can greatly affect volume but mind products weigh down. Alternate between a defining curl cream to encourage bounces and then a gritty thickening mousse for added hold.

Allow hair to air dry without roughing up the cuticle until damp before moving forward. Then prep with a volumizing mousse like African Pride Moisture Miracle Soft & Smooth Curl Mousse. Scrunch it in your hands then rake through the hair gently.

Or flip styles with volumizing powder some days then adjustable medium hold spray others to change up volume delivery keeping hair responsive. Too much daily leave-in cream coats weighing thin hair down so blend and switch it up.