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Blow drying your hair is often a daunting task. It takes a while, it’s hot, and oftentimes, your hair doesn’t turn out how you want it. Even harder than simply drying your strands is building volume. Creating lasting volume at the root is what can make or break a hairstyle. If you struggle with this, you’re not alone. But thankfully, we have some tips and tricks that are sure to take your hair sky high. Scroll below to discover how to blow dry your hair for volume that lasts!
How to Blow Dry Your Hair for Volume That Lasts
Wash
The foundation of good hair volume is the wash. What you wash your hair with directly impacts how high your volume will get, as well as how long it will last. For some, using a high-quality volumizing shampoo and conditioner is all they need. For others, a combination or regiment of products is required. Try playing around with what works best for your hair type by starting with a volumizing wash and applying your learnings from there. If you find your hair is drying out more, you may need to deep condition it throughout the week. If you find your hair is getting weighed down, the product you are using might not be for you. Overall, it is a lot of trial and error, but starting with a volumizing set is always your best bet.
Prep
Once you’ve set the foundation and washed your mane, it’s time to add your prep products. Ideally, you should be using a root lifter, bodybuilding product, hair oil or blow dry cream, and a heat protectant. While this may seem like a lot, oftentimes these products are dual-purpose. A blow-dry cream can act as a heat protectant; a root lifter can be used throughout the mid-lengths to build body and create maximum volume.
Always start by combing out and detangling your wet hair before you begin the application. Root-specific products typically should be applied first, followed by heat protectants, bodybuilders, blow-dry creams, and hair oils. Hair oils may seem counterintuitive but they can actually help contribute to shine and speed up dry time.
“Rough” Dry
To keep your drying routine more manageable, we typically recommend a rough dry to start. A rough dry doesn’t mean you should be physically rough with your strands, more so, it means you should dry the hair approximately 50% to 60% of the way using only your fingers, hands, and your blow dryer. This will save you time later, and allow you to work through the volume creation stage much quicker. Another tip for drying hair faster is to get an ionic hair dryer—they eliminate frizz while reducing drying time.
Just remember, do not blow dry your hair upside down. Stand up straight when you rough dry. Whether you have straight hair, curly hair, thin hair, or thick hair, this rule applies to everyone. Flipping your hair and drying it upside down can actually create more frizz and more hair damage due to the cuticle layer (outermost layer) of your hair being blasted open by air flowing against it in the opposite direction.
Choose Your Brush
Now’s the time to get serious. The type of brush you use to finish your blow dry will make all the difference. When building volume, you should use a paddle brush or a ceramic round brush. Round brushing your own hair is a technique that can take some time to master, so a paddle brush is typically recommended for those who are less experienced with the blow dryer.
Go to Work
Ready, set, section! It’s time to get to work. Pull the top section of your hair up on top of your head and focus on everything from your temples down first. Using a paddle brush, lift and dry the hair in an upward motion, smoothing each strand as you go, back and away from the face. Once you’ve dried the underneath, let down the top section of your hair and push it toward your face. Here is where the pattern begins.
Using a paddle brush, brush and dry the hair forward toward the face, then at the temple, take the hair up and to the left. Do the same on the other side but up and to the right, finishing the round by blow-drying the hair up, back, and away from the face. You will continue this pattern until your roots, mids, and ends are dry.
As you work through the top section, keep in mind that the dryer should be following just behind the hairbrush across your scalp, or straight up if you are lifting the hair. If you continue this pattern until the section is completely dry, you will see loads of volume on the top of your head. Once done, simply flip your hair back and forth a few times to shake out any sectioning lines and let it rest. Once your voluminous hair is completely cool, move forward with any unfinished styling or curling you have left. If you want to curl your hair with your blow dryer, here are our top tips on how to curl hair with a blow dryer.
