What’s a girl to do when she’s longing for big hair with tons of volume?
A few days ago I asked you for your volumizing secrets, and you gals shared some fabulous tips and tricks.
1. Blow dry upside down
To pump up the volume, MBB readers love blow drying upside down. 
“OOOO! I love big hair! I blast root pumper spray DIRECTLY on my roots; none of this spraying mousse in the hands first business. Then, I blowdry my hair with my head flipped upside-down from start to almost finish. Once about 85% dry I use a round brush at the roots for extra volume. This creates volume that lasts almost all day!”
— Morgan
“Personally, I have tried a number of tricks. I like to spray some root-voluminizing spray (I could only afford things like Tressemme or Garnier), and I blow dry my hair upside down with a diffuser. I then add in some mousse while I’m blow drying it to set in the style. If I am straightening my hair, I will blow dry it with a large round brush upwards to give it a little lift. Having enough volume has always been a issue for me cause I have such long hair, but I try my best!”
— Genesis C
2. Try a new volumizing product
There’s a big world of products out there devoted to big hair! A few reader faves:
“My hair is really fine but there’s a lot of it, so I use Aveda’s Volumizing Tonic at the roots, paired with their Phomollient foam. When I start blow-drying I make sure to lift and blast the roots, then use the Marilyn Tuxedo big round brush — totally makes a difference.”
— Trude
“I have tried everything to give my hair more volume: I blow dry it upside down; I use root lifter; I use huge velcro rollers; I tease it. Heck, I thought cutting my hair off would help, but it didn’t. I do like the Tresemme 24 Hour Body Finishing Spray; I think that works best on my hair.”
— Katrina
“Got2B 2Sexy mousse — this stuff is like a Pammie boob job for your hair. My hair’s pretty normal, color damaged, but medium-thick hair: a good pump of that, combed through my hair upside down and FOOMP! Suddenly, I have GIANT voluptuous hair that actually holds a curl for more than ten minutes.”
— Molly
“I use this awesome stuff called Volume Fusion Spray by Eufora. I LOVE it. I have the thickest, most asian hair you could possibly get. It gives me AMAZING volume when I blowdry my hair upside down.”
— xtina
3. Get some curlers in the mix
Curlers can be your BFF when it comes to volume. A few ways to work ’em…
“Whoo hoo! I have really heavy hair and it’s hard to achieve fabulous volume. One of my favorite tricks is to add mousse before blow-drying my hair upside down. Then, I put a couple of bit velcro rollers in at the crown, blast with more hot air from the hair dryer, and then let it sit while I get ready. Spray with a light hairspray and then let the curlers loose for some decent volume, even with the heaviest hair!”
— Brinki
“I have fairly thick and naturally straight hair that I have a love/hate relationship with! I use hot curlers to volumize and style my hair. I wrap my entire head with one-inch curlers, but before wrapping the sections at the crown, spray L’oreal Elnett hairspray and tease it. I let the curlers cool for 20 minutes. When I take em out my hair is HUGE, I don’t comb or brush though it — just shake my head a bit as my hair tends to flatten out just a bit. Sounds kinda complicated but the style lasts for a couple days! Before bed, I put my hair up in a high bun. The next morning, the curls and volume are retained.”
— Maicy
4. Tease it
Teast those roots, girl! Tease them! 
“I use the entire Big Sexy Hair line (the Hairspray and Backcomb in a Bottle are my faves!) and tease the hell out of my hair. People always stop and ask me how I get so much volume and my hair is thin!”
— Kandice
“I always tease my roots and spray with a hairspray that isn’t too hard.”
— Michelle
5. Sleep with damp hair
By far my favorite volumizing trick because it’s conducive to 1) lying down and 2) dreaming of Ryan Reynolds!
“I tend to have the best luck when I sleep on damp hair fanned out behind me across the pillow. I look like Medusa when I wake up, but a little coaxing and I’m nice and bouffant!”
— Alison
“The best way for me to get volume in my hair is by sleeping in wet hair. Its slightly unruly, but VERY volumized. Then I wake up, hot roll it, and I have pretty good hair for the day.”
— Sarah
May your hair always be big, badass and full of volume to spare! 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Aveda’s Volumizing Tonic definitely need a chance. 🙂 I dunno if it will work for me thow….my hair is very thin…..even after I come from the salon after 3 hours is the same like before 🙂 so I guess long and straight will be forever 🙂
.-= Tavia’s last blog post… Givenchy New Impressions – 2010 Spring/Summer Collection =-.
The best thing for my hair is Aloe Vera gel or juice applied to the scalp.
Makes hair grow thick. Looks shiny. See my hair page.
http://kesti16.com/Kesti%20Page/Hair.HTM
I use Redken Guts at the roots, a ceramic roll brush, Redken Forceful and a blow dryer. My hair is pretty thick. So my stylist does deeper layers to lighten it up so I can get more volume out of it when I blow it out.
.-= Christy’s last blog post… FOTD: Volturi Twilight Lover, Beloved & Obsess Lip Gloss =-.
Thanks for the tips, my hair desperately needs some volume. I have very thin and fine hair that, no matter what I do., always look flat. I’ll try some of these tips and hopefully they’ll help 🙂
.-= gio’s last blog post… Gilty Pleasures Weekly Blog Tour, 29/11/09 =-.
Oh gosh, if only that were my problem! I have way too much volume. Think Fran Drescher. lol
.-= K’s last blog post… Day (mostly) off =-.
A hairstyling student at Aveda once used this combo on me: she mixed Aveda Phomollient and Confixor gel together, then ran it all over my head before blow drying my hair. When my hair was dried at the root, she then sprayed Volumizing tonic straight to the root and continue blow drying. At the end, she applied Pure abundance volumizing powder to the root and massaged it. The result: I looked like Eva Longoria in L’Oreal mascara ad. My hair was HUGE!
The volumizing tonic actually works really well with thin, fine hair. Another stylist called it “the church hair maker” after some elderly ladies raved about it making her hair closer to the Lord 🙂
.-= Dao’s last blog post… Cyber Monday Musings =-.
Heeeyo, you quoted me! I’m so flattered! Much love chica. 🙂
.-= Trude’s last blog post… Happy Turkey Day! =-.
Heyyy! Thanks for quoting me as well 🙂 I stumbled upon this website when looking up Essie’s nail polish collection and I have been a faithful reader ever since! Love all your postings Karen!
Thrice thank you! Seeing that you picked me totally made me smile today… I got all excited and told my cat. Sunshine yawned and went back to her kittykat food… 🙂
Great post! And Ryan Reynolds…. damn!
.-= Marisol’s last blog post… Gals Guide meet up =-.
Yes, sleeping with damp hair does work. I’ve slept with my hair just a bit damp several times. Not only did it give my hair volume, it made my hair wavier than normal. I’m not lying when I say people actually thought I had done something to my hair… ‘oh you curled your hair’ they would say. But it doesn’t have the same effect on all hair types. My sister’s hair is straighter than mine and her’s does not get wavy with this trick but does give her hair volume.
there is nothing better than Aveda Volumizing Tonic for me. It gives volume that lasts all day. My second choice is Nick Chavez Volume Spray. It is almost as good as Aveda but is more expensive.
.-= Mod Goddess’s last blog post… E.L.F. is addictive – but only in the best of ways =-.
Turmeric powder, chickpea flour, and milk. Mix these together and apply to scalp for half an hour and your hair will come out beautiful! Beauty trick for models. A makeup artist told me and it worked.