Image:@jannelleoshaughnessy
Those of us with fine hair are often faced with a choice: moisturized, frizz-free, well-defined waves and curls, or volume with a halo of frizz. For me, scrunching out the crunch used to mean scrunching out the ringlets I had spent so much time creating in the shower. Then someone on Facebook told me about mousse, and it revolutionized my routine.
Products for Curls with Volume
To get your own voluminous curls, you will need the following:
- A protein-rich conditioner (I prefer Elucence Extended Moisture Repair Treatment“>
- A gentle cleansing shampoo
- A moisturizing hair masque
- Mousse or volumizing foam (I prefer Elucence Volume Designing Foam”>
- A wide-toothed comb
- Hair clips
- A facial steamer (optional”>
- A hair dryer with a diffuser attachment or hood dryer (optional”>
- A microfiber towel
- A hair pick
- A few drops of your favorite hair oil (I prefer Darshana Natural Indian Hair Oil“>
My curl routine for volume
1. Condition-Wash-Condition
Wash your hair using the Condition-Wash-Condition-Method. I recommend using the protein-rich conditioner as your first conditioner and leaving it on your hair for up to 20 minutes before applying the shampoo. Exercise care in this step to avoid producing knots and tangles. Gently begin to detangle your hair using your fingers. Flip your head over and rinse your hair. While your hair is flipped over, apply the hair mask and finish detangling your hair with your fingers. With a wide-toothed comb, comb through your hair to ensure it is fully detangled, and then smooth the sections that you comb. Rinse thoroughly without scrunching or otherwise disturbing the curls that have begun to clump.
2. Apply mousse generously
Apply a generous amount of mousse to your hair in sections using the praying hands method to avoid breaking up the curl clumps. If your hair starts to break up into finer curls, add more water and another pump or two of mousse.
3. Flip and find your part
Flip your head back over and arrange the curls as they would normally fall. Part your hair using your finger.
4. Twist face-framing curls
Twist or shingle the curl clumps around your face. You can learn more about the shingling method here.
5. Clip the roots
Clip your roots using your favorite root-clipping technique. I like to clip a few clumps near the part with hair clips inserted on a diagonal. I also weigh down the roots in the front of my hair with a horizontally-placed hairpin.
Optional: while your hair is still wet, turn on a facial steamer, and let the steam touch your curls as you lightly scrunch them. This will help the curls to spring up and will give you a little extra volume.
6. Squeeze out water
Using a microfiber towel, gently squeeze out any excess water from your roots so they do not dry flat.
7. Dry your hair
Allow your hair to dry naturally or use a diffuser or hood dryer on low heat. When your hair is completely dry, remove the clips.
8. Pick
Flip your head over and carefully pick out your roots, being careful to avoid disturbing the ends.
9. Smooth with oil
Apply a few drops of oil to your ends using the praying hands method. When you flip your head back over, you will have loads of bouncy curls that last.
Read next: 5 Best Oils for Fine Hair (Yes, Fine Hair”>
What are your favorite tips for volume with curl definition? Let us know in the comments.
This article has been updated for clarity.
