The other day, after changing my profile picture on Facebook, my friend Cat from the blog 3KidsandUs made this comment:

 

And so I thought…is there a secret to big hair?

To be honest, good hair is something that is often made, not something everyone is born with.  You can have crappy hair and still get it back to soft and silky. I know in my life I have had pink hair, green hair, bleached  out hair; hair has been something of a hobby of mine. I have messed up my hair so badly in the past that I have had to cut it above my ears.

Really.

*you dont want to see those shots….”Elf” is not a style I rock well.

So I wanted to share with her (and you) a few tips on how to get your hair “fluffy”. I call my personally preferred style “Celebrity from the 90′s” or A La Cindy Crawford.

Health

Whether you choose to have your hair long or keep it up to your shoulders, maintaining your hair health is as important as maintaining any other part of your body. As a teenager I used to get my color out of a box, but as an adult I bite the bullet and go to a professional salon. Somewhere along the line I learned that putting chemicals into your hair does require some sort of skill. While I am educated on bleach, color, and everything in between out of experience, I take my knowledge to a professional and have them do the dirty work in the end.

As a result of my alternating bleach and color from season to season, I do not take lightly the maintenance of deep conditioning ( I do Professional Keratin treatments every 6 weeks) and the times I have to let my hair ‘rest’ by not blowing out every day. I also use quality shampoos and conditioners.

My top choice for Shampoo and Conditioner if budget isn’t an issue? Pureology.

But getting big hair is something that takes practice and here are a few steps that I found work for me.

How to get Big Hair

Step #1: First wash and condition as normal.

Step #2: At this point most people would go for the blow dryer and curling brush. However I found that what works even better is to let your hair dry naturally…no brush to flatten it out. I usually just put up in a pony tail and let it air dry for a few hours and then let down. If it still has some tinges of wet to it, Ill then take a blow dryer and finger dry the rest of the way. Don’t worry about what it looks like, it will probably be messy and crazy.

That is OK.

Ignore your husbands sideways looks at this point.

(Step 1 – Step3)

Step #3: After its dry, I pull half my hair half way up so my under layer is visible and take a 1 inch to a 1 1/2 inch barrel ( I use a Revlon curling iron where you can set the heat..it cost me about $9.99 and I set on the highest setting of 30) and hand curl the under part. Then I slowly let down layer after layer curling each section as I go.

This process can take 5-20 minutes depending on length and thickness. Because your goal isn’t to have even curls around your head and you just need to get it curled in general, do not worry about how it looks AS you curl it. It takes me about 20 minutes and I have a TON of hair.

I watch cop TV while I do it. Goes by quick.

Note about Revlon Curling Iron: I found that it works great, although the reviews of it online are poor. Your hand DOES go over the dial that changes heat setting, that’s a badly executed design, but for $10 at Walmart, I have been using it for 6 months with no issues…I would buy a new one if this one broke.

Step #4: Once its curled, I turn my head upside down and fluff up with my fingers and flip my head back up.

At this point you can choose to spray it if you like with hairspray (I do not) or use some kind of smoother depending on your hair type. I prefer to put a few squirts of Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrient Spray (which is a leave in conditioner) in it while its still upside down and then turn over and smooth. Don’t go overboard if you use that…it has natural oils in it and can make your hair greasy if you over spray.

I found my hold stays the entire day, even without hairspray, and the curls make for a cute pony tail if you decide to put up.

Here is the finished look:

If you have tips to maintain healthy and big hair, feel free to leave in the comments!

 

~Trisha