The Secrets to Enormous Hair

Christian Dior Fall 2008

I was really excited to see the hair in the Christian Dior Fall 2008 show, because this is exactly what my hair looks like when I wake up every morning (or afternoon, as the case may be). No joke - see photo at right.

Even though everyone except my family loves my huge, messy hair, I like to keep it this way because A) I'm too lazy to adjust my routine, B) it's like my signature - people remember me for my hair and C) I like it like this.

So since the #1 beauty tip I get asked about is how I get my hair to look the way it does, I decided to share my secrets with everyone. It's super easy, because this routine was not formulated to pump up the volume of my hair, but rather, to make my life easier.

First, I always put my hair up in a messy bun at the crown of my head whenever I'm home and especially when I sleep - it's just more comfortable this way. It also adds some lift to the very top of the head, which creates the illusion of volume through height, and it adds a very natural wave to the texture. Neat buns make more orderly waves, while messy buns make wilder waves. I'm lazy, so I go with the latter. You can also try spraying your hair with hairspray when it's in a bun so that the waves and the height stay better when you let it out. Sometimes, when I want more curl for the evening, I keep my hair in a bun all day long and don't let it out until I've finished doing my makeup that night, right before I leave.

Secondly, I almost always dry my hair with a dryer on the high setting - it's a huge no-no, I know, but air-drying takes too long and my hair tends to air-dry very straight. When I blow-dry my hair, I point the dryer upwards towards my roots at a 45 degree angle and shake both my hair and the dryer around to increase the contact surface between my tresses and the hot air, so that it dries more quickly. The roots of long hair always dry slowest because the density of the hair is thickest there, which means that the most moisture collects in that area with nowhere to evaporate. Blow-drying this way also serves to set in more height at the roots, because you're aiming the air upwards and your hair is drying (aka setting) in that shape.

I wash my hair every other day - always with separate shampoos and conditioners, as opposed to 2-in-1's - and I never use any products. That's all I do; it's that easy!

Of course, it helps to be born with a ton of thick hair. If you have naturally thin hair, or just not very much of it to begin with, there's not a lot you can do short of teasing it like crazy and spraying it to death - but that's not good for your hair, so I'd only take that route if I were desperate. But if you have at least medium-textured hair, the methods above work very, very well. And because medium+ textured hair has good memory, the more you do it, the easier it gets!