What creates volume in hair styling products?

Most volumizing products contain ingredients that create 'hold' to lift hair away from the head. Good volumizing products also incorporate technologies that have charges, mostly cationic (they bind with keratin and are positive charged while hair is negative charged), that allow hair strands to have lift and weightlessness. There are also additional ingredients that are used to address concerns associated with flat, limp, and fine hair. Those ingredients include oil-control compounds (to help restrict sebum that may weigh down hair, making it look limp and dull), as well as blends to strengthen the hair cortex, address dry hair, and coat the hair to make it appear and feel plumper—resulting in more fullness and body.



Polymers (large molecules made up of many smaller ones) are used to coat the hair fiber to add stiffness and lift the hair away from the head while quarternized proteins strengthen the cuticle without weighting it down. Powders like starch and talc actually rub together to create friction, and thus, improve volume. Surfactants are lightweight and won't leave behind residue—those are used to cleanse without adding weight in dry shampoos.

What about all-natural options? Because we're trying to be more conscious of everything we put on our heads (and skin, and in our bodies), it's important. Products can be natural and still add fullness, however, there are fewer ingredients to achieve the end result, making it more challenging to develop. They may not be as effective when compared to other products on the market, since polymers and other ingredients (not natural) give great hair volumizing results.

Volumizing products give strength to lifeless strands—the formulas create 'guts' and add density to the hair so that it can appear fuller.  Which type of volumizer should you select?

• Use a volumizing product just at the roots when you need to get volume and direction.
• Use a spray gel throughout the whole hair to give it amazing texture and make it feel twice as thick. It's also great to use spray gel if you are rough (partially) or power drying hair.
• For a section-by-section blowout, mousse is best; but, make sure to apply it to the brush and not directly to your hair.

You can find your perfect volumizing styling products...click here!