How to Get Volume in Hair

Thankfully there are some things you can do to boost the apparent vol-ume of your hair, from choosing the best everyday haircare products to deliver long-term boosts, to styling tricks for instantly bigger fuller, bet-ter body.

Whether you have fine hair, or thick hair that’s weighed down at the roots, making a few small changes to your haircare routine can transform the look and feel of hair struggling to hold its volume. While you can’t change the genetic make-up of your hair, you can impact the way it looks. Work with what you have, in other words!

Consider the below your cheat sheet on how to give hair volume in a few simple steps. By switching a few everyday things in your haircare routine, you’ll get the voluminous locks you crave.

Hair volume for different hair types

It’s not just thin-haired friends that struggle with getting volume and thickness at the roots – thicker hair can also get weighed down and curls can fall flat. Whether your hair is on the thinner side, thick and heavy or curly and flat, there are always solutions to add volume to the roots of your hair for more great hair days, more often.

Adding hair volume to thin hair

If you have thin hair you’ll know how hard it is to get the appearance of thicker locks at the roots. A few quick wins can be achieved by making these simple changes to your haircare routine:

1. Swap your everyday shampoo for a volume booster
Some shampoo formulas are packed with ultra-nourishing ingredients that aren’t easily absorbed by the finest of hair types, and can therefore weigh your hair down and leave it looking flat.

Clear formulas are what you should look for, as they don’t contain so many of these heavy ingredients. For an everyday lightweight cleansing system that won’t leave hair limp or lifeless after washing, try the Pantene Classic Clean Shampoo* – think clean and soft hair with none of the weight.

2. Lightweight conditioner is the key
Worry that using conditioner will weigh your hair down and add to the flat-top look? If you have naturally flat or fine hair, you might worry more than most and even cut conditioner from your haircare routine completely.

The truth is, adding hair volume can and should be achieved with conditioner. Why?

Conditioner is key to maintaining healthy-looking hair that’s less frizz-prone and protected against damage. It’s all about knowing the right conditioner for your hair type.

In your daily conditioner, you want something that will let your hair achieve its maximum volume potential without any of that heavy residue we talked about earlier. A lightweight conditioner delivers the necessary nourishment while allowing your fine hair to express its inner volume.

The Pantene Volume & Body Conditioner has been designed with this volume issue in mind. It nourishes every strand with light and well-balanced moisturising agents while protecting hair against breakage with its unique keratin protection system.

For hair that’s particularly fine and even more easily weighed down, try switching things up with a foam conditioner. This new form of conditioner perfectly fulfils the hair needs of people with fine strands. The double power of a light foam combined with a volumising agent will give your hair the boost you crave. The light-as-air Pantene Volume and Body Foam Conditioner absorbs easily into the hair without the heaviness of traditional conditioner, and doesn’t leave behind any unwanted excess residue.

Hair volume for long, thick, heavy hair

Long hair that’s on the thicker side can sometimes also struggle with volume as its sheer weight may cause it to sit flat. The trickiness comes in getting the right amount of moisture – more than products for fine hair offer, but deep moisturising products may be too heavy. So how do you strike the all-important balance? 

Hair volume products are lightweight in texture and clean hair without the weight. Start with a cleansing shampoo that removes volume-inhibiting dirt and oils from hair, like Pantene Volume and Body Shampoo. It’s formulated to remove impurities, leaving hair thick and full of body, both instantly and improving over time. Just massage into wet hair to create a lather, then rinse.

Then, as your type of hair needs more moisture than thin hair, apply Pantene Smooth & Sleek Conditioner formulated without silicon for a moisturising treat that rinses for no weighed down feeling or look. For lasting volume when styling, apply the Volume & Body Mousse to damp hair and blast your hair upside down with the dryer for a big body boost.

Give those curls a lift

Want to give height to the roots of curly hair? These haircare and styling tips will help give height to those locks for curly hair that’s the envy of all, whether you have fine or thick curls.

• Cleanse your roots with the right shampoo

If you have fine hair, swapping out your everyday shampoo and conditioner for lightweight options can aid your plight.

For an everyday lightweight cleansing system that won’t leave hair limp or lifeless after washing, try the our Volume and Body collection to perk up strands - think clean and soft hair with none of the weight.

For thick curls that lay flat at the roots, our Micellar Water Shampoo will help to cleanse strands to help get volume where you need it.

• Use the right conditioning treatment for your hair type

Our fine-haired friends will benefit from our Volume and Body Foam Conditioner. With loads of hair-loving benefits, it’s an air-light conditioner that helps detangle hair. Perfect for fine hair that curls! It’s easily absorbed deep into hair, moisturising it from the inside out – without leaving unwanted residue that could add weight to strands.

For thicker curls, you’ll need a treatment that reaches every strand, driving moisture right to the tips of the hair – where it’s needed most. Our Micellar Water Conditioner is perfect for hair prone to greasiness (or that falls flat at the roots). It moisturises, but without the heaviness that’ll weight hair down.

• Zhuzh!

Make sure your hands are dry and clean before any zhuzhing ensues. Tip your head downward and flip your hair over. Dispense a little Mousse Perfect Volume across your hand and gently massage the roots, before focussing on curls that need more definition.

While your head’s still tilted downward, spray Defined Curls Hairspray on the roots of your hair. After a few seconds, flip your hair back over and gently move into place before giving it one last spritz with the spray. Voila! Voluminous curls.

Step 3: boost your hair’s volume with these styling tricks

In the quest to get volume in hair, the right styling products are also very important. These can create the appearance of more volume, without weighing down your style.

While damp, gently massage your hair at the crown. It will separate any clumped strands at the roots and give more lightness to your hair so that they can lift up more easily while drying.

Next, blow drying your hair upside down can give it a whole lot more body, especially when used with something like Pantene’s Perfect Volume Mousse. This will blast more volume right into the roots of your hair for a style with much more lift. For some hair types, air drying adds volume for free-flowing and full-bodied hair. Give it a try and see what works best for you.

Seal the deal with a hairspray that not only keeps strands in place, but gives you that lifted effect. Hair Spray Perfect Volume lasts not only lasts the length of the day, but helps to protect hair against humidity.

Insider tip from the Pantene team: if you keep your parting in the exact same spot every day your hair is trained and shaped to fall that way. Depending on your current style, flip your parting to centre or side parting for instant volume at the crown.

Last but not least, remember that a good hair cut will remove the weight on the length and lift your hair up. Going for layered cut will give your mid-length volume.

So, you see, volume for all hair types has a common focus area – the roots. Whether it’s cleansing the scalp and roots from volume-blocking impurities, using lighter products to reduce the weight on your hair or sealing in your style with a volumising hairspray, the key to volume that lasts is shaped up top.

Want more tips on how to get volume for fine hair? Now you’re equipped with the right products, read our styling guide to help give the appearance of thicker, more voluminous hair, whatever hair type you have. 

With these tips and tricks for thin, thick and curly hair, you can say bye, bye to hair that’s flat and dull.