How to give flat hair some bounce

Their hair is always full of life and volume. How do they do it?

Their hair is always full of life and volume. How do they do it?

Published May 25, 2015

Share

London - As I’ve hit my 40s, my hair has grown limper and thinner.

Unless I bouff it up with gallons of product, it looks like a plate of limp linguine. Yet I’m wary of sprays and gels as I don’t like the build-up on my hair. I long for the thick, bouncy tresses of the Duchess of Cambridge or model Gisele Bundchen. Their hair is always full of life and volume. How do they do it?

Determined to find out, I went to the Daniel Galvin salon in London to discover how to get volume without any product at all . . .

 

BOUFFANT BOB

Lately, as my crowning glory gets lanker, I’ve found myself fantasising about perms. This style gives me curls without the chemical products.

METHOD: Brendan Fowles, a style director at the Daniel Galvin salon, says: “The best way to get beautiful curly hair is to take a tip from grandma: wrap damp hair in tissue paper.”

This technique allows the hair to dry slowly as the tissue gently draws out moisture, letting your locks keep their elasticity and bounce.

With wet hands, Brendan sections my hair into half-inch strips. He twists the hair tightly into a spiral and then curls it back on itself, so that it lies flat against my head. Finally, he ties these curls into place with Kleenex tissues, which he has twisted to resemble long, thin pipe cleaners.

My hair is left to set for 20 minutes. When Brendan unwraps me, I brush lightly through with my fingers - the natural oil on my hands will act as a serum, helping to keep the hair in place.

VERDICT: I’m amazed how thick and curly my hair is. It’s a look that brings to mind Marilyn Monroe - but probably best kept for nights in jazz bars rather than Pizza Express with the kids.

 

UP-DO WITH A TWIST

I rarely wear my hair up now I’m older. It looks boring and, as it lacks volume when it’s tight against my scalp, it can look greasy. But the salon’s Manuel Serrano assures me it is possible to add volume to an up-do.

METHOD: Manuel sections my hair off, taking a large chunk from the top and pinning it up so that it’s out of the way.

The remaining hair he divides into half-inch sections.

Individually, he twists each section around his fingers into a sausage shape, which he then pulls back and pins as close as possible to a single point just above the nape of my neck.

Once all the hair is secured in place, Manuel releases the clipped hair on top and backcombs the roots - simply running a comb the wrong way down the hair shaft, towards the scalp. This then gets smoothed back, and clipped at the nape of my neck, too.

The trick to this look is all in the parting. I learn to pull a little bit of hair from the front free and sweep it across my face - changing the position of my parting. This adds masses of volume at the root because the hair isn’t used to laying that way.

VERDICT: I love this style. Hollywood actresses Charlize Theron and Kate Winslet often wear their hair like this - and I can see why. It’s very flattering, framing the face and giving definition around the cheekbones and jawline.

 

SUPER-GLAM SLEEK

Adding shape with rollers is a great way of faking thicker looking hair, but if you want volume without so much curl, hair grips can do the trick.

METHOD: “If you use grips to gently shape and mould your curl, the hair looks sleek but with real body,” stylist Olivia Freeman explains.

Sectioning my hair, Olivia takes about two inches at a time and wraps it around a round bristle brush, before giving each section a blast with hot air.

“Make sure your hair is completely wrapped around the brush, otherwise you’ll get flat ends,” she warns.

She blasts each section for ten seconds, followed by a shot of cold air to set for another ten seconds. Then she slips the brush out, keeping the hair wound up, and pins the whole curl to my head with a kirby-grip.

Olivia gives my hair another cold air blast then leaves it to set for 20 minutes. When she takes the grips out, my hair shapes beautifully around my face: it’s sleek but it looks very thick. “Use a wide-tooth comb, not fine, to brush through, separating the curls,” she advises.

VERDICT: Super-glam! And it only takes half-an-hour.

 

BED HEAD

There is a fine line between voluminous hair and frizz, but Bobby Collier, a style director at the Daniel Galvin salon, has a clever trick that leaves the top layer of hair smooth, with a wavy texture underneath. Best of all, all you need are fingers and a hairdryer.

METHOD: Bobby sections the top layer of my hair and clips it on top of my head.

The remaining hair is then divided into small sections, which Bobby holds gently at the ends and blasts with the hairdryer, running the air up and down along the length of the strands, so that it billows out like a sheet in the wind. He explains: “The nozzle needs to come off the dryer for this one because we don’t want to direct the heat on to smaller, specific parts of hair. If the air is spread, the hair separates out, taking on a fuller, tousled quality.”

Once all of the lower sections have been blasted, Bobby sets it with some cold air. “When you heat hair it softens, making it easier to manipulate,” he says. “Once it cools, it sets - a bit like plastic.”

The top layer of hair then gets taken down, so that it lies on top of the tousled sections. “The upper layers remain quite sleek, so you get volume at the sides rather than the crown. It’s a trendy, youthful look,” Bobby says.

VERDICT: There’s nothing negative to say about this one. It takes ten minutes and I lose ten years. Result.

Daily Mail

Related Topics: