Chrissy’s quote…After years of limp hair, I am seeking a hair routine that actually works. How do volumizing treatments work? What ingredients should I look for in a product like shampoo?
The Right Brain’s regrettable response:
Chrissy, allow us to put this delicately: Remember when your parents told you about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? And you thought that was SO AWESOME? And then you found out that they weren’t real, that they were just a made up fantasy? Remember that?
Turn down the volume
Well, volumizing shampoos and conditioners are kind of like that. There is no real ingredient technology that can volumize hair from a shampoo or a conditioner. At best, a shampoo or conditioner can help volumize hair a little bit by NOT weighing it down. That’s because some shampoos, and all conditioners, work by leaving a residue on hair. That’s great if you need conditioning, but this residue can weigh hair down and rob it of volume and body. “Volumizing” products are designed to leave less stuff on your hair so you keep more of the volume you have. Make sense?
Oh, it’s also possible that you could say shampoos volumize because they’re getting dirt and oil off your hair that is weighing it down. So if that’s all the volume you want, any clarifying shampoo will do that.
Pump it up
If you really need to ADD volume, your options are limited. You probably already know that mousses, gels, etc help you get the volume you want in your style and hairsprays and spritzs help lock in volume. But you might not know that coloring your hair is a good way to add volume too because the coloring process damages the hair shaft and causes it to swell. Many women comment that their hair feels fuller after they have it colored. It’s not a great solution because it is damaging, but you might like the end results.
The Beauty Brains bottom line:
There’s really nothing a shampoo or conditioner can do to add volume to your hair. But that doesn’t mean you can’t believe in Santa Claus.
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okay, i recently saw this advertised on qvc from ‘living proof’, the same people who found a formula to really help with frizz. apparently these same MIT scientists also, recently, found a new formula/molecule to help with volumizing. it’s supposed to be a different approach to volumising products….here’s the direct link to the product..
http://livingproof.com/product/full/
it would be remiss of me to not mention i’m interested for my own hair. as a guy i have short hair, but any added fullness/volumizing for my style would make me most happy!
seriously, beauty brains, how do i change that hideous avatar? lol..
Joseph,
If I were you, I’d search PubMed for Living Proof’s “miracle molecule.” Their how it works video is cute, but doesn’t really say anything about how these thickening points work (how they attach, how long they last, whether they’re just polybetaaminowhatever stuck on the hair or a chemical rxn between that and the hair itself, etc.). They also don’t mention the testing they did (I hope) to demonstrate efficacy.
Is it true that volumizing shampoos and conditioners do have a very high pH so that the hair will swell and appear volumized?
I have color-treated hair and I needed a volumizing shampoo that would give great volume for my fine hair. I used to use this one, but I switched. I used the Shielo Volume shampoo and conditioner and it is very concentrated, so you won’t need alot of product (ie. “goes a long way”). The salon I go to sells this for almost $9 more than Shielo’s website online, so you won’t find a better deal.
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