How to get big, beautiful hair for the holidays
For me, beauty has always been about playing and creating. I used to wear a short pixie cut because I loved how it emphasized my facial features and gave me an open canvas for creating art with makeup, my most practiced medium. Nineteen years later, I've just grown my pixie out to below-the-shoulder length, and now have a new art-form to master — hair!
Because it's the holidays, and because YouTube has provided me with so many hair tutorials to lust after, I have set out to master DIY hairstyling in time for the formal festivities this season holds. Whether you're quite skilled with hair already, or just learning like me, these are four keys to creating big, beautiful holiday hair you can count on:
Clip in some volume
Having recently discovered Luxy Hair, a clip-in hair extension brand that was born in Canada and raised on YouTube, I now realize that hair extensions are the first essential step in creating big, beautiful hair. The brand's blog is full of DIYs, their YouTube brimming with helpful tutorials, and their website makes finding the right set of extensions easy and affordable.
Try out thickening products
There are hair products on the market designed to thicken your hair temporarily. These products are slightly different than volumizing mousses and sprays in that they're formulated with ingredients to coat each strand of hair with proteins to make them thicker, not simply more voluminous, which will count if you've got fine hair. Moroccanoil Thickening Lotion uses quinoa protein to boost the thickness of your hair while keeping it soft and moveable, not 'finished', which is perfect for wearing your big, beautiful hair down instead of in an up-do.
Hot roll it!
This step is a throwback to when our grandmothers wrote the rule book on beauty: hair curlers! They're incredibly affordable — and the secret to creating long-lasting volume from the root of your hair to the tip. I remember reading a story about how hair master Oribe attributed the success of his quintessentially sexy Cosmopolitan magazine covers to hair curlers, and filed that knowledge away for when my tresses were long enough to try myself. Now that the time has arrived, I've invested in a set of heated hair curlers (setters) with clips.
Curl with a bigger barrel
Use a large-barrel curling iron to create curls in your hair, ideally a 1.5 or 2 inch wand that can heat to at least 350 degrees. To create voluminous hair for a festive party, you will want the right heating tool to make curls that will last all night. I've learned that the size of the heating tool barrel is essential — the larger the barrel, the more voluminous your hair will be, especially if you're creating waves after applying extensions, thickening cream and a set of curlers. This is the final key to setting your hair in big, beautiful waves that will scream "party" and stick around to the very end. Investing in a tool that pumps keratin into your hair would be the icing on the cake. Try the T3 Polished Curls 1.5" Straight Barrel wand.
What are your tips for getting big, beautiful hair? Let us know on our Facebook page.