For anyone with fine, straight hair that tends to fall flat - the quest for big hair is one that never sleeps. Always the envy of friends with naturally curly hair, my own pin-straight limp locks have always been met with disdain in the mirror. I could not believe my flat-iron wielding friends, furiously flattening their glorious manes of bouncy curls and natural waves. What I would do for hair that gets poufy in the rain and dries into a wild, uncontrollable ball of fuzz, resistant to the charms of a hairbrush and anti-frizz serum.
The bigger the better was my hair mantra and I didn’t need to be in Texas to prove this. Armed with an alarming amount of volumizing products, hot rollers, do-it-yourself perm kits and jumbo curling irons, I was determined to quadruple the volume of my hair circumference.
Flirting with Perms
I’ve dabbled in perms on and off my entire life starting at age 9. I was a flower girl in my aunt’s wedding and my genius mother thought she would give me a home perm. Who knew my own hair would share my desire for going big and take to the perming solution so well? It grew and grew and in the wedding pictures I resembled Michael Jackson in his early years with the Jackson Five. I both loved and loathed my frizzy mane. In an act of free will I permed it again a few years later. And again. The horrible half flat-head and half frizzy mess that was the “growing out perm” process did not phase me in the least.
When I was 20 I permed it again, this time at a hair salon (a real glutton for punishment I am) but realized what a terrible mistake I had made and had it chemically straightened a few days later. My hair hated me. And I was no closer to achieving big hair glory. Sigh. Nowadays perms are called things like “texturizing perms” or the “invisible perm” where just the root is plumped up and the rest of the hair left intact. Always speak with your hair stylist in detail before taking the plunge into perm town, not only can it damage your hair but it can look slightly unnatural. Approach a perm with caution and never before an important event!
Hot Roller Girl
In the 1990s hot rollers were all the rage along with baby tees and Doc Martens - not all together of course. Magazines told us to hot roller our hair in the mornings before work/school - big hair was a mere 20 minutes away. They didn’t mention the time it took to actually roll up your entire head of hair into mini rolls or that if handled incorrectly your fingers could be burned off before you had your morning coffee. No matter how I rolled it I always ended up looking like a pageant contestant in Alabama’s state fair. Last time I saw my Conair hot rollers my cats were playing hockey with the entire set.
Volumizing Hair Products
I stockpile volumizing hair products like my mother collects canned goods for the next natural disaster, with frequency and alarming quantity. Volumizing mousse, root lifter, thickening shampoo, texturizing spray, hair wax - I pretty much had it all. High end, drugstore brand and even cult products I would read about in magazines and order from a website in Europe. Nothing would stop me from big hair glory.
Like a woman possessed I moussed my hair into a poufy mane and learned from a stylist that you should never brush your hair out or it flattens it. The horror! Following this advice, my hair quickly evolved into a puffy and tangled mess. Of course it looked big, it hadn’t felt the bristles of a brush in many weeks. The best products I’ve found for this purpose are Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray, Matrix Amplify shampoo and conditioner, Redken Body Full Shampoo and Conditioner, Aveda Phomollient Mousse, Bumble & Bumble Styling Spray and Batiste Dry Shampoo for your roots.
Curling Irons
The best way I’ve found to achieve the elusive afro that my heart so desires is the use of a curling iron. Even better, get one of those irons without the clamp. The bigger the barrel, the bigger the wave/curl. Simply wrap small 2 inch sections of your hair around the barrel and hold, leaving the ends free so it looks more natural. Repeat until you finish your entire head. Even if you have a lot of fine hair it shouldn’t take that long because the less precise you are the more tousled it looks. Once you’re done simply spray some beach spray into your hair and run your hands through it to mess it up a bit. And voila - you have big hair without the 3-6 month committment of a perm.
Much to my joy, the texture of my hair has somehow changed during my twenties. I don’t remember exactly when this happened but one day it suddenly had a bit of a wave to it and at times looked puffy enough even without the aid of a curling iron or half a bottle of root lifter. I’ve also noticed that colouring your hair also plumps up the hair follicles (virgin hair lies much flatter). I’m not quite there yet but someday I hope to have hair so big that the doorways in my house will have to be widened. Until then, there’s always the hot rollers.
Still from Marie Antoinette © Sony Pictures