How to Blow Dry Your Hair for Maximum Volume

Believe it or not, there is a right way and a wrong way to blow dry your hair at home. Learn how to properly do the perfect at home blowout for maximum volume!

This post was originally published in 2016 and is sponsored by Nexxus New York Salon Care, a product of Unilever, as a part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.

Newsflash: you’re probably blow drying your hair wrong.

After doing hair in a salon for five years, and blow drying far more heads of hair than I’d like to count, I’ve come up with my tried-and-true method for blow drying hair for maximum volume.

It’s not rocket science.

It’s super easy and you’ll wonder how you ever managed blow drying your hair the old way.

How to properly blow dry your hair at home for maximum volume

Step 1: Cleanse your hair

Cleanse and rebalance your hair with Nexxus® New York Salon Care THERAPPE Rebalancing Shampoo.

Step 2: Condition and treat your hair

Restore the condition of your hair with either Nexxus® New York Salon Care HUMECTRESS Restoring Conditioner or Nexxus® New York Salon Care HUMECTRESS Replenishing Masque.

My hair was in pretty rough shape, so I used the masque.

The masque intensely moisturizes to give balance throughout. I like to towel dry my hair before using masques because the hair soaks it up that much better when it’s not already full of water.

Step 3: What you should put in your hair before blow drying

Replenish with either Nexxus® New York Salon Care HUMECTRESS LUXE Lightweight Conditioning Mist or Nexxus® New York Salon Care HUMECTRESS Encapsulate Serum.

I used the Encapsulate Serum because, being a blonde, my hair has it’s fair share of damage. This product helps rebuild the broken bonds that coloring and styling do to hair.

Work in Nexxus New York Salon Care Comb Mousse Plus Volumizing Foam throughout your hair, making sure to get it close to your roots in the crown of your head. Comb through.

Step 4: Blow dry your hair

This part is KEY.

Blow dry for maximum volume using a technique I like to call “over direction“.

Whichever way you intend your hair to lay, blow dry in the opposite direction.

Make sure that you are blow drying down the shaft of the hair. Blow drying “against the grain” will result in extra frizz.

Start on one side of your head using the “over direction” technique, and work your way to the other side.

For example: if you start on the left side of your head, take as much hair as possible on that side of your part and dry it going up and over to the right side of your head.

Make sure your hair is completely bone dry before styling with any extra heat tools like flat or curling irons.

Step 5: Style your hair

Style as desired. I used a curling iron for soft waves.

Then, set your style with Nexxus New York Salon Care Maxximum Finishing Mist.

This has been the way I have blow dried my hair for years. Pretty much since I was a newbie stylist.

And I’m telling you guys, I can’t believe how SOFT my hair felt after this quick routine.

What I like best about using the Nexxus® New York Salon Care products are the premium, salon-quality ingredients and how touchable my hair felt yet how well the style and volume held up.

I’m used to not being able to run my fingers through my hair once it’s styled, but that was not the case this time!

You might still be wondering…

Why does my hair get frizzy after I blow dry it?

If you have relatively straight hair, the most common culprit for frizz after blow drying is, in my experience, more moisture.

Either you didn’t get your hair completely dry as you were blow drying, or you are in a climate with a lot of humidity in the air.

If you have wavy or curly hair, because of the nature of how your hair is, the act of blow drying will cause extra frizz.

Air drying is the best course of action for curly hair types to avoid any extra frizz.

How long does it take to fully blow dry hair?

The length of time it takes to blow dry your hair is dependent on 3 factors…

1. The length of your hair
2. The thickness of your hair (or how much hair you have)
3. The texture of your hair

The thicker, longer, and more coarse your hair is the longer your hair will take to dry.

Is it bad to blow dry hair?

The fact of the matter is, blow drying exposes your hair to excess heat which can cause excess damage.

To limit the damage that blow drying can do to your hair, keep the temperature setting on your blow dryer to low (if possible) and don’t blow dry your hair every time you wash it.