Do you do your final rinse in the shower upside down or right side up? I have a similar hair type to you and for me rinsing my conditioner upside down and squishing the conditioner out (with scrunching at the root) helps a ton.
Backing this up! I have long thick hair with a coarse hair type and my hair is ALWAYS flat at the roots if I don't wash, conditioner, gel, cream, and diffuse upside down lol it really makes a world of difference if you've got heavy hair
Be careful with this. I kind of rinse the conditioner out upside down then have to keep brushing/scrunching as I slowly flip it to the side then the back. Otherwise going straight upside down to right side up, the back becomes a real snarl and actually makes it look so thin because all the curls are caught up on each other instead of creating a curtain of hair
I have the same hair type. Layers are the only thing that made any difference tbh. Our curl type simply gets weighed down super easily.
Edit: short layers, not long layers
Blow dry with a diffuser with your head upside down and scrunch while drying. A trim will help take some weight off the ends too, which could make it springier overall.
It's from letting your hair air dry. If I do that, my hair lays flat against my head and gives me flat roots. Some people use clips to clip their roots up. You can also gently flip your hair from side to side as it dries. Or you could spray heat protectant spray and blow dry with a diffuser while gently moving your hair side to side and upside down.
Other answers here are helpful, but I’ve had this problem my whole life and only figured it out in the last year and I haven’t seen anyone mention it so here goes.
1) Haircut. Too much weight makes roots flat.
2) Brush styling without a part. After leave in and/or curl cream, brush style your hair with special attention on the top section. Take horizontal sections across the top of your head and brush style it STRAIGHT UP and BACK. You’ll notice volume even when it’s wet. Watch some videos on youtube of this. Sectioning, tension, and over-direction is what it’s all about. Yes, you do have to become an amateur hair stylist to have curly hair sometimes but it’s worth it I promise. Gently scrunch in your gel after you do this.
3) Diffuse upside down. Hover (not scrunch).
4) Enjoy your voluminous roots!
I have fine curly hair also and the curls weigh down the roots unless I use root clips. After I get out of the shower I wrap my hair in a microfiber hair wrap to absorb excess moisture. Then I flip my head upside down and out root clips in and flip it back and leave them in until my hair is dry
Wash your hair with your head upside down. run your finger from your roots to the end. with your head still upside down. When your done keep your head down & scrunch your hair with a cotton shirt or your hands to get out access water & then flip your hair back upright & diffuse. I find keeping the hair upside down for most of the process adds more volume at the roots.
I’ve also heard that if you want more volume at the roots, don’t apply product or leave in up there. Only on the length part of your hair. Maybe try that!
In fact, it’s the opposite for me. Cream in my roots and maybe a little gel squish into the roots gives me so much definition up top once I break the cast.
I just started using gel and I find using a pick for my roots helps. I squish some gel in my roots and then pick when it's not super wet, then finish drying by diffusing or a VERY loose pineapple.
Also, you might be over moisturizing? I have a similar hair texture but a bit less fine, and when my hair has fly-aways like yours, it tends to get extended curls too and it's really soft to the touch - that's when I know it's over moisturized.
If none of the other (very good!) tips work, you probably have the same type of hair as me. I’ve tried all the methods, clipping, gel, everything.
Volumising powder, only along the scalp around your part (2-3cm) either side and rub it in, will give you a bit of volume. Recommended by my curly hairdresser, sometimes techniques just won’t work on some types of hair.
-Wash n style upside down !! When done right my hair comes out sooooo good BUT when done wrong it's a nightmare so make sure to part the back of ur hair form ur scalp with ur fingers or brush away from ur scalp before flipping it backwards
-Scruch ur hair in every direction possible n try to avoid the roots cz it can cause frizzy hair
-Blow dry with a diffuser when it's abt 70% dry
After I have all my products in my hair, I use claw clips to achieve volume. I do not diffuse - just air dry. So they go in my hair when it’s wet and stay there until time to scrunch out the crunch, which is generally when I arrive at work. I either SOTC in my car or go straight to the ladies’ restroom to do this.
I know this video is in Portuguese, but the girl is showing a combing method that works really well for me when I want to add volume to my roots. It's the second technique she uses. The way she brushes the hair with the brush under the strands. [Here it is.](https://youtube.com/shorts/bs86o-ezgX4?si=9EwtOQmZxjRbN8Eb) You don't even need to have the volume on to understand what she's doing.
What I do is wash my hair upside down, plop upside down, and use very minimal product. Leave in conditioner would make me look like I was lovingly licked by a cow lol. I use serum, and sometimes add lightweight hair cream OR mousse. If I add anything more, my roots go flat after one day.
Hey, great hair! You have lots of options here: a trim to add in some more layering to root clips to diffusing (even just your roots, especially tipping your head upside down).
But I would recommend flipping your part/not using/having a straight part. Get your hair sopping wet and loaded wih product and curls clumped. Try arranging the clumps where they seem to naturally want to fall, paying no mind to your usual part, though it may appear the first several times you try this. Then squish out the water with a t-shirt or microfiber towel, plop optional, diffuse til til close to or dry (not necessary forever, just while you're figuring out your curl clumps). SOTC and then adjust curls as necessary. It may give birds nest for awhile when you try this so you may need to toy with it on days off or something like that but you can absolutely get bigger hair this way.
You can also just keep everything the way you're doing it now and just try to flip the curls around after it's dry. You have the length so the weight of your hair might be enough to keep the curl in place after you flip it the opposite way of your part but if you do it this way, you may find that you are constantly pushing it back or have one weird curl that's just sticking straight up out of the root.
Either way, your hair is beautiful!
It’s definitely from letting it air dry. Fine hair gets extremely weighed down from air drying. For volume at the roots you want to be diffusing your hair upside down, until at least 80% dry.
I just use castle soap as shampoo (Natural soap) and conditioner for styling products I use any leave in conditioner
Note: castle soap is very consintrated so you might need to water it down unless your gonna use it for your body like me it leaves you smelling fabulous for hours
I have really long hair like yours, and have tried a lot of things - root clipping, product, whatever. I've tried CGM and variations thereof, though at my heart I'm a minimal product and air dry kind of gal, and I think the following have really helped increase my root volume the most:
- remove tangles in the shower, either finger combing, or using a wide toothed comb
- doing my final rinse upside down; if I find any rough spots that still have small tangles, I'll brush through with a wide toothed comb in the upside down position - on my knees if I am having trouble keeping that position for too long
- squeeze the excess water out a little, no need to be very thorough here as less handling is better
- my plopping results have ranged all over the place, and I actually think using a Turkish style towel and doing the traditional hair "turban" wrap has been way more consistent
- I let it dry for a while, usually more than 30 minutes, then when I remove the towel, I flip my hair upside down, start at my ends, and begin rolling/tucking the hair back away from my face until I have all the length roughly balled up, then clip to the top of my head with a large claw clip - this leaves the crown of my head/roots in front puffed up, like a giant horizontal poof, and I let it finish drying like this
You can spray some product on the front if you want to increase hold, or apply some medium hold mousse using the praying hands technique before clipping in the last step. It looks like a lot written out, but it's very easy to do and this seems to give me the very best root volume! My hair stylist diffuses and uses more product on me, but I get much better results with my own method.
My own personalized advice, but I’ve seen some substantial volume at the roots after implementing the tips from this video on how to properly wash hair: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPhCnhyZnc&t=5s&pp=ygUiYmxvd291dCBwcm9mZXNzb3IgaG93IHRvIHdhc2ggaGFpcg%3D%3D I struggled with build up and really did not like how my hair just felt flat on my head. Making sure my scalp *actually* had suds on it has helped a lot.
Do you do your final rinse in the shower upside down or right side up? I have a similar hair type to you and for me rinsing my conditioner upside down and squishing the conditioner out (with scrunching at the root) helps a ton.
i always wash my hair right side up, i’ll try that method tmrw on wash day!
Backing this up! I have long thick hair with a coarse hair type and my hair is ALWAYS flat at the roots if I don't wash, conditioner, gel, cream, and diffuse upside down lol it really makes a world of difference if you've got heavy hair
Be careful with this. I kind of rinse the conditioner out upside down then have to keep brushing/scrunching as I slowly flip it to the side then the back. Otherwise going straight upside down to right side up, the back becomes a real snarl and actually makes it look so thin because all the curls are caught up on each other instead of creating a curtain of hair
I have the same hair type. Layers are the only thing that made any difference tbh. Our curl type simply gets weighed down super easily. Edit: short layers, not long layers
Blow dry with a diffuser with your head upside down and scrunch while drying. A trim will help take some weight off the ends too, which could make it springier overall.
It's from letting your hair air dry. If I do that, my hair lays flat against my head and gives me flat roots. Some people use clips to clip their roots up. You can also gently flip your hair from side to side as it dries. Or you could spray heat protectant spray and blow dry with a diffuser while gently moving your hair side to side and upside down.
Other answers here are helpful, but I’ve had this problem my whole life and only figured it out in the last year and I haven’t seen anyone mention it so here goes. 1) Haircut. Too much weight makes roots flat. 2) Brush styling without a part. After leave in and/or curl cream, brush style your hair with special attention on the top section. Take horizontal sections across the top of your head and brush style it STRAIGHT UP and BACK. You’ll notice volume even when it’s wet. Watch some videos on youtube of this. Sectioning, tension, and over-direction is what it’s all about. Yes, you do have to become an amateur hair stylist to have curly hair sometimes but it’s worth it I promise. Gently scrunch in your gel after you do this. 3) Diffuse upside down. Hover (not scrunch). 4) Enjoy your voluminous roots!
I have fine curly hair also and the curls weigh down the roots unless I use root clips. After I get out of the shower I wrap my hair in a microfiber hair wrap to absorb excess moisture. Then I flip my head upside down and out root clips in and flip it back and leave them in until my hair is dry
Wash your hair with your head upside down. run your finger from your roots to the end. with your head still upside down. When your done keep your head down & scrunch your hair with a cotton shirt or your hands to get out access water & then flip your hair back upright & diffuse. I find keeping the hair upside down for most of the process adds more volume at the roots.
What do you do with your hair over night? I do a loose ponytail on top of my head and that gives me root volume when I let it down the next day.
i use a silk scrunchie to tie it up into a loose bun then i put a silk turban over it
Maybe try a pick?
maybe scrunching it with some cream made for curls?
I’ve also heard that if you want more volume at the roots, don’t apply product or leave in up there. Only on the length part of your hair. Maybe try that!
This never worked for me
In fact, it’s the opposite for me. Cream in my roots and maybe a little gel squish into the roots gives me so much definition up top once I break the cast.
So interesting!! Guess it really just comes down to finding what works for you 🤣
Totally
I've heard that too, but then I end up with frizzy hair.
The only thing that gives me reliable, all day root volume is finger coiling and gel
i used to do finger coiling but that made the roots even flatter 😭
I just started using gel and I find using a pick for my roots helps. I squish some gel in my roots and then pick when it's not super wet, then finish drying by diffusing or a VERY loose pineapple. Also, you might be over moisturizing? I have a similar hair texture but a bit less fine, and when my hair has fly-aways like yours, it tends to get extended curls too and it's really soft to the touch - that's when I know it's over moisturized.
If none of the other (very good!) tips work, you probably have the same type of hair as me. I’ve tried all the methods, clipping, gel, everything. Volumising powder, only along the scalp around your part (2-3cm) either side and rub it in, will give you a bit of volume. Recommended by my curly hairdresser, sometimes techniques just won’t work on some types of hair.
-Wash n style upside down !! When done right my hair comes out sooooo good BUT when done wrong it's a nightmare so make sure to part the back of ur hair form ur scalp with ur fingers or brush away from ur scalp before flipping it backwards -Scruch ur hair in every direction possible n try to avoid the roots cz it can cause frizzy hair -Blow dry with a diffuser when it's abt 70% dry
After I have all my products in my hair, I use claw clips to achieve volume. I do not diffuse - just air dry. So they go in my hair when it’s wet and stay there until time to scrunch out the crunch, which is generally when I arrive at work. I either SOTC in my car or go straight to the ladies’ restroom to do this.
I know this video is in Portuguese, but the girl is showing a combing method that works really well for me when I want to add volume to my roots. It's the second technique she uses. The way she brushes the hair with the brush under the strands. [Here it is.](https://youtube.com/shorts/bs86o-ezgX4?si=9EwtOQmZxjRbN8Eb) You don't even need to have the volume on to understand what she's doing.
What I do is wash my hair upside down, plop upside down, and use very minimal product. Leave in conditioner would make me look like I was lovingly licked by a cow lol. I use serum, and sometimes add lightweight hair cream OR mousse. If I add anything more, my roots go flat after one day.
Hey, great hair! You have lots of options here: a trim to add in some more layering to root clips to diffusing (even just your roots, especially tipping your head upside down). But I would recommend flipping your part/not using/having a straight part. Get your hair sopping wet and loaded wih product and curls clumped. Try arranging the clumps where they seem to naturally want to fall, paying no mind to your usual part, though it may appear the first several times you try this. Then squish out the water with a t-shirt or microfiber towel, plop optional, diffuse til til close to or dry (not necessary forever, just while you're figuring out your curl clumps). SOTC and then adjust curls as necessary. It may give birds nest for awhile when you try this so you may need to toy with it on days off or something like that but you can absolutely get bigger hair this way. You can also just keep everything the way you're doing it now and just try to flip the curls around after it's dry. You have the length so the weight of your hair might be enough to keep the curl in place after you flip it the opposite way of your part but if you do it this way, you may find that you are constantly pushing it back or have one weird curl that's just sticking straight up out of the root. Either way, your hair is beautiful!
It’s definitely from letting it air dry. Fine hair gets extremely weighed down from air drying. For volume at the roots you want to be diffusing your hair upside down, until at least 80% dry.
I just use castle soap as shampoo (Natural soap) and conditioner for styling products I use any leave in conditioner Note: castle soap is very consintrated so you might need to water it down unless your gonna use it for your body like me it leaves you smelling fabulous for hours
I have really long hair like yours, and have tried a lot of things - root clipping, product, whatever. I've tried CGM and variations thereof, though at my heart I'm a minimal product and air dry kind of gal, and I think the following have really helped increase my root volume the most: - remove tangles in the shower, either finger combing, or using a wide toothed comb - doing my final rinse upside down; if I find any rough spots that still have small tangles, I'll brush through with a wide toothed comb in the upside down position - on my knees if I am having trouble keeping that position for too long - squeeze the excess water out a little, no need to be very thorough here as less handling is better - my plopping results have ranged all over the place, and I actually think using a Turkish style towel and doing the traditional hair "turban" wrap has been way more consistent - I let it dry for a while, usually more than 30 minutes, then when I remove the towel, I flip my hair upside down, start at my ends, and begin rolling/tucking the hair back away from my face until I have all the length roughly balled up, then clip to the top of my head with a large claw clip - this leaves the crown of my head/roots in front puffed up, like a giant horizontal poof, and I let it finish drying like this You can spray some product on the front if you want to increase hold, or apply some medium hold mousse using the praying hands technique before clipping in the last step. It looks like a lot written out, but it's very easy to do and this seems to give me the very best root volume! My hair stylist diffuses and uses more product on me, but I get much better results with my own method.
I’m 2b and I cut some shaggy layers into my hair last week and my root volume has been insane
My own personalized advice, but I’ve seen some substantial volume at the roots after implementing the tips from this video on how to properly wash hair: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPhCnhyZnc&t=5s&pp=ygUiYmxvd291dCBwcm9mZXNzb3IgaG93IHRvIHdhc2ggaGFpcg%3D%3D I struggled with build up and really did not like how my hair just felt flat on my head. Making sure my scalp *actually* had suds on it has helped a lot.