How to Add Volume to Hair (for Men)

Establishing a Hair-Care Routine

Wash your hair on a daily basis. Your hair will look—and feel—its best, and have the most volume if it’s washed every day (or at least every other day). Find a hair-washing regimen that seems to maximize the volume of your hair and stick to it. Greasy or unwashed hair tends to clump together, making the hair look flat and deflated.

Rinse out hair-care products with warm or room-temperature water. Try to avoid rinsing shampoo or conditioner out of your hair with hot water. Warm or room-temperature water is ideal for washing shampoos and conditioners out of your hair. Hot water can damage your hair follicles and exacerbate the appearance of thinning hair.

Clean and condition your hair with thickening products. Thickening shampoos and conditioners are a great way to add lift to your hair. Thickening products work by coating the hair follicle with a special polymer designed to increase the width of individual hair strands. If you find a thickening product that you like, plan to use it daily in place of your former shampoo. To achieve the best results, try pairing a volumizing shampoo with a volumizing conditioner. You can find thickening shampoos and conditioners at your local grocery store.

Let your hair grow out. It’s tough to increase the volume of short hair, no matter how much product you put in it, since short hair is more difficult to lift and style. If you’re trying to increase the volume of your hair, grow your hair out by at least 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm). This extra length will give you more hair to style and volumize, and give your hair a more unique look. Having longer hair doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily look shaggy. You can keep the back and sides short, and just grow out longer hair on the top of your head.

Styling Your Hair for Greater Volume

Use a light, volumizing mousse product. Mousse is generally preferable to wax or gel-based styling products, since it tends to leave less residue in your hair after it has been styled. Heavy gels, sprays, waxes, and mousses can leave hair matted down and greasy looking, whereas mousse keeps hair looking full and high-volume. As a general rule, the less you feel the product in your hair, the better it is for increasing the appearance of volume. It’s most important that you find a product that works well for your particular look. Try out a few mousses—and maybe even a gel or 2—until you find a product that you like.

Avoid gel products that stiffen the hair. If a volumizing styling product leaves your hair feeling “crispy” or “crunchy,” it’s probably not ideal for increasing the appearance of volume. The more flexible your hair is after using a volumizing styling product, the more effective it will be in increasing the appearance of volume.

Use a moderate amount of volumizing styling products daily. While gels, mousses, waxes, and sprays do help increase the appearance of volume, their effects are temporary. You will need to maintain a consistent regimen when using these products to most effectively increase the appearance of volume. It’s best to follow the label’s recommendations for applying a volumizing product. Use the amount of the product that is recommended on the label.

Apply styling products to the tips of your hair. Scoop up roughly a dime-sized amount of product on 3 or 4 fingers on each hand, and run both hands backward through your hair. Coat the hairs fully with the product. Avoid putting an excessive amount of product on the roots, or you’ll end up with clumps of hair stuck together. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times, until you have your hair styled to a degree that suits you. Applying a volumizing styling product to the roots of your hair can have an adverse effect on the appearance of volume. This is because applying products to the roots of your hair will tend to cause a clumping effect and give your volumized hair a patchy look.

Use your hands to style your hair. Avoid combing your hair, since combs can negatively impact the appearance of volume. For the best results in increasing the appearance of volume, use your hands. Combs have a tendency to pull and tear at the roots of the hair and can pull hairs in an unusual direction, which opens up larger patches of visible scalp.

Use a blow dryer after applying volumizing styling products. Dry hair tends to appear more voluminous than wet hair or hair that has been oversaturated with product. For the best results, blow dry your hair after using a volumizing styling product. Hold the blow dryer about 12 inches (30 cm) away from your head, and run your hand through your hair while it’s drying. This will help the hair dry more quickly. Most styling products recommend applying them to damp or moist hair. This helps the product to uniformly coat your hair. If your hair is wet when you put the products in, wait for your hair to dry and run your hands through it a few times to lift the hair.

Style your hair in different ways to find a look that suits you. Changing your hairstyle to maximize the appearance of volume is often a process of trial and error. Spend some time trying various techniques to see what works best for you. For example, try running your hands sideways through your hair when applying a volumizing product, or change the amount of product you use. If you have naturally curly or wavy hair, try breaking up the curls and waves with your fingers to give your hair as much volume as possible. Separate each curl 2 to 4 times to make your hair appear fuller. Try to disperse styling products evenly throughout your hair: top, front, back, and sides. This should help ensure that the application of styling products leaves your hair looking naturally thick and not oversaturated with product.

Caring for Your Hair and Scalp

Avoid sunburn on your scalp. It’s not common knowledge, but sunburn on the top of your head can have a negative effect on the volume of your hair. A sunburned scalp will cause hair to fall out, leading to thinner hair with reduced volume. So, if you’re going to be out in the sun for more than 20 or 30 minutes, plan to wear a hat or put some sunscreen on the top of your head. Burning the top of your head will also make the hairs themselves brittle and thin, which decreases the amount of volume in your hair.

Don’t wear a tight hat every day. Many men wear a baseball cap, stocking cap, or cowboy hat on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately, this can have a negative effect on the volume of your hair. Wearing a hat can compress your hair and reduce its volume, and can also reduce circulation to your scalp. This, in turn, will reduce the health and volume of your hair. Wearing a tight hat every day can also damage your follicles and cause your hair to thin.

Consider using hair-growth products. If part of the reason your hair has lost volume is that your hair is thinning, a hair-growth product may be the most effective way to restore hair volume. Talk to your doctor, and see what type of hair-growth product they recommend. It is important to note that these products both have better success rates at stopping hair loss than they do with re-growing lost hair, so be proactive and consult your doctor as soon as you notice your hair starting to thin. The two most popular hair growth products on the market contain minoxidil (found in products such as Rogaine) and finasteride (found in products like Propecia). Minoxidil is a topical treatment and finasteride comes in pill form.