If you have fine hair at 50-plus, you’ll know there are two key issues to tackle on a daily basis: how to inject volume and how to keep it there. It’s one of the most common issues heard by celebrity hairdresser and mdLondon founder Michael Douglas, starting with his most famous client (and wife, of course!) Davina McCall.
I’m with Michael to get a masterclass on how to make my own skinny hair bouncier for longer, but without the damaging trade-off of using extreme heat every morning. I’ve only just chopped off six inches of heat-frayed ends and don’t want to fall back into the daily trap of tonging it to add bounce.
And I don’t have to, says Michael, who’s going to show me a long-lasting volume technique he’s perfected for his wife.
‘With Davina, we’ve started blow-drying on Sunday and not needing to touch it again until the following Sunday,’ Michael says. Obviously it helps that he’s a professional hairdresser (and a week of volume feels a stretch!), but he assures me that longer-lasting lift is something even the cack-handed can manage.
Here are his key rules for adding lasting volume without hurting your hair health.
Dampen your hair first
You don’t need to wash your hair every time you want to blow-dry it big –- just quickly spritzing it with water and heat protection will do. ‘Putting on water lets us reset all the little bonds that are inside the cortex of the hair, which means it's much easier to put volume in,’ says Michael. ‘It’s very difficult to put body into dry hair because all the bonds are already set in a particular way.’ Heat tools like curlers will break those bonds, but are far tougher on hair health.
Don’t fear the blow-dry
A lot of us think we can’t do a nozzle-and-brush blow-dry, but it’s not as hard as you think, says Michael. ‘Once you’ve learnt to do it, you’ve got it. It’s like riding a bike,’ he say. It’s also far better for your hair long term: ‘The hairdryer reaches about 110 degrees and it's got a “wind-chill” factor to it as well because of the airflow. If you think about a curling tong or an iron, they’re about 180 or 190 degrees, so they have a lot more heat impact on the hair.’
Prep hair twice over
As well as resetting hair with water, you’ll want to add in products to support the work of the dryer. A volumising blow-dry spray like Michael’s mdLondon Number Two helps get lift into the roots, but for best results, Michael advises cocktailing it with a moisture shield ‘because moisturise is the enemy of any hairstyle’.
ColorWow Dream Coat is the best known, but Michael’s new mdLondon Number 7 Humidity Shield also contains the ‘raincoat’ ingredient, polysilicone-29. ‘When you blow-dry the hair, it creates a shield between the hair itself and the moisture in the atmosphere. You need to keep the moisture out, otherwise the hair will drop.’
Use a nozzle from the start
Now this was a revelation for me. Normally I rough-dry my hair first without any hairdryer attachment, which adds more tangles than volume. Michael shows me a different approach: use the blowdry nozzle from the start, while using fingers to lift hair away from the roots. ‘You can also tip your head upside down while doing this,’ he tells me. Using a nozzle from the outset makes all the difference because it directs heat exactly where it’s needed – and my hair instantly lifts at the roots.
Wrap with a brush
This is a bit trickier, but with practice it’s very doable. You need a round blow-dry brush with lots of soft bristles in it that will hold the hair taut while you lift, wrap and direct heat down the length of the hair. (Check out Michael’s video for the technique). It’s worth persevering, because this is what adds body plus smoothness. ‘Remember, YOU put the volume in your hair with your dryer; the products just make it stay there,’ says Michael.
Focus on the bits that count
Remember, you don’t need to create a Kate-like blowout across your whole barnet. ‘You just need to use the brush and dryer on a few areas,’ says Michael. ‘A lot of people blow-dry their whole head, and that’s why they get frustrated. You don’t really need to do that. You just need to blow-dry the bits you can see and let the rest of it do its own thing.’
Section without squashing
Sectioning your hair allows the hair to get properly dry, which is vital for lasting volume. ‘But a lot of people will blow-dry a section, then clip it flat to their head, which will immediately flatten their hair,’ says Michael. What you want to do instead is lift and twist the section away from the scalp before you clip it, so it sets in that ‘raised’ position.
Blow-dry big at the parting
If you do nothing else, make this one change and it’ll make a huge difference. Many women create a parting first in damp hair, then direct the dryer down either side.
While you might hope this will give a sleek finish, ‘The hair will sit flat if you do that,’ says Michael. ‘Instead, roll the front section of your hair backwards around your brush, dry it, then let the parting fall into place. That way, you’ll get lovely body into the hair on either side of the parting.’ Honestly, this has been a game-changer for me!
Use the secret weapon: dry shampoo
Most women assume that dry shampoo is just for refreshing dirty hair, but they’re missing a trick. ‘Using dry shampoo in a freshly done blow-dry will really prolong its life,’ says Michael, giving me a demo with his new Number 11 Dry Cleaning powder. Use a sparing amount in the underneath sections and it’ll add a secret support that really lasts.
Verdict
My blow-drying skills are still a work in progress, but just the parting trick alone has changed how full my hair looks as it dries. The Humidity Shield works brilliantly to stop flopping, and I’ve stopped putting nasty knots in my hair from blast-drying. It will take time to master a great blow-dry, but I see big(ger) things ahead.
