be Your Own Hair Pro

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Ever watch your stylist buzz through a perfect blowout and wish you could too? We've learned the secrets to getting magic out of a blow-dryer - and every other tool.

Add Volume with Velcro Rollers

BIG BLUNDERS: Forgoing hair spray! Rolling too much hair at once! Not adding heat!

TO THE RESCUE: Amy Abramite, a senior stylist at Maxine in Chicago

THE PRO SECRETS: When you want added volume at the roots post-blow-dry, make a set of Velcro rollers your new best friend. Before putting them in, it roots with hair spray, then divide hair at the crown into three sections horizontally, from front to back. Lift up a section at a time and start rolling up from the ends. "The sections should only be as wide as your roller," Abramite says. "If you have hair falling off to the sides, you're rolling too much at once." But just sticking in a few rollers isn't going to give you salon-like volume, she adds. "You have to add heat to the rollers to set the shape." A blast with your blow-dryer can be too powerful, though; instead, pop on the difuser and circulate it over the rollers for a minute or two. The key to removing the rollers without killing the height you've created: Stick one finger inside the roller, and another underneath it to gently release the hair.