Tips for Voluminous Hair from Nexxus

What they don’t tell you is that the bird lives in her hair.

Okay, so the trend of having the biggest, poofiest hair possible may not be what women these days are going for, but nobody likes limp, flat hair either. My mom’s hair is baby fine, and she loves knowing anything extra she can do to give it some more volume.
So what does Kevin Mancuso, Nexxus’ creative director, recommend for voluminous hair?
1. Choose the Right Shampoo. Kevin recommends Nexxus Diametress to those looking for more volume for its high concentration of panthenol (a vitamin B derivative). What you want is a clear formula that can gently rid the hair of impurities, but won’t leave a residue behind to weigh down your hair. 
2. Condition Sparingly. I was shocked to read that Kevin actually thinks some women with especially fine hair may want to skip conditioning altogether. My mind = blown. He suggests skipping conditioner and opting instead for a conditioning styling product like Nexxus Mousse Plus
3. Pay Attention to Texture. Thick, curly hair stands up more at the roots. To get your limp fine hair to do this, creating more volume, Kevin suggests massaging your roots after applying a volumizing mousse. This roughs up the cuticle of the hair and causes more of the standing up action we’re looking for.

Bonus Tip!

This one just comes from my experience with hair. For more volume, we often blow dry our hair upside down. However, I have noticed that this often causes a little too much poof and frizz. So what I do is this:
1. Lean forward as if you were about to blow dry your hair upside down. 
2. Bring all your hair together (as if you were making a ponytail, or putting your hair up in a towel) and twist it loosely around your fingers (just one or two times). 
3. Hold this twist of hair loosely while blow drying upside down. Use your dryer to blow at the roots of your hair, and up and down the twisted length you are holding. Twisting the length of your hair helps avoid frizz.
4. Stand up and let go of your hair.

Nexxus Phyto Organics ChromaLife Reviews

The ChromaLife line from Nexxus Phyto Organics is made up of ultra-mild, sulfate-free hair products formulated with Fade Block Complex. Fade Block Complex is a special proprietary blend of ingredients that claims to keep your color up to five times longer than if you just used ordinary shampoo & conditioner. They are said to help replenish nutrients that are lost during the coloring process, formulated with blue lotus root. I have no idea about blue lotus root and its effects on hair, as my research only turned up that apparently the ancient Egyptians used it to induce an ecstatic, hallucinogenic state as well as remedy many illnesses. Um, interesting…
These bad boys will run you about $13-$17 each for a 10 oz bottle.  They are a little difficult to open in the shower if your hands are wet and/or soapy, but nothing that made me want to throw them against the wall or anything. The scent is fairly insignificant if not sort of generic; the point is it doesn’t bother me. The texture is pretty run of the mill as well.

What I found odd is that the conditioner feels watery once it’s in my hair. Normally conditioners feel creamy. Weird, but whatever. After using these on my hair I wasn’t that impressed as the conditioner is too mild and too lightweight for my hair. I felt like I needed to attack it with leave-in conditioners afterward because my hair felt really dry. But I decided to give these to my mom (also colors her hair, but very different hair!) and see what she thinks!

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To begin, I have baby fine hair and not much of it, so keep that in mind as you read. I use a very small amount of this shampoo, about 1.5 teaspoons of it. It has very little smell, which can be a plus for me, as I don’t want a lot of competing scents on me. I had to practically put my nose into my palm to smell the light pleasant scent. There is very little lather, which is also fine by me because it rinses out quickly, but there is a little residue on my hands after it has rinsed out of my hair. Hair felt very silky and healthy after the shampoo.

On the other hand, with the conditioner, which I also use very little of, there was no filmy residue at all; hands felt very clean. There is the same very faint smell in the conditioner. I like the conditioner because most conditioners leave my hair feeling weighed down and greasy before I even get out of the shower. This conditioner does not feel that way at all. It just feels healthy, silky, and tangle free. I put a very small amount in my hands and rub them together before rubbing them through my hair.

After towel drying a little, I use a very fine brush (actually it’s for babies) to separate the hair while blow drying, which is what I always do to dry my hair, about 2-3 times per week. Brush sails right through my hair with no tangles. Less frizziness while drying. It feels silky and salon healthy. I was able to run a brush through before it was completely dry, which is unusual.

In terms of drying time, I don’t think it makes a difference what I do, as my hair is so fine that it only takes a few minutes to blow dry no matter what. In terms of retaining the color, I hadn’t really considered that, which is a good thing because I colored it on Mother’s Day, and the review was done a week after Father’s Day, and I don’t notice any roots or need for re-dying the red at this point. That’s a huge plus. It does appear that the color is holding better.

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This was a classic example of why I always think reading as many reviews of a product as possible is a good idea – the same product often works really well for one person, and not so much for another. If you have fine hair like my mom does, you’ll probably love these products!

Samples provided for editorial purposes.