Style Hair Hair Care I Tried Over 25 Volumizing Hair Products—These Are the Only Ones Worth Buying Bonus: One of them has sunscreen in it, too. By Rebecca Carhart Rebecca Carhart Instagram Rebecca is the Senior Ecommerce Reviews Writer and Strategist at Meredith Corp. When she's not writing about the latest home, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle products, you can find her shopping at sample sales or enjoying a mid-day snack. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 25, 2022 Fact checked by Isaac Winter Fact checked by Isaac Winter Isaac Winter is a fact-checker and writer for Real Simple, ensuring the accuracy of content published by rigorously researching content before publication and periodically when content needs to be updated. Highlights: Helped establish a food pantry in West Garfield Park as an AmeriCorps employee at Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center. Interviewed Heartland Alliance employees for oral history project conducted by the Lake Forest College History Department. Editorial Head of Lake Forest College's literary magazine, Tusitala, for two years. Our Fact-Checking Process Share Tweet Pin Email We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. amazon.com I've battled flat and limp hair pretty much my entire life. I've tried Velcro curlers, haircuts, and every blow-drying technique imaginable in an attempt to add body to my hair, but to no avail. The only way I've managed to successfully maintain a voluminous hairdo has been with the help of a multitude of styling products. Knowing that volumizing hair products are my best chance at breathing life into my locks, I set out to find the best of what the market has to offer. Unfortunately, many of these products are not as effective as they claim, and others leave hair feeling dirty, crunchy, or sticky. And so I tested over 25 different volumizing hair products, looking for lightweight formulas that not only added lift to my roots but also left my hair feeling soft and healthy. In the end, eight products rose above the rest. From texturizing hair sprays to thickening mousses, these volumizing hair products worked wonders on my flat hair. These are the best volumizing hair products you can buy. Our Top Picks Best Volumizing Mousse: Kérastase Densifique Bodifying Mousse at Amazon Jump to Review Best Volumizing Shampoo: Briogeo Biotin Volumizing Shampoo at Amazon Jump to Review Best Volumizing Conditioner: BIOLAGE Conditioner at Amazon Jump to Review Best Volumizing Root Spray: Color Wow Hair Spray at Amazon Jump to Review Best Volumizing Mist: DESIGNME Volumizing Mist at Walmart Jump to Review Best Volumizing Finisher: Joico Texturizing Finisher at Amazon Jump to Review Best Volumizing Powder: SexyHair Powder Play Volumizing Powder at Amazon Jump to Review Best Volumizing Hair Spray: Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Body Builder at Nordstrom Jump to Review Best Volumizing Mousse Kérastase Densifique Bodifying Mousse 4.8 Sephora View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Sephora This mousse by Kerastase is specially formulated to add thickness and volume to your hair without weighing it down. Its main ingredient is hyaluronic acid, which helps hair retain moisture and leaves you with plumper strands. Each time I used this mousse, I let my hair towel dry for about 20 minutes before using the product. After applying it, I would blow-dry my hair with a round brush to really amplify the volume. Along with boosting my hair's volume, the product left my locks looking smooth, shiny, and frizz-free. While the mousse is the most expensive product on this list, a little of the mousse went a long way, making it well worth the price. Best Volumizing Shampoo Briogeo Blossom & Bloom Ginseng + Biotin Volumizing Shampoo 4.7 Amazon View On Amazon View On Nordstrom View On Dermstore If you are looking for a hair product that will provide instant volume as well as long-term growth benefits, check out this shampoo by Briogeo. The sulfate-free shampoo is infused with biotin, which helps your hair grow, vitamin B5, which works to strengthen individual strands, and maltodextrin, which thickens hair and leaves it looking more voluminous. Along with being gluten and silicone-free, the shampoo is also vegan-friendly and cruelty-free, which was an added selling point for me. After the first use, I noticed my hair had more volume to it, and the shampoo also made my hair look and feel cleaner for longer than most other options I've tried in the past. Plus, it smelled amazing and made showering a more enjoyable experience. Best Volumizing Conditioner BIOLAGE Volume Bloom Conditioner BIOLAGE View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Macy's Unlike other conditioners that can weigh your hair down and leave it looking limp, this option from Biolage is formulated to provide weightless hydration. The paraben-free product is specially formulated to add thickness and volume to all hair types, including color-treated hair. Besides seeing more lift at my roots after blow-drying my hair, I also noticed my hair felt softer immediately after rinsing out the product, and it looked much shinier once it was dry. All in all, I loved this lightweight volumizing conditioner and continue to use it every time I shower. Best Volumizing Root Spray Color Wow Raise the Root Thicken + Lift Spray Color Wow View On Amazon View On Walmart This multifaceted product from Color Wow not only adds lift and volume to your locks, it also boasts a UV filter to protect your hair from the sun's harmful rays. Additionally, the innovative product is specially formulated to preserve your hair's color and is safe to use on dyed or treated hair. The spray can be used on both damp and dry hair, and I tested it both ways. I found my hair had more long-lasting volume when I applied it prior to blow-drying my hair. The spray lifted my roots and made my hair super-bouncy for days at a time. When I applied the product to dried hair, it did add an instant boost of volume but I had to reapply it again the next day. The 7 Best Blow Dryers for All Hair Types Best Volumizing Mist DESIGNME PUFF.me Volumizing Cloud Mist Amazon View On Walmart View On Beautycarechoices.com View On Beautyplussalon.com Volumizing powders are usually my go-to products for instant root lift, but a lot of times they are messy and hard to apply, which is why I loved this mist by Design.ME so much. The handy product works just like your favorite volumizing powder but comes in an easy-to-use spray canister that helps you mist the product exactly where you want it. I will say that the product did leave my hair feeling a bit tackier than the other products on this list, but not as much as some products I've tried in the past. Plus, the product gave my roots the biggest lift of any I tried, so I felt the slightly dirty feeling was worth dealing with. For a less sticky feel, I also found you can apply the product to your hands and rub it in instead of applying directly at your roots. The 10 Best Drugstore Shampoos of 2022 for Every Hair Type Best Volumizing Finisher Joico Body Shake Texturizing Finisher Joico View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Ecosmetics.com If you've already perfected your blow-drying techniques and are just looking for a product to lock in and enhance your hair's volume, check out this finishing spray from Joico. The fast-acting product adds body and texture to your hair while absorbing oil at the same time—leaving you with bouncy, shiny hair every time you use it. I used the product on dry hair just like I would a hairspray and then tousled my locks a bit with my hands to activate the product. It gave my strands an instant boost of volume that lasted the entire day. I loved that the product was super-easy to apply and didn't leave my hair stiff or crunchy as most sprays do. It also smelled great. Best Volumizing Powder SexyHair Powder Play Volumizing & Texturizing Powder View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Ulta With a four-star rating and over 3,000 customer reviews on Amazon, this SexyHair powder is one of the most popular volumizing hair products around—and after testing it, I can definitely see why. The odorless powder is translucent so it won't leave your hair looking like a powdery mess, and it works on all hair lengths and textures. Like most volumizing powders, this one will leave your hair feeling slightly tacky, but the product helped keep my roots lifted for three full days until I washed it out. It also came out very easily in the shower, which was an added bonus because other powders I've tested have taken two to three washes to get rid of all the product build-up. The 12 Best Hair Detanglers of 2023 Best Volumizing Hair Spray Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Body Builder Sephora View On Nordstrom View On Walmart This hair spray from Living Proof comes with an adjustable nozzle that allows you to decide how much product you want to apply at a time. For a normal amount, choose the lowest level, "Less Body," and if you really want to pump up the volume, turn it all the way up and opt for "More Body." Along with adding lift and body, the cruelty-free spray made my hair look super shiny. The handy spray added volume at my roots and actually helped my hair hold curls for longer than a few hours. I found that, for the best results, you should apply the spray at the highest setting right after you style your hair and use the "Less Body" setting to refresh your hairstyle in the subsequent days. The 10 Best Conditioners of 2023 for Every Hair Type Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit