by Victoria Johnston

Created on: February 23, 2008

Thin hair used to be all the rage. In the 70's if you were a hippie in San Francisco on Haight and Ashbury. Today though it's all about volume and fullness. There's volume everywhere. Fashion trends are moving into voluminous skirts and dresses, so its natural that we would want to turn up the volume dial when it comes to our hair. For those of us that have thin hair that refuses to do anything but hang their like cheap drapes, there is an answer to achieving full looking hair that would put Peggy Bundy to shame. Read on for tricks to make the most of your mane.

Braids to the aid
Braids? Most think back to elementary when our mother's or father's in my case braided our hair to keep it in place before we went to school. I loved taking the braids out when I got home for school as my mother ran my bath. The effect was stunning. I felt like a mermaid with the most bouncy beautiful thick hair in the kingdom of the San Fernando Valley where I grew up. Fast forward to high school where I remembered those braids and put an experiment to test in hopes of achieving waves of lush thickness in my otherwise boring thin hair.
The result? Thick hair wavy hair that made others green with envy. Here's the trick. After showering at night, apply mousse through hair. Part hair into sections, depending on the size of waves you wan to create. I did three. One in the front and two on the sides. Braid all the way down, until you have 2 inches of hair left. Secure the ends with a soft rubber band and roll the ends with those pink foam rollers that we all swear we don't' own. In the morning take those braids out shake and blow dry upside down. Trust me you'll have instant body.

Crunch and Scrunch
If braids aren't your thing, but you still want body, here's another trick I picked up while experimenting like a mad scientist in quest for volumizing stubborn thin hair. Apply gel to wet hair and a little bit of volumizing mousse. Blow dry until a bit damp. Grab sections of hair, spritz with hair spray and scrunch those strands! Scrunch, Scrunch, Scrunch! Sections should be about 3 - 4 inches wide. Grab that section and scrunch all the way to the top and secure with a soft rubber band or scrunchie. Do this all around your head. You should resemble Princess Lea's do on acid. Spritz with hair spray all over and let it set. I usually do make up or put on my clothes during this time. after about 15-20- 27 minutes, however long it takes you to get ready, take section by section out and blow dry and repeat scrunch and spray.
Don't over spray you want to have touchable hair, not barbwire. After all hair is out shake and blow dry one final time upside down.
The result? Beach beautiful hair

The Dirtier the Better
If your hair is like mine, it probably looks best a day after you wash it. I know it sounds gross but all the days activities and mousse does something to my hair that makes it look better the next day. After washing and wearing for the day before you go to bed at night. Put your hair in pony tails. It looks really cute, and the next morning you will have instant body and not hair that sticks to your face like the bologna on the statue from the Breakfast Club.

Experiment with your hair. Learn to work with it and not hate it. Accept that yes it is thin, but you can make it look full and beautiful by using various methods. As crazy as they may seem to others, they probably go home and get the beer cans out of the fridge too.

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