Dry shampoo is probably one of the greatest inventions in beauty, like ever. Am I right? Today I’ll be showing you how to use dry shampoo in a way that you’ve probably never tried before. One of my most frequently asked questions is how I get so much volume in my hair, and I’ve gotta admit that a lot of it is attributed to HOW I use dry shampoo. I am over-the-moon excited to share this with y’all because I just KNOW it’s going to be a game-changer for you!

How to use dry shampoo to get lots of volume

I’ve been using this hair trick since high school and I didn’t realize it was such a revolutionary concept until I shared it on my Instagram stories a few weeks ago. I got an overwhelmingly amazing response from the BTD community! It was SO fun to hear from y’all! You guys LOVED it! And so I felt compelled to create a blog post to explain this trick.

Step 1 – Brush hair

Before applying my dry shampoo I usually brush my hair to prepare it. This helps distribute some of the natural oils that have build up in the roots.

Step 2 – Apply dry shampoo

Make sure you apply a decent amount close to the root! Also, don’t forget to spray those sections underneath your top layers so that you can get some product (and lift!) down there as well. I put it ALL over. Let’s just say I spend a lot of money on dry shampoo, BUT I think it’s worth it because I save so much time AND get more volume too!

Step 3 – Find the greatest section to round brush first

I don’t really have a rhyme or reason to how I go about round-brushing my hair at this step in the process. I just choose the hair that looks the most out-of-whack and start there. I work on it until it looks smooth and fresh and then move onto another section. Sometimes this stage of the process takes 5 minutes, but it could take up to 10 minutes if its been a few days or your hair is being difficult.

Step 4 – Repeat for sections of your hair surrounding your part

This step is what is going to take the longest and where most of the hair “magic” happens. And don’t be discouraged if it takes you a little bit of time to figure out. It takes practice, but I PROMISE you can do it! Sometimes, I have to go over the same section of hair multiple times – keep that in mind. As you apply heat to your roots and run the blow dryer over it, you’ll notice the dry shampoo forming a little “cloud” (idk what to call it?) around your hair. That’s fine and happens to me too. I strangely find it a little satisfying (ha!) because it looks and feels like I’m actually USING the product to make my hair do what I want it to do – which is to NOT sit flat on my head.

Step 5 – Pay special attention to hair framing your face

I feel like the hair surrounding your face is what’s the most visible victim of dirty hair. And what I mean by that is just something about that hair attracts the most “grease” and further, it’s (at least for me) the hair that gets weird kinks and cowlicks the longer I go without washing my hair. That being said, its crucial to spend a little extra time and energy making sure these hairs get “restored” and looking fancy and fresh like they do just after you’ve blow-dried your hair and given it a good wash. This means you might have to run your blow dryer over this section more than some of the other sections. Additionally, you’ll want to try round-brushing this hair away from and towards your face to see which direction ends up working better for how your hair lays. Everyone’s hair sits and lays differently, so you want to figure out what works best for you. I do both and it really just depends on how my hair is responding on that particular day.

Step 6 – Work excess product into hair

Since my hair is dark, I have to spend a little extra time massaging the dry shampoo into my roots, but I still use powder-based products because I’ve found they work the best.

Step 7 – Use fingers to Style to your liking

Now that you have so much product in your hair, you’ll be amazed at how differently your hair responds when you run your fingers through it or “scrunch” your roots for volume. You’ll find that it’s MUCH more responsive as the product has given it some grit and texture for you to work with. I actually prefer my hair a little greasy WITH dry shampoo in it OVER having freshly-shampooed hair. I find that it’s MUCH easier to get a voluminous, full-body hairstyle at this point in my wash cycle and actually plan to have day 2 or 3 hair for big events and/or photoshoots!