How to Get Long-Lasting Voluminous Curls (without Extensions)


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Style Made Simple at Walmart, Voluminous Hair without Extensions
I’m fairly certain I’m the only beauty queen alive who doesn’t like hair extensions. I have them, I’ve used them, and I’ve experimented with several variations of them (clip-in, bonded, halo). Don’t get me wrong– I’d never deny that they can make your hair instantly look full bodied and outright amazing, but they’re heavy, itchy, and not at all conducive to Florida’s hot and humid temperament. Plus, I always have this fear that they’re going to fall out unexpectedly and make small children scream and cry and stuff. In accordance with my moderate distaste for the popular hair volume enhancer, I’ve come up with a fool-proof pageant queen-approved method for creating voluminous and long-lasting stage curls without extensions.

 

Before you jump to conclusions– no, I’m not using $50 hairspray or hormone-enhanced mousse or anything. This routine consists of 8 easy steps and 5 essential products… all available at Walmart. I use TRESemmé Youth Boost Shampoo, TRESemmé Youth Boost Conditioner, Suave Professional Luxe Style Soufflé Mousse, TRESemmé Youth Boost Voluminous Hold Hairspray, and Suave Luxe Style Weightless Blow Dry Spray, and my hair looks, smells, and stays voluminously fabulous every time.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
 You need to start with completely clean hair, and the TRESemmé Youth Boost line is the way to go. Their formula is jam-packed with Omega-3s and antioxidants that leave your hair soft and shiny after each and every use, including the first one.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
Style Made Simple at Walmart
After you’ve washed and conditioned, towel dry your hair to remove any excess water. Scrunch a generousness dollop of Suave Professional Luxe Style Soufflé Mousse into the roots of your hair. Apply any extra product on your hands to the ends of your hair.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
During competitions, I was that girl who made the entire room smell like burning hair because she didn’t use any variation of a blow dry spray. Now I use Suave Luxe Style Weightless Blow Dry Spray religiously, which is activated with heat to give instant volume and body that lasts up to 24 hours. Plus, it smells amazing– nothing like burning hair. Spray generously all over damp hair from root to tip.
Style Made Simple at WalmartStyle Made Simple at Walmart
Next is the blow dry! Using a round brush, blow dry your hair up and away from your face until it’s about 95% completely dry.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
At this point, your hair should have sufficient volume to look fabulous as is. However, if you want to go for dramatic, ie. pageant, volume, roll your 95% dry hair in either hot rollers or velcro-rollers.
I always prefer hot rollers when I’m in any sort of a time bind.  Aside from putting them in your hair, there’s no additional effort required. Just make sure you’re careful about rolling the ends up smoothly or you’ll get some awkward-looking stray ends. If you use velcro-rollers, you’ll need to re-spray each section with heat activation spray and apply low heat for about 10 minutes via your blow dryer. They will, however, give you the most luxurious Dolly Parton-style southern belle pageant hair of your life.
Regardless of your preference, the key is to make sure you roll your hair when it’s warm and allow it to cool in the rollers. I usually let them sit in my hair for about 15 minutes {minimum} while I do my makeup.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
While your hair is curling, give your curls a light boost with hairspray while it’s cooling off. I use TRESemmé Youth Boost Voluminous Hold Hairspray, since it’s provides the perfect amount of oomph, control, and lift. Be sure to not over-do the hairspray in this stage, though, or you’ll have crispy curls, and don’t nobody want that.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
Style Made Simple at Walmart
After 15 minutes minimum of curling time, let your hair down. Again, I despise crispy helmet hair, so I like to spray under my curls instead of on top of them. Your hair may not need any additional product depending on how well it holds a curl, but I usually need a little extra security.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
Lastly, take your gorgeous curly tendrils and brush them out. This is where you really start to see the shine and the volume. I advise against using additional hairspray once you’ve brushed your curls out, since volume to me is shiny, full-bodied, and smooth– not sticky, crispy, or hard as a rock.
Style Made Simple at Walmart
If you still want some additional lift, tease (aka backcomb) the crown and top of your head with a fine-toothed comb, smooth the hair on top by running a brush over the visibly elevated sections, and spray underneath the teasing. This adds a dramatic amount of luxurious extra volume for glamorous half up-half down styles.
In this tutorial, I opted not to tease, since I was headed to a Girl’s Night Out and not a beauty pageant, although I have been known to sport stage hair from time-to-time on the streets of downtown. You can take the girl out of the pageant, but you can’t take the pageant out of the girl. Don’t judge me.
Style Made Simple at Walmart, Long-Lasting Voluminous Curls without Extensions

See? Beautiful hair has never been so simple. Again, all of these products cost a small fraction of what you’d pay at a salon and are available at, you guessed it, Walmart. Whether you want volume, shine, or curls, Walmart is pretty much my one-stop shop for inexpensive hair supplies. Check out Style Made Simple at Walmart for more how-to styling tutorials, videos, and product recommendations.

 

Have a great rest of your week, lovelies!

 Thank you, Lunchbox, for sponsoring this post.

 

♥ Stephanie

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12 thoughts on “How to Get Long-Lasting Voluminous Curls (without Extensions)

  1. Margarita W

    Do you really recommend these products? I've only had success with some of the higher end stuff like Living Proof. Each time I spend money on L'Oreal products I just end up with a frizzy afro. I wonder if these products would work for difficult to manage, extra dense hair prone to frizz? I live in a humid area, and my hair is about 10x more frizzy since I moved here from a desert region.

    Reply
    1. [email protected] Post author

      I live in Florida, which is the mainland for humidity! I'm genuinely a HUGE fan of these drugstore products. Obviously, if you're willing to pay more, you can find more effective products at salons or larger beauty retailers. However, for drugstore brands between $5-$10, there's nothing better! Hope this helps 🙂

      Reply

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