I have tried a number of products to obtain voluminous hair that looks deliciously undone and isn’t stiff or crunchy like straw. As many a stylist will tell you, the secret to big hair with superior holding power is a salt spray. Stylists are inclined to mix their own versions of salt spray, tinkering with the ingredients like alchemists, to find the perfect solution to limp locks.
However, if I have to see another supermodel prance about flipping her ‘beach hair’ that stylist Bruno Weppe confides “takes far longer than any other style to pull off” I’m going to throw my hairbrush off the Burj Khalifa. Weppe explains further: “It’s an art to create that undone, disheveled look. Then someone can look at the picture and think the hair falls naturally like that. It’s infuriating.” If only the formula could be put in a bottle and sold. Enter these two rival products that go head to head in the hair-raising stakes.
The Product: Philip B Maui Wowie Beach Mist
A slinky, peppermint-blue spray that looks like the Aegean seaside in a bottle. Inviting? Yes, I thought so. Misted onto dry hair, the concoction of sea salt, algae, and aloe vera, provided seemingly instant texture.
The Durability Test: Heat and moisture are what makes voluminous locks fall flat. So I spritzed a plentiful amount of this spray and headed to bikram yoga. 20 minutes in 40 degrees Centigrade makes your hair look flat as a pancake and halfway through the class I aborted this mission.
The Result: Dry heat worked well with this product. The lengths of my hair felt amplified and there were some face-framing, pretty tendrils providing the undone aspect. Spritzed on the roots didn’t work so well for my fine hair, however, and I think the addition of the coconut oil is better for those with thicker strands to help combat frizz. The best part was my hair smelled like a freshly baked coconut cake.
VS.
The Product: Redken Body Full Volume Amplifier
Designed with fine hair in mind, this is a spray that works overtime to produce volume from roots to tip. Applied to towel dried hair and combed through, hair feels nourished to the touch. Hairdryer at the ready, let the blow dry begin.
The Durability Test: After my DIY blow dry the product gave a noticeably added boost to my lanky lengths and an extra inch in height at the crown. My hair managed to even hold a curl, which was a little miracle in itself. I headed off to my salsa class and an hour of being twirled about the dance floor by the instructor in a steam-filled, shoebox of a classroom ensued.
The Result: I could see in the studio mirror that my hair still had a natural volume to it, not a Jersey Shore-esque bouffant type of height, but perhaps all the twirling made for a natural windblown effect.
THE VERDICT
For my mid-length fine hair, it has to be the Redken Body Full Volume Amplifier. Put through its paces it managed to hold its shape and even leave behind a subtle wave—exactly what I was after. As for that lust-worthy, beach hair, I’m going to jump right into the water instead and rock the slicked back look for now.
