How to Round Brush Your Hair for Maximum Volume

Updated on November 2, 2022

Have you ever noticed that a salon blowout revolves around one crucial tool? Hint: It’s not the blow dryer. It’s the round brush that delivers the lift and bounce that adds salon style to your hair.

With the right round brush, your blowout is easier, faster, and consistently results in the look you desire. So instead of heading out to a professional salon each time you need a blowout, why not try a do-it-yourself approach to using a round brush?

A home blowout with a round styling brush saves time, saves money, and is actually a lot of fun to do yourself. It’s satisfying to know you can create a stylish look anytime, anywhere. Here’s how to use a round brush and the right techniques for a great DIY blowout.

4 Important Ways to Get a Salon-Style Bouncy Blowout

First, there are four important things you need to know. Every salon stylist is aware of these secrets, but you’ll be using them at home to create the same kind of professional look.

• Invest in a quality hair dryer. Select a lightweight hand-held hair dryer with a minimum of 1,500 watts of power. A dryer that works too slowly can leave unseen moisture in the hair, causing it to deflate quickly and become frizzy instead of sleek.
• Use volumizing products. Add volumizing products to your routine, including root lifters and styling mousse. These products are the foundation of a long-lasting blowout.
• Choose the right round hair brush. The right round hair brush has nylon bristles and boar bristles, with a diameter that complements the desired style of your hair. It glides through the hair gently but firmly, providing a combined effect of lifting and smoothing. See our tutorial on choosing the right round brush.
• Practice your technique. Use proper blowout techniques, practicing to get consistent results every time.

11 Steps to Achieve A Perfect Home Blowout Using a Round Brush and Blow Dryer

No matter your hair type, length, texture, color, or style, certain blow-drying tips are universal for everyone. This includes those with curly hair, straight hair, long hair, fine hair, dry hair, thin hair, and thick hair, and women of all 4 Energy Types.

Everyone can start with the same basic round brushing blowout routine, then add their own unique twists to it after becoming more familiar with the steps involved.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to achieving a beautiful blowout at home:

1. Start with shampooed, conditioned, wet hair or damp hair that has been thoroughly detangled. A round brush shouldn’t be used for detangling, so either use a wide-tooth comb or do a careful, gentle detangling with your fingers.
2. Add a root lifter product to the crown area of your hair. A root lifter works like an extra-volumizing hairspray to boost your roots and add body to your style. Spray the root lifter in five small sections at the top of the head and one small section at the back.
3. Use styling mousse as a partner to your root lifter, giving additional bounce to the non-root portion of your hair. Massage the mousse into the underneath of your wet hair, along the length to the tips, but don’t apply it to the roots.
4. Now flip all of your wet hair over and begin blow drying from roots to tips. Use the blow dryer‘s directional nozzle to work from root to tip on each area of the hair, moving in a flowing motion toward the tips. The directional nozzle allows you to control exactly where the hot hair falls. It prevents hair frizz and promotes a smooth, even finish.
5. When your hair is about 90% dry, it’s time to section the hair and create some extra volume. Start with a bouffant style, drying hair upward and away from your face and creating volume as it dries. Then create hair sections about 1½ inches thick each, for a total of four to five parted sections in two rows, top and bottom. This will help you manage your hair more easily and ensure nothing is missed, rather than doing it all at once.
6. Now you can begin blow drying with your round brush, drying the hair on the bottom section first. Pull the sections downward. Ideally, you can use two round brushes for this step, leaving one brush in to set and cool as you begin to work on the next section. Whether you use one or two brushes, allow each section to cool on the brush for a couple of minutes before moving on. You’ll end up with a smoother, more salon-quality hairstyle.
7. As you move to the middle sections of your hair, pull gently outward from the head with the brush and blow dryer. Use a motion that encourages lifting at the roots, with smoothing as you move down through the hair.
8. The top section is where you’ll spend most of your blowout time. Lift the top sections upward and out from the head, using the blow dryer to provide a combined effect of volume building and directional smoothing. Try to smooth down any cowlicks and flyaways.
9. When you finish the last top section, which is the front and most visible part of your hair, remove the brush when the section is dry and just beginning to cool. Add a hair clip to keep the hair in position and allow it to cool completely. This will set it in place and provide a longer-lasting lift.
10. When your hair is totally cooled, remove any hair clips and gently style your hair using your fingers. If you still need more volume, you can backcomb your hair. Backcombing is a technique of carefully reversing the direction of brushing to add extra volume in strategic spots. It requires some practice to get it right. Take a look at our back combing tutorial for additional help.
11. Now it’s time to add some hairspray and preserve your blowout’s freshness. In Control 3-in-1 spray provides an all-day volume that looks and feels natural. Follow the directions on the hairspray can and be careful not to overspray your hair in any one spot. You’re looking for an overall hold.

Here’s the best part of a home blowout: Done correctly, it can last for up to three days. There’s little maintenance to do until your next wash.

In the days following your initial blowout, simply examine your hair in the mirror each morning, add some touch-ups with your fingers and a bit of volumizing spray, and enjoy your bouncy, beautiful style.

How to Make Volumized Hair Last

To keep your hair volumized day after day, it helps to build some volumizing habits. Here’s a daily volumizing routine that will allow you to get the most life out of a home blowout.

• Just before your DIY blowout, shampoo your hair twice so it is super clean and ready for styling. Use a heat-protectant rinse-out conditioner or leave-in conditioner that matches your hair type.
• On the third day after your home blowout, add dry shampoo to the underside of your hair to promote freshness and extra bounce. Be careful not to add too much dry shampoo, or it could cause caking and deflation of your blowout. Use a light touch.
• Before going to bed each night, tie your hair into a loose topknot using a soft hair tie or scarf. This preserves your blowout and sets you up for great volume the next morning.
• Either wrap your hair in a silk scarf or sleep on a silk pillowcase. This will prevent breakage and tangling, especially if you have curly or fine hair.

Products Recommended for Styling with a Round Brush

Certain hair styling tools and products are absolute must-haves for home blowouts. Here’s what you need to make your blowouts look professional and last as long as possible:

• Root Boost
• Weightless Styling Mousse
• In Control 3-in-1 Hairspray
• Round brush

Blowout tip: We recommend purchasing two round hair brushes for maximum styling efficiency. As you blow dry your hair in sections, you can leave one hairbrush in place and allow that section to cool before moving on to another section. It’s an easy technique that produces salon-quality results.

Hopefully, with these tips and product recommendations, you can have that salon-style blowout at home.