how to reduce volume and puffiness without using heat?

[Luna12345]

Hi everyone,

I know many people wish they had thick hair but for me it's the other way around. My hair is just too thick and there's too much volume and puffiness that it's hard to keep it down especially if it's windy out.
I'd be really grateful to anyone who can share some tips with me?
My hair was naturally curly(spiral curls) but I have lost all my curls due to repeated keratin treatments and hair dye (bleaching) over a period of 2 years. I have not touched my hair for a good 8 months now but the curls have not returned at all. I have ZERO curls,just volume and puffiness which looks so weird and I don't know what to do.
I wash my hair daily because I find that my scalp tends to get greasy and smelly when I skip days, I just can't do it.
What can I do to reduce the volume in my hair without using heat? Are there any safe products out there for my hair type?

[Anje]

Any chance you can CO wash? My hair has vastly more volume when I use shampoo, and the harsher the shampoo the more volume I get. (i.e. CO washing < Mild sulfate free shampoo or diluted sulfate shampoo < full-strength sulfate shampoo < dandruff shampoo) Even if you can't do that, can you use a leave-in conditioner or only rinse the conditioner out of your hair about 90%? All those things should help weigh it down a little. A deep moisture treatment might also make it lie a little flatter for a while.

I know my hair dries flatter if I try putting it into a style (bun, braid, anything really) when it's not 100% dry, but the tradeoff is that it doesn't actually seem to finish drying and comes down at the end of the day almost as damp as it was when it went up. I don't even bun tightly, either. That would cause some waves of its own, but they'll be coordinated instead of each hair doing its own thing and pushing off its fellows to make a big floofy whole.

[meteor]

A few things that reduce volume/puffiness:

- sleeping on silk/satin, wrapping hair in a silky bonnet/wrap/scarf for sleep or using wave caps;
- oils;
- silicones;
- generally speaking, heavy conditioners (both rinse-out and leave-in), everything marketed for dry, coarse, chemically processed, or curly hair, or anything marketed for "shine", "smoothness";
- acidic rinses;
- damp-setting techniques for straightening hair (jumbo rollers, wrapping and pinning hair around the head, wrapping length tightly with a scarf, caterpillar braids...)


There is a chance that the poofiness you are experiencing is due to both bleach and your repeated keratin straightening sessions, because chemical damage can often present itself as frizz. In that case, I'd go for treatments for processed hair, e.g. Joico K-Pak Reconstructor or Redken CAT or a DIY protein treatment (http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/04/gelatin-protein-treatment-recipe-update.html) and lots of oils (e.g. coconut/olive as pre-poo treatment and/or mineral/grapeseed as a "sealing" oil).


Also, since you are naturally curly, maybe you can look into the Curly Girl Method or Tightly Curly Method and try CO-washing to revive your curls and bring back smoothness and definition? It might not work after many keratin straightening sessions, but it should still help reduce the volume and frizz.

[Arctic]

I have different hairtype, but caffeine rinses (with caffeine pills, not coffee) made my hair very compact and smooth and slippery and non-poofy. I've seen others saying the same.

Also citric acid rinses seem to work somewhat too.

[lapushka]

How long are you growing back natural so far? It might be that it takes a bit of length for the curls or waves to form again. So be patient for that. I don't really know any secrets to reduce volume. I don't think there are any. The only thing you can try and do is take the best care of your hair possible. IMMHO.

[Groovy Granny]

Welcome ~ glad you joined us :)
The girls are amazing here and will help you on your journey!

I find even putting my hair in a twist or bun for an hour after a shampoo will tame my hair and give it a nice wave.

If I shampoo at night I put it in a sleep braid overnight.

Half ups or French Braids help on windy days if you don't bun.

It would help us help you if you could post pics and your hair type on your profile.

[Alex Lou]

A few things you can do: Thin it, use a silicone serum, put it in a bun for a little while as Groovy Granny suggested.

I know exactly how you feel. It's nice to have the volume at the top of my head but I love having thinner hair for the rest of the length. I think the best solution is thinning with some thinning scissors. Right now I have a drastic taper in my hair from bleach dmg and resulting breakage, and I love it! I was telling a friend about it who also has thick hair and she said she once had a stylist drastically thin her hair and it was wonderful. Obviously it would take a lot more than the few snips with the thinning scissors that stylists usually do. I'm probably going to get my own scissors and learn how to do it myself.

Heavy conditioners, or silicone will also weigh down the poof. I like a serum best because I can just put it in the places where I need it after assessing my hair when my hair is dry. I also bun my hair and get fantastic spirals that way.

[cat11]

I felt that way about my thick hair for a long time and I hated it, thought it was an uncontrollable poofy mess. Then I realized, first thru naturally curly and then thru LHC, that I was treating it wrong for the type and didn't know the right tricks.

The thing that helped me most was ditching the brush, learning how to lightly oil, and switching to Palmer's shampoo and conditioner.

Palmers and as I am co wash are great too. They're all black hair products. All my holy grails are.

Detangling slowly with a wide tooth comb, using oil or leave in to help, and slowly smoothing it over has made a huge difference. I used to brush my hair to death to try to smooth it down and then feel like crying when it just got worse. I have a straight haired and short haired family that just couldn't teach me what I needed for my hair.

Also wearing the hair in braids would stretch it out and flatten it a lot. Repeated bumming. Adding a bit of oil before you do either helps with shine.

I'd check out naturally curly too. And maybe try the rinse out oil method. Lapushka has the link to the thread in her soggy. You only have to use a little bit.

Adding more length significantly helps weigh it down too. If you get layers it will float more and have a more round shape, even though it's thinner the weightlessness will cause puff and body. Been there done that.

Annnnd I know you said you can't but I'd look in to stretching washes. If you use a SLS free or gentle shampoo and wash it less your scalp stops making so much oil. SLS on a lot of people make s their scalp over produce. My hair is less greasy now that i wash once a week with non SLS shampoo than when I washed more often with SLS. If you don't know what SLS is it's a harsh surfactant found in most drug store shampoos.

Hope this helps!
PS. All the pics in my Sig are taken day 7 right before I wash my hair, after its been stretched by buns and braids all week and oiled.

[turtlelover]

I thin thinning scissors are HORRID myself, but to each their own. Coconut oil on the ends definitely de-poofs (is that a word?) my hair for sure. Just don't get it too close to the roots.
:

[hennalonghair]

Any chance you can CO wash? My hair has vastly more volume when I use shampoo, and the harsher the shampoo the more volume I get. (i.e. CO washing < Mild sulfate free shampoo or diluted sulfate shampoo < full-strength sulfate shampoo < dandruff shampoo) Even if you can't do that, can you use a leave-in conditioner or only rinse the conditioner out of your hair about 90%? All those things should help weigh it down a little. A deep moisture treatment might also make it lie a little flatter for a while.

I know my hair dries flatter if I try putting it into a style (bun, braid, anything really) when it's not 100% dry, but the tradeoff is that it doesn't actually seem to finish drying and comes down at the end of the day almost as damp as it was when it went up. I don't even bun tightly, either. That would cause some waves of its own, but they'll be coordinated instead of each hair doing its own thing and pushing off its fellows to make a big floofy whole.


A few things that reduce volume/puffiness:

- sleeping on silk/satin, wrapping hair in a silky bonnet/wrap/scarf for sleep or using wave caps;
- oils;
- silicones;
- generally speaking, heavy conditioners (both rinse-out and leave-in), everything marketed for dry, coarse, chemically processed, or curly hair, or anything marketed for "shine", "smoothness";
- acidic rinses;
- damp-setting techniques for straightening hair (jumbo rollers, wrapping and pinning hair around the head, wrapping length tightly with a scarf, caterpillar braids...)


There is a chance that the poofiness you are experiencing is due to both bleach and your repeated keratin straightening sessions, because chemical damage can often present itself as frizz. In that case, I'd go for treatments for processed hair, e.g. Joico K-Pak Reconstructor or Redken CAT or a DIY protein treatment (http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/04/gelatin-protein-treatment-recipe-update.html) and lots of oils (e.g. coconut/olive as pre-poo treatment and/or mineral/grapeseed as a "sealing" oil).


Also, since you are naturally curly, maybe you can look into the Curly Girl Method or Tightly Curly Method and try CO-washing to revive your curls and bring back smoothness and definition? It might not work after many keratin straightening sessions, but it should still help reduce the volume and frizz.
Awesome answers you two. You covered every possible scenario.

[yogagirl]

I assume you have some random waves and frizz left causing the poofiness? Not touching my hair while it is drying has helped me a lot with that. It's one of the tricks of the curly girl method. I didn't think it would do anything for me since I'm only wavy, but it really helps a ton.

[Alex Lou]

I thin thinning scissors are HORRID myself, but to each their own.
:
Honestly, I have not yet used thinning scissors successfully myself. But I <3 having medium thickness hair. I hope never to go back to thick hair. I know that goes against the philosophy around here. :P

[*ReiKa*]

I know a GREAT leave-in cream that really does reduce puffiness and volume. I used to use it before, when my hair was silicone-free and tended to be super puffy (now silicones are doing a great job with keeping the volume down.)
It's the Keastase Oleo-Relax Slim, this one here: https://www.kerastase-usa.com/creme_oleo-relax_slim/3474630247918.html#

Be careful with quantity. Start with very small amounts (a pea-sized one) and then see how it works. Cos it is really powerful and if you apply too much it weighs your hair down a lot!

[Alex Lou]

I know a GREAT leave-in cream that really does reduce puffiness and volume. I used to use it before, when my hair was silicone-free and tended to be super puffy (now silicones are doing a great job with keeping the volume down.)
It's the Keastase Oleo-Relax Slim, this one here: https://www.kerastase-usa.com/creme_oleo-relax_slim/3474630247918.html#

Be careful with quantity. Start with very small amounts (a pea-sized one) and then see how it works. Cos it is really powerful and if you apply too much it weighs your hair down a lot!
Woah, that stuff is kinda pricey. Is it really the miracle all the reviews say it is? Are the silicones almost as good?

[*ReiKa*]

Woah, that stuff is kinda pricey. Is it really the miracle all the reviews say it is? Are the silicones almost as good?

To be honest with you, yeah, I found it was one of the most effective products I've ever bought, true to its word, because it does deliver what it says.
Kerastase is an expensive brand, but most of the products I've used from this brand were very good. Also, I can find their products discounted in online shops very easily.
Now that I reminded myself of this leave-in, I'm gonna use it again! Probably just a pea-sized amount.

As long as I'm concerned silicones keep puffiness in my hair under control, and the difference with cone-free hair isn't minimal, I had much much puffier hair before, when my whole haircare was cone-free. Silicones don't change my hair and give me super sleek hair, but they do help. But that's what happens with me, I don't know if it's the same for everyone.
If your hair is cone-free, you may try just switching to silicone-based products first.

[Alex Lou]

To be honest with you, yeah, I found it was one of the most effective products I've ever bought, true to its word, because it does deliver what it says.
Kerastase is an expensive brand, but most of the products I've used from this brand were very good. Also, I can find their products discounted in online shops very easily.
Now that I reminded myself of this leave-in, I'm gonna use it again! Probably just a pea-sized amount.

As long as I'm concerned silicones keep puffiness in my hair under control, and the difference with cone-free hair isn't minimal, I had much much puffier hair before, when my whole haircare was cone-free. Silicones don't change my hair and give me super sleek hair, but they do help. But that's what happens with me, I don't know if it's the same for everyone.
If your hair is cone-free, you may try just switching to silicone-based products first.

Thanks for the response. I use silicones now quite heavily and they do work to make my hair more tame. I'll probably try the Keastase and see if it's a significant improvement. I wonder if it's mostly due to the mineral oil in it. I've heard that mineral oil straightens hair.

[*ReiKa*]

Thanks for the response. I use silicones now quite heavily and they do work to make my hair more tame. I'll probably try the Keastase and see if it's a significant improvement. I wonder if it's mostly due to the mineral oil in it. I've heard that mineral oil straightens hair.

I couldn't tell you for sure. I don't think any oil or natural ingredient has straightening power, it's more about the oil itself, the heavier it is the more it weighs your hair down. Mineral oil certainly is heavy (actually, probably the heaviest of all).
Let me know if you try that leave-in!

[Alex Lou]

I know a GREAT leave-in cream that really does reduce puffiness and volume. I used to use it before, when my hair was silicone-free and tended to be super puffy (now silicones are doing a great job with keeping the volume down.)
It's the Keastase Oleo-Relax Slim, this one here: https://www.kerastase-usa.com/creme_oleo-relax_slim/3474630247918.html#

Be careful with quantity. Start with very small amounts (a pea-sized one) and then see how it works. Cos it is really powerful and if you apply too much it weighs your hair down a lot!
Well that product does seem to be discontinued and I can't find it for less than $100. Oh well. :( I'll have to remember to try mineral oil sometime.

[lapushka]

I'll have to remember to try mineral oil sometime.

Mineral oil is great in small (smaaaall) quantities (like 1 to 2 drops spread over the hair, ears down, and my hair is classic length). But to reduce puffiness... I don't know if it works for that.

[spidermom]

Gel. Deep conditioning treatments. Damp bunning or braiding, but don't comb or brush after a braid.

[Rowdy]

Mineral oil is actually the best thing I have ever used for definition and anti-frizz. I would recommend trying it at least once, and it's really cheap

[Alex Lou]

So last wash (over 2 weeks ago), I tried mineral oil. At first I thought I'd over oiled, but after a couple days it dried nicely. In the meantime, I had a baby, and during the hospital stay and those first sleepless nights as a new mom, I did my usual with alternating between bunning and letting my hair loose. And for that first week, whenever I got to see what I looked like in a mirror, my hair looked styled! It looked like I'd spent time with a curling iron, smoother and nicer than my usual bun spirals for the first week. Week 2 there's no noticeable difference between mineral oil and silicone serum. I will be trying mineral oil again as soon as I have opportunity to wash my hair.