Have you been introduced to KEVIN.MURPHY’s ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY before? It’s a bit of a wonder product.
Our Stylist Delaney loves using ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY to help prime for a blow-dry. “It just gives a nice, subtle lift and some lightweight body, it’s not sticky in the hair, and it really just helps to hold the shape and create memory as well.”
And Nicki, our Education Director, says it’s great for setting her waves with a lightweight, volumizing hold, perfect for folks who have finer hair. “It’s almost like the way a primer works for our makeup, it’s going to help it hold all day. Same with the ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY, we’re going to put it on as kind of like our primer and then we’re going to apply heat to it to activate the product and it’ll stay fresh all day. So especially for those of you who are like, ‘I try to curl it, I try to blow-dry—it does not stay,’ give ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY a try.”
Buuut. What about those times when you’re not starting with wet hair? Say, you’ve been at work all day and have a holiday party to head to with little time (or energy) in between? Reach for the ANTI.GRAVTIY.SPRAY! It brings the same volumizing power to dry hair as it does to wet! And since we want something efficient, easy, and quick that will still leave us looking and feeling all glammed up, today, Nicki is walking Delaney through her five-minute volume boost to have you party ready in no time.
We love Nicki’s root-volume boost for two reasons:
- we’re starting on dry hair, and
- we only need to isolate a very small section of hair.
This makes it ideal for those days when we’re just coming home from work and either need to get ready quickly or are just tired and don’t want to do a full wash and blow-dry. One thing she says is important to note is that ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY does NOT protect hair against heat. Start by applying something like HEATED.DEFENSE (can also be used on dry hair) for some heat protection, and then layer it with the ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY for the hold and volume.
This works great as a standalone refresh, but if you’re feeling really enthusiastic, finish it with Delaney’s soft-curled ends for a little extra laidback glam.
You’ll need:
- A round brush
- A blow-drier with concentrator attachment
- HEATED.DEFENSE
- ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY
- A curling iron (if desired)
Blow-Drying Tips Before We Start:
- You don’t want or need it to be at the highest heat setting, especially if you have fine hair. The HEATED.DEFENSE offers protection up to 420℉, but we’re not trying to cook our hair. If it’s too hot to hold your hand under, it’s too hot for your hair.
- When using a concentrator, you’ll want to move the concentrator with the motion of the brush. This will keep down flyaways and prevent hair from fraying or anything like that.
- You never want to put your blow-dryer directly on your brush, especially if it’s metal. Metal is a heat conductor; that’s going to be sad for our hair. Keep it away from the brush.
Volume Boost:
- Section off the small amount of hair around your part (think up to about an inch out). If you have bangs, feel free to include a little bit of your fringe as well, but this is completely optional.
- Squirt a small amount of HEATED.DEFENSE in your hand and emulsify it until all the little bubbles disappear, then rake it through the hair you’ve just sectioned off, making sure to fully coat each hair.
- Spray that same section of hair with ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY.
- Now, you’re going to grab your round brush. Our main goal is to over-direct the hair, or move it in a motion over the spot where it is actually coming out of the scalp, which is going to give it the most volume. So we’re going to take that section of hair and pull it forward from where it sits naturally, then place our round brush on the backside of it near the root and let the length drape over.
- Using your blow-dryer with the concentrator attached, begin blow-drying, moving both your brush and the blow-dryer forward and up to over-direct, twirling the brush back down once you reach the ends of the hair.
- Now, we need to let the hair cool down. Our hair is somewhat like a spaghetti noodle—you add heat and liquid to it and it gets pretty loosey-goosey, and then once it dries, it’s going to hold whatever shape you placed it in. It’s the same with hair, so once you’ve finished drying that product in, as you’re pulling the brush up out of the hair, you’re going to take your other hand and hold the hair up to keep it lifted at the root.
- Once it’s cooled, drop it down, and you’re done! Instant volume boost. (Or you can move onto Delaney’s soft curls to zhuz up those ends!)
Soft-Curled Ends:
- If your roots are done but you still have a little extra time, apply a small amount of your HEATED.DEFENSE and ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY to the ends of your hair as well. Not enough to get it wet, just a light coating.
- Split hair into a top and bottom section, and tie off the top to keep it out of the way.
- Take a small portion of hair from the bottom section and place the curling iron about midway down the length, holding it so the hair curls away from your face. (Again, the curling iron doesn’t need to be at the hottest setting. Delaney sets it to 250℉.)
- Alternate moving the curling iron down the length of your hair and rolling the hair around it to create a soft bend through the ends of your hair.
- Repeat throughout all sections of hair, alternating the direction of the curl for more natural-looking movement. Don’t forget your face-framing!
- Once your curls have cooled, run your fingers through to separate them, and then top it all off with your favorite finishing spray. (For fine hair, we recommend SESSION.SPRAY FLEX.)
And if you’ve got a party coming up, but just aren’t about the at-home styling (we get it), book a Shampoo + Blow-Dry service with the Heated Styling add-on. They’ll work the magic for you.