Really Big Hair – How to Get the Look

Backcombing or teasing can be incorporated into all sorts of different styles, from a 60s beehive to an 80s goth look. But how can you get gravity-defying hair? And once you’ve got it, how do you get it back to normal? Here’s a quick how-to for you!

Getting Big Hair

You will need:

•   Ahair brush
• Very strong hairspray                               
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Crimping irons (optional)
• Heat-shielding hair serum or spray

1. Wash your hair, as you would normally but make sure you use a fair bit of conditioner, especially on the ends, as backcombing can really damage your hair.
2. Give your hair a quick spritz with the heat-shielding spray and dry your hair as normal.
3. Spritz again with heat-shielding spray, then with hairspray and then crimp the whole of your hair (optional, but it stays up better when crimped for some reason). This will take a while, but it’s worth it.
4. Now take your hairbrush, grab a handful of hair and start backcombing. If you want to keep some bits (like say your fringe or an under layer) separate, pin them out of the way. There’s really not much to this, but if you normally have a distinct parting which you don’t want to show through, make sure you grab clumps of hair that cross the parting, this will ensure it stays up at the top.
5. Once you’ve got the bare bones of your hairstyle in place, spray liberally with hairspray (if it’s too wet, dry quickly with the hairdryer) and backcomb some more. If you want a really rigid style, you may want to repeat this several times.
6. Once you’re happy with your hair, give one last layer of hairspray and you’re done.

Some Tips:

• Almost all lengths of hair can be backcombed, but I find for a really big style the ideal length is a couple of inches shorter than shoulder-length.
• Make sure you have an idea what style you’re going for before you start backcombing. Sweeping everything up and back can give a cool fauxhawk style, if you’re wearing a fascinator sweeping your hair to one side can be very effective, or you can just have it sticking out at all angles!
• If you’re going for a really huge style, you’ll need at least an hour to style your hair, but if you’re after something more Kate Bush than Patricia Morisson, you can get away with only a few minutes.
• As already mentioned, backcombing really damages your hair so I wouldn’t recommend styling your hair like this too often. Make sure you use plenty of conditioner and if you plan to wear your hair like this for a few days running, just leave it in rather than taking it down and starting all over again!

Getting Back to Normal

This can be far more complex (and painful!) than styling your hair in the first place and depending on how much you’ve backcombed your hair, can take up to half an hour of careful brushing.

You will need:

• A hairbrush
• Lots of conditioner
• A shower

Simply take a shower, rub plenty of conditioner into your hair and start brushing it through. Start with the ends and slowly work through the whole of your hair. If you’re not careful you can end up tearing your hair out so take your time!