Love the look of straight hair, but hate how flat it looks when you straighten it? What you need is a volumizing hair iron. If you’ve never heard of those before, you’ll be amazed at this nifty tool.
Volumizing hair irons are much like flat irons, except instead of having flat plates they have what looks like blocky teeth through which you slide your hair to make it straight and voluminous at the same time.
Volumizing hair irons work on all different hair types and hair lengths. Like any flat iron, they come in different sizes and with varying options of temperatures.
Using a volumizing hair iron is similar to using a regular flat iron, with a few small tweaks. You’re supposed to clamp the volumizing flat iron at the roots of your hair underneath the topmost layers of your hair.
Treated hair takes on a slightly crimped texture, which boosts the overall volume of your hairdo after you put untreated top layers of hair over it.
Volumizing hair irons are great for times when you need to add instant volume to your hair. They help make your hair look less greasy and help you hide your roots if you’ve waited too long for a hair appointment.
So which volumizing hair irons are the best? There are a few great brands on the market that give you the best results while keeping your hair protected from damage. In this article, we will share the top seven volumizing irons that are loved for their performance and ease of use.
So say goodbye to volumizing mousses and expensive blowouts because these hair irons are a game-changer.
Buyer’s Guide
What should you look for when shopping for a volumizing hair iron?
Plate Texture
First and foremost, you should be looking at the plate texture. This is what makes your hair iron give you that volume. Plate textures vary slightly, and the best ones have a checkerboard pattern, where each small block (or tooth, as we like to call them) is 0.5in x 0.5in or less in size.
This allows your hair to take on a subtle, but significant amount of volume. The more layers of hair you put through the volumizing hair iron, the more volume you’ll get.
Some volumizing hair irons come with a different pattern, for example, vertical crimping lines are common. This gives your hair the classic 90s crimped look, but it can be used for creating volume as well.
However, this texture is a little less subtle, so if you don’t want anyone to know that you’re secretly crimping your hair to add volume – you might want to stay away from these types of irons.
Plate Material
Another important factor to look at is the material that the plates are made of. Ceramic coating is popular for hair irons, and works great for volumizing irons, too.
Ceramic distributes heat evenly and protects your hair from burning, so it’s safe even at high temperatures. We’d recommend ceramic for all who have fine and damaged hair.
Titanium is another common material used in volumizing hair irons. Titanium heats up faster and helps tame frizz on coarse and curly hair.
Lastly, you might find a tourmaline material on your volumizing hair iron. Tourmaline is great for reducing frizz and making the hair shiny because it emits negative ions. It’s great for those who have very staticky hair.
Temperature Options
Pay attention to the temperature options that are available on the volumizing hair iron you’re considering for purchase. Some of them can go really high, while others don’t have the same range.
The right temperature for you depends on your hair type and its resistance to heat. People with fine hair typically need to use 250-300°F, people with wavy or curly hair do best at 325-410°F, and people with natural hair need temperatures as high as 400°F.
Make sure your hair iron has the option to go as high as you need and that you are able to adjust the temperature to regulate it.
Now that you know what to look for in a volumizing hair iron, let’s take a look at the best ones we were able to find with these features in mind.
7 Best Volumizing Hair Irons
Rank | Product | Key Features |
---|---|---|
1. | Voloom Classic | Top-rated volumizing iron with patented checkerboard plates |
2. | Bed Head Little Tease Hair Crimper | Compact iron with tourmaline-plated zig-zag plates for the perfect amount of lift and shine |
3. | INH Volumizing Hair Crimping Iron | Pretty pink styling iron with slightly rounded crimping plates for a subtle volumizing texture |
4. | DSHOW Hair Crimper | A volumizing iron with 4 interchangeable plate textures so you can get the exact look you want |
5. | GlamPalm Volumizing Iron | Crescent-shaped plate for straightening and creating soft volume at the same time |
6. | AmoVee Curling Iron Brush | A brush / styling iron combo that can be used for a variety of looks including voluminous blowouts |
7. | Hot Tools Professional Micro Crimper | Micro crimper that’s perfect for travel and for volumizing short hair |
1. Voloom Classic
Voloom is one of the first brands on the market that made a hair iron specifically for creating explosive volume.
Their volumizing hair irons come with a patented checkerboard pattern on the ceramic plates. The Classic model features 1.5-inch wide plates so that you can cover a large area at once and create incredible volume in your hair in a matter of minutes.
It works really well on fine hair as well as medium-coarse hair of any length. The temperature is entirely adjustable, and you can see what temperature you have the iron set to thanks to a digital display.
The settings go from 220-395°F allowing you to experiment and find out what temperature works best for your hair type and helps to prevent unwanted damage to your hair.
This iron comes in three trendy colors and brings with it a few handy accessories: hair clips and a volumizing brush that’ll help you achieve the boost your hair needs in a few easy steps.
This volumizing iron is not the cheapest, but it’s definitely the best of the best.
2. Bed Head Little Tease Hair Crimper
This compact volumizing iron by Bed Head features a vertical zig-zag pattern rather than a checkerboard pattern but works just as well.
You can crimp all of your hair with this iron as your mom did in the 80s, or use it as a volumizing iron by texturizing your underlayers for some phenomenal volume.
The plates are made from tourmaline-coated ceramic, giving this iron the best of both worlds. It is gentle on the hair and has plenty of negative ionization that tames frizz and keeps your hair shiny.
The heat settings go up to 400 ⁰F and toggle between 3 heat settings (low, medium, and high) for all hair types.
The plates are only 1 inch wide, making this a great styler for shorter hair or for travel. Of course, you can still use it for long hair, it might just take longer.
These plates on this crimper create a small texture that makes a BIG statement, whether you use it for crimped looks or to tease hair for added volume at the roots.
Another bonus of this little crimper is the price – this is a great high-quality option for those on a budget!
3. INH Volumizing Hair Crimping Iron
The volumizing hair crimping iron by INH comes in a bright pink body and perfectly complements any girly vanity.
It features 1.5 inch rounded crimping plates, which is a nice take on the traditional crimping irons.
The texture you get from this iron is a little bit softer, like small round waves, but still just as effective for creating volume when you use it on the roots of your hair’s lower layers.
The plates are made with ceramic and tourmaline for even heat distribution and anti-frizzing technology.
There is a digital screen that shows you the precise temperature and you can adjust it from 0-450°! With a wide range like that you have complete control over the amount of heat you’re putting on your hair, which is especially great for those who are worried about heat damage.
Users love that this iron takes just a few seconds to heat up, and the result lasts all day.
4. DSHOW Hair Crimper
This hair iron is a real bargain because you get 4 interchangeable plates that you can use for straightening, crimping, and volumizing the hair to different degrees.
The ceramic plates range from completely flat (for straightening) to different sizes of vertical zig-zag patterns that can create small to large crimping effects on the hair.
This gives you a lot of freedom to create different textures in your hair to achieve the right amount of lift.
This volumizing iron also has a big temperature range, so you can use it for any hair texture. It goes up to 430° and heats up in as little as 30 seconds!
Changing the plates is easy – you just remove the outer covers of the hair iron and slide out the plates. Slide new plates in their place and click the outer covers back in. Just make sure to do this while the iron is turned off and isn’t hot.
Overall, this is a decent volumizing hair iron that has a lot of positive reviews on Amazon. It’s not the same quality as Voloom, but it makes up for it by giving you 4 different plate patterns to choose from.
5. GlamPalm Volumizing Iron
The GlamPalm volumizing iron is different from the others. It doesn’t have textured plates that create a crimping effect in your hair to create volume.
Instead, it has a rounded plate that straightens your hair and lifts it at the same time.
We’d describe this volumizing iron as a the lovechild of a curling iron and a flat iron – the volume comes from the crescent shape of the plates and gives you a soft “blowout” look.
The ceramic plates are infused with Healing Stone technology, made from minerals found deep in the mountains of Korea, which the styling iron the ability to promote overall hair health, leaving hair smooth and shiny while delivering flawless, touchably soft results.
The temperature ranges from 220-450°, and can be manually adjusted, so you can make it work on any hair type.
Although this volumizing hair iron is a bit of an investment, we love the unique and original crescent shape. This will be great for those of you who don’t like the idea of crimped hair poking out from underneath your hairdo.
6. AmoVee Curling Iron Brush
Technically, this product is marketed as a curling iron / brush combo, but in practice, you can use it to create a lot of different styles, including a bombshell blowout full of volume.
Curl, straighten, and comb your hair with just one hair styler, creating a customizable styling experience.
The silicone hair brush glides easily through hair without causing tangles, while the rounded ceramic tourmaline wand applies heat to the hair and gives it shape.
To use it for volumizing purposes, use it on dry hair and brush your hair out and up, with a little curl toward the face at the end.
The wand heats up to 450° within 30 seconds, but you can adjust the temperature as you need for your individual hair type.
The benefit of this type of volumizing iron is that you don’t have to worry about crimping your roots and them being visible under your hair.
Instead, this brush/iron combo gives your hair an even lift all throughout your hair. The brush helps control the hair while you’re styling it and also allows you to brush it out at the same time.
7. Hot Tools Professional Micro Crimper
This micro crimper from Hot Tools Professional is great for travel due its compact size. It’s also great for creating small textures at the base of your hair for big volume.
Don’t let the size of this iron fool you – the tiny crimps it creates look subtle, but they add up. If you crimp the roots of several layers of your hair, you’ll be rewarded with incredible volume.
The temperature of this volumizing iron goes up to 430°, which is enough for most hair textures.
If you have shorter hair, this little crimper is perfect for you since it will hit your roots and nothing more. At only 1 inch wide, these plates will give you all-day volume without the outdated 80s look.
How To Use Volumizing Hair Irons
How you use your volumizing hair iron depends on what type of iron you have. If it’s one of the irons with crimping plates (whether they are checkerboard patterned or not), simply pin up the top layers of your hair out of the way and clamp the iron around the roots of your bottom layers.
Let your top layers down, and voila!
If you’re using a volumizing iron that has a crescent or rounded plate, it works more like a flat iron – you have to actually slide it down the lengths of your hair to create the desired look.
Now that you know what to look for in a volumizing hair iron, we hope you’ll be able to achieve the volume of your dreams!
Related Articles
Best Flat Irons For Silk Press