FEMOSPHERE

Finding information on the best way to style fine or thinning hair can be really difficult! It seems most people who give out the advice, don’t struggle with it themselves but rather give a textbook answer. When learning about the best way to manage my fine hair, I felt like there was a drought of information, and a wealth of misinformation. I’ve compiled a list of things I’ve found useful, and you might, too.

First, understand the difference between thin and fine. Fine refers to the thickness of the strands, while thin refers to the amount of hair on your head. I was born with fine hair, there’s a lot of it, but the strands don’t have much volume.

Conditioner

One of the very first things I learned about managing fine hair, never put conditioner on your scalp. My fine hair can become very oily, very fast. I don’t need conditioner to aid that. In fact, I only use conditioner on the hair near the nape of my neck down. I am also very conservative with my conditioner, as I can always follow up with a leave in conditioner or gloss after the wash. My go-to leave in conditioner is the Not Your Mother’s All Eyes on Me 10-in-1 perfector.

Even with reducing my conditioner, my hair still attracts grease and oil. It’s unsustainable to wash every day, and I have been told that’s unhealthy for your hair. While it is preferred to get on a wash schedule, and that works for many, I find that my hair is very sensitive, to practically everything. Changes in the weather, the seasons, my environment, even altitude, all affect my hair. As a result, I have become a huge fan of dry shampoo.

Dry Shampoo

My personal favorite dry shampoo is the Hask Biotin Thickening Dry Shampoo. It smells like eucalyptus and white floral, has long lasting oil absorption, and doesn’t leave my hair feeling chalky. It is also a clean product. Dry shampoo doubles as a fabulous styling tool. For ladies with fine and thin hair it can add texture and create volume. Volumizing spray can also help, but I personally haven’t had much luck with it.

While there are many benefits, dry shampoo can be tricky. Too much use can be negative for your hair’s growth and suffocate the cuticle. Experts recommend not using dry shampoo more than twice a week.

Clarifying Shampoo

If you, like me, use dry shampoo way more often than that, you may need clarifying shampoo. Clarifying shampoo should be used once, maybe twice, a week. It helps to detox the residue left over from grease, grime and styling products. Preventing buildup of products is very important for hair health and growth.

Clarifying shampoo is known to dry out hair, so it’s important to not overuse the product.

While on the topic of shampoo, it’s imperative to choose shampoo and conditioners that are not weighty. Having fine, pin-straight hair, it has a natural tendency to bear down. Using light products helps the hair to create long-lasting volume and body.

Blow Dry vs. Air Dry

The blow dry vs air dry debate can be a tricky subject. On one hand, air drying is better for your hair as you’re avoiding heat. On the other, it’s much easier to create volume if you flip your head and blow dry roots. The leave in conditioner I mentioned above doubles as a heat protectant, so I usually use that before blow drying. A good alternative is to air dry then break out the blow dryer a few minutes before your hair is fully dry.

Volume Hack

I’ve discovered an overnight volume hack that works very well for my hair. While sock curls and overnight blowouts are trendy, my hair is much too fine to stay in one spot overnight. As an alternative, I will use dry shampoo on my roots, use the leave in conditioner on the ends (applied very conservatively- but important to prevent breakage), flip my head over and tie a high ponytail with a scrunchie. I pull the scrunchie up a little so that my roots are upwards. Sometimes the scrunchie doesn’t make it through the night due to being so loose, but nearly always it results in volume for the next day.

These are a few ways I’ve learned to work with, not against my fine hair. Most hair trends today are not inclusive for fine and thin hair, so it’s important to find what works best for you personally. Help us fine-haired girlies out, do you have any tips you can share?