How to Add Volume and Body to Fine, Thin Hair
Although hair care products may treat them as interchangeable terms, fine hair and thin hair are not synonymous. Fine hair refers to the diameter of individual hair strands, while thin hair indicates how many hairs grow on a given section of the scalp. However, both thin hair and fine hair face similar styling issues. Stylists employ two methods to create volume in fine, thin hair: thicken individual hair shafts and create the illusion of volume with shape. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Dispense a puff of styling mousse into your hand and rub the product between the palms to distribute it evenly. Follow the manufacturer's directions on the label to determine how much mousse to use. When in doubt, use less; adding mousse is easier than removing excess product from the hair.
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Work the mousse through clean, damp hair. Start at the roots near the hairline and work up to the crown of the head, fluffing the hair with the fingers and leaving an even distribution of mousse on hair strands.
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Bend forward at the waist and bow the head, letting gravity do the work of pulling hair up from the scalp. As your hair dries, it will retain some of that lift at its roots.
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Set the blow dryer on low and direct the stream of air onto hair at its roots. Start at the nape and work around to the temples and finally the crown. Aim the dryer along the direction of hair growth, not against the grain; fine hair's delicate texture requires careful handling.
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Stand upright and use the round brush to pull sections of hair vertical for drying and smoothing. Place the brush under a section of hair, give the brush just enough of a turn to hold the section of hair in place, and direct air along the roots to add more volume.
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Push and shape the hair into a desired style while drying using the round brush and your fingers.
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Mist the style with hairspray. Like mousse, hairspray coats the hair shafts and thickens the diameter of thin strands. Spraying hair into place also holds the illusion of thickness that blow-drying created at the roots, reinforcing the vertical lift and retaining the hair's volume.
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Add a spray of shine serum at the ends of longer hair to add brilliance without adding weight. Heavy ends will cause a loss of volume at the roots, so keep products on ends to a minimum.
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Tips & Warnings
Manufacturers create products specifically for fine or thin hair; use these for extra body and volume.
A beer rinse thickens hair shafts and adds body, but rinse it thoroughly to remove its strong aroma.
Because they remove some weight from hair's roots, shorter cuts give the illusion of thicker or coarser hair.
Heavy conditioners weigh on fine or thin hair, so skip conditioning the roots of hair and add these products only to its ends.
Permanent hair coloring temporarily thickens the diameter of hair shafts, but will leave fine hair more fragile.
Treat fine, thin hair as carefully as if it were antique lace; wringing, teasing and rough brushing will snap strands and make hair appear even thinner and finer.
Genetics influences hair diameter, while hair thinning can have hormonal, environmental or nutritional causes; seek medical advice for unusual hair thinning.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty Images
