If you have fine or thin hair, you might be thinking about what haircuts are best suited to your hair type. With so many haircut ideas online and on social media, it can be tricky to know where to start. All hair types and textures come with their own challenges, but for thin or fine hair, it can be difficult to create lasting volume and shape. That is why choosing the best haircut for fine hair is essential. It lays the groundwork to maximise your hair to its full potential. With the right haircut also comes less styling time and hair that looks perfectly suited to you and your lifestyle. And who doesn’t want that? Choose the wrong haircut for fine or thin hair, however, and you may find your hair isn’t sitting how you might like it, no matter how many styling products or hairstyling tools you throw at it. The haircut really is the foundation for your whole hair routine and making sure it looks its very best.
Curious to find out the best haircuts to enhance fine hair, we spoke to Nioxin trichologist and hairstylist Mark Blake, who shared the haircuts to avoid for fine hair and the best ones to enhance volume and shape. Ahead, you’ll find the five haircuts to steer clear of as well as the five winning haircuts that will leave fine and thin hair looking its best. Get ready to book in with your salon.
Haircuts with lots of choppy layers are best avoided if you have finer hair. “Avoid haircuts such as the coupe sauvage,” says Blake. “Fine hair just doesn’t have enough oomph in it to hold this shattered shape.”
Even though ’90s-inspired haircuts are having a moment, if you have fine hair, Blake recommends avoiding haircuts like “the Rachel,” which tend to have flicky layers through the lengths of the hair. “Fine hair just can’t flick at the ends as easily, and so this haircut will just looked wilted,” he says.
Long hair with too many short layers is best avoided, says Blake. Fine hair can tend to break easily, so longer lengths will expose breakage more easily, and too many layers can make finer hair look flat or limp.
Undercut hairstyles (where longer hair sits over a short or clipped portion of the hair) are also best avoided. “If you have thin or fine hair, getting rid of a large part of it doesn’t leave you enough to spread around the entire head,” says Blake.
If you have thin hair, you’ll want to avoid growing it too long. Your hair type may be more prone to breakage or thinning, which can look wispy on a backdrop of long hair. “This can make your hair look unkempt,” says Blake.
“A classic bob haircut is a great way to make your hair look thicker, as it keeps your ends looking thick and gives the hair that swishable swing,” says Blake. Bonus points for opting for a one-length bob with a blunt finish, which will keep hair healthy and also enhance the illusion of fullness in your lengths.
Blake rates a pixie haircut for fine hair types. “Choose a pixie haircut with weight around the sides,” he says. “This technique builds weight and gives the illusion of thickness. Plus, hair can be plumped up, slicked back or given a dramatic quiff,” he says, making it a great option if you want to go shorter and still wear your hair in lots of different ways.
Shorter cuts and face-framing layers are a flattering choice for fine hair. “Keeping softness around the face and adding shorter layers around the crown creates the illusion of much thicker hair,” says Blake.
Some tactically placed layers can really enhance the shape of your bob to achieve more volume. “With clever cutting and what I call secret layers (hidden weaved layers on the top of the head), this is a great haircut to disguise fine hair and to add even more texture to the hair with heated stylers,” says Blake.
A short, asymmetrical cut like the firefly haircut can add shape and volume to fine hair. This look was often worn by Princess Diana and creates a lot of volume and shape. “A modern variation of a firefly is a great option for fine hair,” says Blake. “This classic asymmetrical haircut builds weight around the curvature of the head, creating much needed bulk in the hair.”
This serum helps to boost hair density at the root, encouraging thicker hair growth with regular use. Simply spray into your scalp once a day and massage in. What I love about this spray is that it actually helps create volume at the root like a styling product would, making it a quick fix while addressing long-term results too.
I recently noticed some hair shedding around my hairline and gave these hair supplements a try. I had seen other beauty editors rave about their own results but was sceptical. However, after only a couple of months, I have noticed a significant improvement in these sparser areas, where I have seen new hairs sprouting through and thickening up again.
Chris Appleton (aka, Jennifer Lopez’s go-to hairstylist) regularly uses this root-lifting spray to create height and volume in the hair. Spritz through your hair before blow-drying for voluminous blow-drys.
Thin or fine hair can be prone to breakage, particularly if you use a lot of heated styling tools on your hair or if you colour your hair. Olaplex helps to repair lengths from the inside out to mend heat and colour damage and restore lengths to their former health.
Ask any beauty journalist what their favourite dry shampoo is, and they will most likely mention Living Proof. This not only helps to refresh second-day hair, but it also helps to create height and volume in fine hair.
