Thinning hair can be a source of frustration and self-consciousness for so many of us. While genetics, age, stress, hormones, medication and many more factors play significant roles in hair loss, the way you cut and style your hair can also have a profound impact on its appearance. In other words – all hope is not lost if you find your hair is thinner than it used to be!
While there are numerous products and treatments aimed at promoting hair growth, restoring volume, and making it healthier than ever, one of the quickest and most effective ways to manage thinning hair is by choosing the right haircut. And perhaps even more importantly: avoiding the wrong haircuts.
We’ve spoken to some hair experts, and many haircuts can actually make hair loss even more obvious as they can draw unwanted attention to areas where the hair is sparse. But all hope is not lost, as we’re going to tell you all about some of the worst, non-flattering haircuts for thinning hair because they exaggerate fallout so you can avoid them like the plague! Check out 15 of the worst hairstyles for thinning hair below…
1. Pin-Straight Long Hair Without Layers
If you have "fine, thinning, fragile, damaged hair," Janine Jarman, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Curl Cult, recommends "cutting it off." She adds that "healthy hair is always the best bet. If your hair is thin, it only gets thinner as it grows out and if it's damaged it will only continue to break the longer it gets."
Gina Rivera, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Phenix Salon Suites, agrees in that "long, straight, blunt hair" is not always becoming with age and can inadvertently emphasize thinning and bald spots. "The long length can pull the features down and make them appear more drawn," Rivera says, adding: "If you select longer hair, it's important to opt for longer layers that will create movement and texture."
2. Too Many Layers
You can of course go the other way and have too many layers!
When cut correctly, layers can help to add volume and movement to your hair that can create the illusion of thicker locks. But getting too many layers can have the opposite effect, making your hair appear even more limp than before. "Haircuts that are texturized too much can make thin hair appear even thinner, rather than full," explains Rivera.
Layers, when cut appropriately, can help to "add volume" and flow to your hair, "giving the appearance of fuller locks," Rivera notes. Adding too many layers, on the other hand "can make your hair appear even more limp than before."
3. Choppy Shags
While shag cuts are iconic, 70s-esque and trendy (and usually flattering for any face shape when paired with no-fail curtain bangs) adding too many layers can head into mullet territory.
Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles, points out that shags can easily be cut to frame your face and best features, but adding a heavy amount of layers can often do the opposite.
4. Mid-Length Bobs
In addition to not being a good style if your hair is thinning, mid-length bobs have other down sides too. A bob looks the best when it ends at the chin or at the collarbone, Abdullah says. If your bob ends at the middle of your neck, she stresses that this could make you look older, even if that is not the goal.
The thing about bobs and lobs, Abdullah says, is that they fall "right where you want to draw attention." A longer, mid-length bob would fall "right at the neck." For a woman who's over 40, Abdullah says, this could be a spot where "fine lines and wrinkles" could be more apparent.
5. Short Bobs With Baby Bangs
Although they're not full, blunt bangs, baby bangs still rely on having a lot of hair to start with, so any hairstyle with baby bangs will no doubt draw attention to the sparse areas. Baby bangs can also show off parts of the forehead that you perhaps didn't want to show off, especially if you also wanted to use the bangs to hide wrinkles.
Dani Everson, professional hair stylist at Clementine's Salon, says that this style could draw attention to wrinkles, thinning at the crown or other signs of aging with its forehead-baring look. Although baby bangs can work for those of us with an Audrey Hepburn-inspired style, Everson says that this cut, which ends before your eyebrows, might have a different effect on mature beauties.
"I love bangs and think everyone has their own special length that enhances their features," she says, adding that "No two bangs are the same," and if you are looking to get bangs, "opt for a long hairstyle that will help hide forehead wrinkles." This type of fringe, she says, can "overshare someone's wrinkle story," drawing the eye to sagging skin rather than creating a look that has an upwards or lifting effect.
6. Chin-Length Bobs With Blunt Bangs
According to Abdullah, if you're aiming to achieve a more radiant appearance while masking any thinning, you should avoid the blunt, chin-length bob hairstyle accompanied by blunt fringe. This hairstyle may not work in your favor as it has the potential to make you look older than your actual age. Abdullah warns that adding this kind of bangs to a chin-length bob (or slightly longer lob) can also highlight the effects of aging without enhancing your best features.
Thick, blunt bangs that "come past the eyebrows on a blunt lob emphasize every sign of age in the face, as they don't frame the face well," she explains. "Rather, they push all the attention to the eyes, with all their lines." This, she says, is seen as a very classic chic look, but it can make you look older if not cut with voluminous layers to frame your face shape.
7. Blunt Bobs With Center Parts
Middle parts can create a symmetrical look at any age, but Abdullah stresses that they can also draw more attention to thinning at the crown, forehead wrinkles, and can make your tresses look flatter. "A bob with a center part might have been your go-to hairstyle before, but maybe your part seems to be getting wider and wider," Abdullah acknowledges, as thinning in the crown area is common as many age.
"If you're thinning in the crown of your head, a center part is going to draw attention to it. This is because you're putting the part right in the same area," she says. To avoid this, Abdullah recommends a side part for more volume and a youthful energy.
8. Mega-Short Pixie
Cutting off the length of your hair can allow your locks to appear denser and thicker, but going too short on the top of your pixie cut may not be ideal for thinning strands, warns Abdullah. "If you decide to go with short hair, try to avoid a pixie that's short on the top of your head. This can really emphasize thinning on top," she says. "The look is worse if you decide to spike the hair with gel, as you'll really start seeing a lot of scalp that way."
If the pixie cut is still calling you, Abdullah suggests trying a cut with longer strands on the top of the head that can help to hide thinning patches while still achieving that edgy look. "If you wear the top as a bang, it will also look very chic," she says.
9. Choppy Front Layers
When it comes to thinning and hair loss, professional hairstylist Justin Hickox says that this often occurs at the hairline and crown area, firstly. This, he stresses is why it's best to avoid any hairstyles (like those with front layering) that draw attention to this area.
"As those front pieces get a little bit longer, if they start to thin, they're going to start looking very thin at the ends," he says. He adds that your hair will start to look "piecey" and even thinner overall.
10. Heavy Bottom Layers
Another layered look for fine-haired beauties to avoid, Hickox shares, is one that has intense and heavy layering at the bottom of the cut. "The concern with over-layering on the bottom of a medium length is that the farther and longer your hair gets from your neckline, the less it supports layering in the bottom of your hair or around the back." You might have a shorter shape that's much closer to your neckline, say like a bob, he notes, and it could "support a lot of layering down there, meaning it would look thick and dense."
Then, as that same amount of layering starts to grow out, and it "starts getting a little bit longer, towards the collarbone-length," he adds that you'll find that those ends start to look a lot thinner and thinner. "The concern again is that in the process with thin and fine hair, we're trying to find a style that makes your hair look as dense as possible," Hickox advises. "Any time there are ends that look very thin, it makes your overall hairstyle look less thick."
11. One-Length Lobs
While layers can make your hair look thinner if done incorrectly, Hickox says that they are still ideal for creating volume if cut to flatter your hair type. He recommends skipping a one-length lob that ends "around the collarbone" area.
The main concern with this style when it comes to thinner hair, is that "with this being one-length, even though it's a bob and not super long, it still is on the longer side for thin, fine hair, and it has a tendency to get very heavy," he continues. The sleek overall look of a lob may "lay too flat" for someone who wants "volume and density," he notes.
12. Overly Angled Bobs
This type of bob is "a little bit more dramatic" than one that just "follows your jawline," Hickox says, and there is often "a bit of accentuated length in the front." The "big problem" with this 'do for anyone with thinner hair, he adds, is that your hair might naturally be thinner at the front, and this bob is "one hundred percent reliant on that length being very strong and dense." If your front length is "not strong and dense," the probability of you being able to "really create the look of this, what really draws your attention to it when you see it in a magazine, may be very thin."
Ultimately, if the front of your hair isn't naturally dense enough, it won't create the angled line that you might see thicker-haired celebs rocking when it comes to this bob. Since the angle "starts at the back of your ear and goes forward, if your hair isn't thick enough to make that line look dense, then it'll actually look like there's less of an angle," he goes on.
13. Wolf Cuts
The wolf cut is a trendy new name for a shag, Hickox says, and this style requires "a lot of layering at the bottom." There is so much layering going on that this look is actually "supposed to look thin at the bottom," he continues, as the "layers on top are very short and there are lots of layers from then on and down throughout the entire head of hair." In that case, because it's meant to look a little bit thin, it will still look best on thicker-haired people.
To really rock this, he says that shorter pieces at the top have to look more dense and voluminous. "Here's where you might go wrong, depending on how long you leave this from the neckline, there is a fine line between thin and shattered in that shag look," he stresses. You want to avoid your hair looking "scraggly and thin," without the strength to support that amount of layers.
"What you'll end up finding is that to get that really strong, shattered look, you actually need to bring the length up closer to the neckline," Hickox continues. "That might not be a problem, but the shorter you take it to the neckline, it may end up like less of the overall wolf cut that you were wanting." He says that "you might want this specific style and length coming down to your neck and realize that with your hair texture, even though it's supposed to look piecey, yours may look a little too piecey."
14. Hair Cut Into A V-Shape In The Back
When your hair is cut into layers that form a V-shape in the back, the effect can be thinning and even stringy. This is because your stylist isn't leaving you with enough hair density at the bottom of your hair to appear thicker and healthy.
The solution is to stick to a baseline blunt cut with long layers. The layering should happen above the baseline of your hair to keep from looking too wispy at the ends.
15. Any Haircut Or Style With A Center Part
While a middle part can be a timeless look that frames your facial features and creates symmetry, Ona Diaz-Santin, celebrity hair stylist, curl expert, and owner of 5 Salon & Spa, advises against this if your hair is thinning. This style, she notes, can show more of your scalp if your part is widening, and "make the hair look thinner" than it actually is.
"Typically thinning for women is at the top of the head, and parting in the center can expose the thinning area more," she explains. To prevent this, she suggests adding "movement to hair when styling," wearing headbands to accessorize, and experimenting with "deep side parts" to make your tresses look fuller, thicker, and more voluminous. Could this be why the Princess of Wales swapped her traditional middle part for a side part at Wimbledon last month?!
Hair tends to shed toward the front crown first. When you part your hair down the center, this can draw more attention to sparse areas of the scalp. Try experimenting with different hair parts — a deep side part, for example, or a slightly crooked part in the middle. This simple swap may be all you need to cover your scalp a bit and make your hair look thicker.
