Thin or fine hair doesn’t always get the love it deserves. We often speak badly about thinning hair, wish it away, or lament the number of hairstyles we can no longer sport because we feel they look bad and show signs of sparseness around the scalp. We don’t take the time to think about all of the ways a subtle haircut or invisible layering techniques can add volume to hair and make it look healthier and more vibrant.
To find the haircut of our dreams we should first rule out those hairstyles that aren’t doing us any favors, especially if our hair is thin.
According to Professional Hairstylist Justin Hickox, there are five hairstyles you should never wear if you have thinning hair. They provide “less volume” and can look less healthy than other haircuts. These are the five cuts that “work against you,” according to Hickox.
1. Super Long Hair
When Hickox speaks of “super long hair” he says he is referring to hair that extends past the bra strap and lower back, a length that can be difficult to maintain. The longer your hair gets from the neckline the thinner it begins to look (no matter what your texture). The concern for thin hair is that it is going to start looking thinner at a shorter length. When you look at a thinner baseline of hair it automatically looks less healthy to us.
2. Medium to Long Hair With Bottom Layers
A little bit of layering can take your hair to great places. It can add volume to your crown and create major movement, for starters. But if your layers are concentrated on the bottom of your hair, this can look problematic because thin hair will only look sparser with tons of layering at the baseline.
3. One-Length Lob
The lob is a hot haircut that looks great on so many hair types. But if you have thin hair, wearing a one-layered lob can fall flat and just sit there without any movement or shape. If you prefer this collarbone-length cut, add layers to create shape and volume — but Hickox still recommends going a bit shorter and opting for a bob that provides more fullness.
4. One-Length Medium Haircut
Similar to the one-length lob, a one-length medium haircut doesn’t maintain enough shape to do thin hair any justice. The challenge with this hair length is that if you start adding tons of layering it can make the ends look thinner. But if you concentrate your layers on top and keep them long, you can allow your bottom strands to keep their shoulder length and a blunter baseline for a denser look.
5. Pixie With Too Many Layers
If you’ve cut your hair short and feel like it’s laying flat when it should be full of body, you may think the solution is to cut your layers even shorter on top. But something may still feel off — nine out of ten times, Hickox says, the top is too short for the rest of your hair. Shorter hair does a good job of making thin hair look denser, but it’s important to keep your layers long enough to emphasize the shape of your hairstyle so that it looks its best.
