Go-to Hair Products
For Fine, Thin Hair
Fine, thin hair comes with its set of perks and nuisances. I can blow-dry and style it in a short amount of time but keeping body and volume in the hair throughout the day proves to be quite tricky. I'm on an endless pursuit for the latest and greatest volumizing lightweight products that can make me look like I've got double the hair without feeling heavy or gritty.
I’m a dry shampoo and dry texturizing spray fiend and never blow dry my hair without heat protection. I’ve been using the Briogeo Rosarco Blow Dry Rerfecting Crème on towel-dried hair prior to blow drying, and then finishing off my style with the Amika texturizing spray. It is great for adding a soft texture that doesn’t feel gritty in the hair and gives you that perfect windswept style.
The Aveda Thickening Tonic and Show Beauty Thickening Mist are excellent products for beefing up my strands before blowdrying. I would use the former on any occasion, while saving the latter for more special engagements. The Show Beauty Thickening Mist, when paired with the Working Texture Spray adds a ridiculous amount of thickness and drama to the hair but it can feel quite sticky so it’s not the kind of product I can keep in for more than a day before needing a wash. It doesn’t mix well with dry shampoo.
Speaking of dry shampoo, the Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk is a classic that I have been loving for the last couple of years - it smells refreshing and adds the perfect hit of clean to second and third day hair. It never weighs my hair down and it does a decent job at absorbing excess oil. If the oily roots are SERIOUS, though, I like to reach for the big guns: Aveda Shampure. It’s a dry shampoo powder with a herbal/citrus scent and it sucks up ALL the oils. I only use this when desperate times call for desperate measures. If I really should be washing my greasy hair but something came up and I don’t have the time, Aveda Shampure comes to the rescue. I would not recommend this if you have very dark hair, though, as it can leave a bit of a white cast due to the powder format.
In terms of proper hair washing, I’m currently using and LOVING the Christophe Robin Cleansing Volumizing Paste. It is the most unique hair washing product I’ve tried. It smells of roses and it has a gritty texture akin to that of a body scrub. You only need a small amount (I use about a quarter-sized dollop) and work it into wet hair, massaging the scalp thoroughly. The instructions on the tub suggest leaving it onto your hair for a couple of minutes before rinsing out and following up with a conditioner or hair mask of your choice.
The CR Cleansing Volumizing Paste lifts my roots and gives me volume without compromising my hair color. I love it. It’s a must for fine hair, although I reckon anyone seeking more volume would get along well with this product. I like to follow up with either conditioner (the Garnier Whole Blends range is great if you’re looking for a drugstore gem) or a hair mask. Since I have highlights I like to use a purple hair mask to keep the brassiness in check. This is the one I’m currently using and I’ve been repurchasing it yearly when a Sephora sale comes around.
I’m pretty pleased with my current hair round-up. After years of trial and tribulations (and a couple of phases involving eggplant-hued box dye) I have finally settled in to a hair styling routine that yields good volumizing results, feels nourishing and maintains my color for many many weeks in between salon sessions. Now the only thing left on the agenda is to fine-tune my chignon skills…
