Layers for Fine Hair

Cutting fine hair with layers
Photo: Ravil Sayfullin/Shutterstock
Q: Will layers make my hair look thicker? I have very fine hair. The diameter of my hair strands is really small. My hair is long and most of the time it looks very limp. Would a bob or maybe a pixie with layers help to make my hair look thicker and fuller?
 
A: Layers can make your hair look thicker, although this largely depends on the type of hair you have, as well as how much hair you have.
 
If you have wavy, fine hair that is sparse (under average amount of hair per square inch or square centimeter), cutting your hair into layers may make your hair look disheveled and unkempt. If you have very straight and fine hair but a lot of it, layers should work well for you.
 
Your problem is probably that you hair is too long. Fine hair doesn’t work well when it’s long, because it just falls flat and looks drab. I would recommend cutting you hair into an A-line lob (long bob). The hair at the back is a bit shorter than the front, which helps the hair from crown to nape retain its volume and flippancy.
 
The tips of the hair at the front of the style should just be touching your shoulders, or be shorter than that. Ask the stylist to thin out the ends, but only very slightly. This style has layered hair at the back where the lob is inverted, but not at the front. This minimizes the chances that the layers turn your fine hair into a scraggly mess, especially in humid or wet-weather conditions.
 
You can also incorporate highlights into your lob to improve volume and bounce. Bleach/peroxide, (used to add highlights to hair), reduces the amount of moisture in the hair, which adds impressive volume and movement to the hair. If you have your hair done at a talented and experienced hairdresser, you don’t have to worry about damaging your hair by this process. Lots of clients have light-brown or blonde highlights put in in the top half of their heads for the sole reason to make their hair look thicker and more vibrant.
 
A pixie cut works really well with fine hair as well, and even fine hair won’t frizz, as the length of the hair is too short to be able to do this. Try a pixie with a long fringe and short at the back, or keeping the hair longer at the top and ears in longer wisps. Pixie cuts also look awesome with fine highlights worked into the fringe and around the face.
 
Have a look at some pictures of Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lawrence, and Emma Watson etc. Their stylists love to add highlights around the face and in the fringe, because it makes even a very short style look feminine and wispy. Going lighter around your face also make you look years younger and softer. You could first do the lob with highlights, and if you want an even bigger change you can go for the pixie cut.
 
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See also:
 
Would cutting my hair into layers make it easier to maintain?
 
What does layered mean to a hair stylist?
 
What are the benefits of layers?