Dear Paul and Leisa After reading your wonderful feature in last week’s Irish Daily Mail, I have a question in relation to my very fine hair which I think is also thinning a little at the front. Do you have any preventative suggestions for hair loss and any recommendations on hairstyles that suit or work best on fine hair?
Paul says:
This is something we hear about and deal with every day in the salon – and now more than ever since the pandemic. First, let’s get some facts established — fine hair, like eye colour and height, is down to genetics so if you have always had it then that’s not a bad thing, providing you have realistic expectations of what your hair will or will not do. This includes how long you can have it, how much volume you can expect to achieve and how much time you invest in caring for it. The style aspects are the easiest to deal with. In my experience, fine hair and how to maximise its potential come down to two things — cutting expertise and suitability. Without these two elements any hairdresser will struggle to truly give fine-haired clients the best results.
Fine hair really benefits from clean precision haircuts where the shape and lengths are balanced perfectly so that the hair looks strong and defined. I avoid razors, thinning scissors (obviously), texturising and in most cases but not always heavily layered mid length looks that can make the ends look scraggly and wispy.
My go-to shapes are beautiful precision cuts — mid length french bobs are a big hit this season and every other season, in my books. These can be mussed up into sexy beach waves with Alfaparf Style Stories Sea Salt Spray, an absolute hero product that’s great on fine hair to give wonderful volume that holds.
Then of course, there are fringes — a great fashion statement that work brilliantly on fine, straight or curly hair.
A few tips: keep it heavy – blunt if possible – and choose the length that suits your face shape. Fringes should draw attention to your eyes and cheekbones but avoid extremes — too short and you are in village idiot territory (though I do love a micro fringe, it is not for the faint-hearted), too long and we are talking Claudia Winkleman’s curtain-like fringe which risks you doing the wine-fuelled ‘agh I’ll just cut my own hair’ routine — only to wake up the next day with a hangover and full of regret.
So can we layer fine hair? Can it be long? Can you colour it? The answer is yes and no. Fine hair can be naturally full of body which can make it look thicker and it can be coloured like other hair types, but extra care must be taken to ensure the integrity and condition of the hair as its almost always fragile and weaker than average hair. Growing fine hair is hard because at a certain length the hair does not have the density or weight to go any further without compromising its quality and look. That, added with heated tools and heavy styling products, inevitably see the hair’s condition deteriorate and will result in dry brittle ends and, worse again, possible breakage.
Your stylist should be able to guide you to a realistic style and length for your hair. Stay on the lookout for people who have similar hair to you. TV personality Davina McCall’s fine hair is a trademark almost (bear in mind she lives with the celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas) Or Helen Mirren whose hair is fine but always beautifully cut and styled. Then, of course you have Jennifer Aniston — not exactly the biggest or thickest head of hair in Hollywood but undoubtedly one of the most coveted manes of all time.
LEISA SAYS
Once you’ve had that great new cut, and your hair is feeling sharp, clean and healthy, what do you do at home to make your hair better than it ever was? Some people are born with fine hair and live a life of dealing with its limitations; others – myself included – have to navigate the changes.
These changes include pregnancy, menopause, illness or, in some cases, trauma. Hair thinning and hair loss are no longer taboo and most stylists are becoming more educated in the causes and preventive steps that can be taken to regenerate hair growth or at least prevent further loss.
As mentioned in our menopause article, many hair regimes and habits have to change in order to see real progress. So combine your new style with a programme of maintenance that will ensure that the hair is being nourished and the scalp and follicles are clean and clear to encourage growth.
My preferred range is NAK (your salon may stock a similar brand but there are some key features that you should look out for). For me, the attraction is that the products are as natural as possible — against animal testing and paraben and sulphate free.
It was often considered that a conditioner would weigh fine hair down leaving it lank and lifeless but the opposite is true. In the NAK range we almost always recommend the three products in the Energise thickening family — the shampoo is a gentle cleanser while the conditioner (€13,25 each, millies.ie) actually creates a thickening effect and improves strength, perfect for natural, oily, lank, fine and thinning hair. Energise Mineral Defence (€24.90, thehairshoplimerick.ie) is a spray that defends and strengthens ageing hair follicles and is simply quite brilliant. It is a treatment that targets thin areas at the hairline crown partings and patches.
But does it work? Ask Paul, who stopped using the hair loss product Propecia three years ago and replaced it with this. His hair has never looked thicker or better. Of course each case is individual but the war on hair loss is winnable and with great advice honest and realistic expectation and a new programme you can have the hair you want for a lot longer.
TOP TIP
Do you use a spray leave in conditioner or detangler? It’s likely that if you have naturally curly hair or exceptionally thick hair then you leave the salon with one or maybe both of these products. Salon standard products are usually highly concentrated so my advice is tip the product into a water spray bottle then top up with water. That will give you you double the product with pretty much the same result lasting twice as long — you’re welcome x
HAIR HERO
AMIE LEE CURTIS
Who doesn’t love Jamie Lee Curtis’s hair — that silvergrey, gamine pixie crop that beautifully shows off her incredible bone structure and unmistakeable twinkly eyes? It’s great, but its so much more than a haircut. It’s a defiant fist in the air to Hollywood stereotypes that still (yes, even today ) have preconceived ideas about how women should look. Jamie Lee has challenged that for many years with her now trademark super crop that, alongside her super nerdy oversized specs, beaming smile and impeccably cut trousers suits, make her a standout in an otherwise rather boring world of celebrity. She’s a beautiful and individual role model.
