Volume for Fine Hair: Shampoo, Root Lift and the Blow-Dry

Fine hair gains volume from three things working together: a light wash and conditioner that leave nothing heavy behind, a root-lift product on damp roots, and a blow-dry that dries the root first and lifts it as it goes. Between washes, a dry shampoo refreshes the roots and gives back a little body. None of this changes the hair itself; it changes how the hair sits. Below is each step, and the shampoos, conditioners, mousses, sprays and dry shampoos we would choose for it.

Why Does Fine Hair Fall Flat?

Fine describes the width of each strand, not how much hair you have. You can have plenty of fine hair, or very little. What fine strands share is that they are light and soft, so they bend easily under any weight: a rich conditioner, an oil, a heavy styling cream, or simply the oil the scalp makes as the day goes on. The root is where volume begins, and it is also where that weight collects first.

A Volumising Shampoo

Shampoo the scalp, where oil and product sit, and let the rinse clean the lengths. A volumising shampoo is made to cleanse without leaving a coating, so the root is free to lift. Fine hair often looks its best washed more often rather than less; if your roots fall flat by the second day, there is no harm in washing them.

Klorane's Volume Shampoo with Organic Flax is a lightweight wash for fine hair, built around organic flax. Phyto's VOLUME VOLUME Volumising Shampoo contains waterlily extract and is made for fine, flat hair. Redken's Volume Injection Shampoo, formulated with a bodifying complex the house calls Filloxane, is pH balanced and suits fine, flat or processed hair. Alfaparf Milano's Semi Di Lino Volume Fine Hair Volumizing Low Shampoo is a gentle formula for fine hair, massaged into the scalp and through the lengths.

• Volume Shampoo with Organic Flax
• VOLUME VOLUME Volumising Shampoo
• Volume Injection Shampoo
• Semi Di Lino Volume Fine Hair Volumizing Low Shampoo

A Light Conditioner, on the Lengths Only

Fine hair still needs conditioner. The lengths and ends are older than the root, they tangle easily, and a fine strand combed roughly is more likely to snap. The answer is a light formula and careful placement: from the mid-lengths to the ends, never at the root, then a thorough rinse.

Rene Furterer's Volume Volumising Detangling Conditioner is made for fine, limp hair, with carob polysaccharides and inulin to help it comb through easily. Shu Uemura's Muroto Volume Conditioner is a lightweight cream for fine hair, made with coloured hair in mind; the house asks for a small amount on the mid-lengths and ends, left for one to two minutes. Tigi's Bigger The Better Lightweight Volume Conditioner is designed for fine or flat hair that wants moisture without heaviness. Joico's Joifull Volumising Conditioner, with the house's SmartRelease technology, detangles and is worked through the lengths and ends.

• Volume Volumising Detangling Conditioner
• Muroto Volume Conditioner — lightweight cream
• Bigger The Better Lightweight Volume Conditioner
• Joifull Volumising Conditioner

Root-Lift Sprays and Mousses

A root-lift product gives the hair at the scalp something to hold its shape with as it dries. Sprays put the product exactly at the root; mousses spread a light foam from the root through the lengths for all-over body. Both go onto damp, towel-dried hair, and both need the warmth of a blow-dry to do their work. Start with a small amount; too much is simply weight.

L'Oréal Professionnel Paris's Tecni.Art Volume Lift is a spray mousse for the roots of fine or flat hair, made for building volume at the crown; spread it with your fingers or a comb, then blow-dry. Matrix's High Amplify Root Lifter Hair Spray has a pump with a targeted diffuser and is made for fine, straight hair. Goldwell's StyleSign Volume Root Boost Spray is a firmer hold, rated 4 of 5 on the pack, for fine to medium hair. For all-over body, Maria Nila's Pure Volume Volumising Mousse, with provitamin B5 and the house's Colour Guard Complex, goes from roots to lengths before blow-drying.

• Tecni.Art Volume Lift Root Lift Spray Mousse
• High Amplify Wonder Boost Root Lifter Hair Spray
• StyleSign Volume Root Boost Spray
• Pure Volume Volumising Mousse

How to Blow-Dry Fine Hair for Volume

Fine hair dries quickly, and the shape it takes as it dries is the shape it keeps, so start at the root.

1. Towel-dry gently by pressing, not rubbing, then apply your root-lift product to the roots.
2. Dry the roots first. Lift the hair at the scalp with your fingers and direct the air upwards at the root, against the way the hair naturally falls.
3. Dry the roots in the opposite direction to the one they will sit in, then flip them back.
4. Once the roots are dry, smooth the lengths with a round brush, lifting each section away from the scalp.
5. Use a moderate heat setting and keep the dryer moving. Finish with cool air to help the shape set.

If you are choosing a dryer, our guide How to Choose a Hair Dryer for Your Hair Type explains heat settings and attachments, and what suits fine hair.

Dry Shampoo Between Washes

Dry shampoo absorbs oil at the root, and the powders that do it also give the hair a little grip, which is why roots look lifted afterwards. It refreshes rather than cleans, so it carries you to the next wash rather than replacing it. Shake the can, spray into the roots section by section from the distance given on the pack, leave it a moment, then massage in with your fingertips and brush through.

Klorane's Dry Shampoo Volume with Organic Flax combines rice and corn starches with organic linseed, for fine, limp hair. Olaplex's No.4D dry shampoo uses an ultrafine starch to absorb oil, with rambutan seed extract. Schwarzkopf's Osis+ 2nd Day Refresh Dust is a bodifying dry shampoo, sprayed onto dry hair in sections and worked through with fingers or a brush. Sebastian Professional's Drynamic+ Dry Shampoo absorbs oil at the roots and adds light, workable texture; leave it briefly before brushing.

• Dry Shampoo Volume With Organic Flax
• No.4D Clean Volume Detox Dry Shampoo
• Osis+ 2nd Day Refresh Dust Bodifying Dry Shampoo
• Drynamic+ Dry Shampoo

What Weighs Fine Hair Down

• Conditioner or masks at the root. Keep them to the lengths and rinse well.
• Oils and serums used generously. A drop on the ends is plenty.
• Build-up from styling products and dry shampoo. Wash it out fully; our guide Oily Hair: Why It Happens and a Routine That Balances It explains when a clarifying wash helps.
• Letting the hair dry flat. Roots that dry against the scalp tend to stay there.
• The same tight style every day. Vary it, and choose soft fabric ties.

The Routine at a Glance

1. A volumising shampoo on the scalp, as often as your roots ask.
2. A light conditioner from mid-lengths to ends, rinsed thoroughly.
3. A root-lift spray or mousse on damp roots.
4. Blow-dry the roots first, lifting them, and finish on cool air.
5. Dry shampoo at the roots between washes.

When to Ask for Advice

Fine hair is simply a hair type, and styling is the answer to flatness. If you notice your hair shedding more than usual, your parting widening, or your scalp itchy or sore, ask your pharmacist or doctor rather than changing products.

If you change only one thing, make it the blow-dry: dry the roots first, lifting them as they dry, and let them cool before you touch them.