Hairstyle for thinning hair

[PrettyCandlesAndTinselToo]

What hairstyle is better for thinning hair?

I don't thnk I have any bald patches, just generally thinning hair. I have a wide face with heavy jaw and cheekbones, and I wear glasses.

Any tips?

A perm or permanent wave should help give your hair more body, make it look more than it is iyswim.

I have had so much advice from hairdressers over the years - layers add body, a blunt cut makes it look thicker etc. that I now have no idea!
But
I tried regaine when my hair was its natural colour as a last ditch (and expensive attempt) to make a difference. However, two weeks later I had booked an appt for highlights and decided to keep it. It made such a huge difference and I didn't need to use the regaine again.

Morag, I don't understand - do you mean that highlights worked for you, or Regain?

Trapped, I'm wary about having a perm (had plenty when I was in my teens and 20s!) because I think that lifting up from the roots will show my scalp more, and exaggerate the thinness of my hair.

Hello Prettycandles. I have posted fairly recently about thinning hair as I have the same problem. I am keeping mine just below shoulder length as if it were short it would definitely be see through. Also trying to achieve any sort of root lift looks bad on me as I can see straight through my fringe to the visible scalp behind it. Have you established the reason for your hair loss? I waited many months before seeing my gp, afraid of being declared a loon. However she was lovely and very quickly establised that I am amaemic, which is aparently the first thing she tests for with hair loss sufferers. It was nice to know I am not alone and have been taking iron tablets for nearly 3 months now. It could take up to 6 to see some new hair coming through. I would also worry about a perm, too much scalp vivible. I have high lights and it does swell the hair shaft which helps.

Pretty - having read Morag's post twice, I think she meant she kept the appointment for highlights and they did the trick (not the Regaine). Depending on what colour your hair is I would recommend a clever combination of highlights and lowlights.

Pretty I suffer from thinning hair too and find it a real pest.

1. As mrsrhod says, visit your doctor and find out if there is an underlying medical problem causing your hair loss - mine is heredirary but made worse by being hypothyroidism and postpregnancy. Treating the hypo has helped my hair a bit

2)My mum used Nourkrin supplements and experienced a noticeable difference in her hair - expensive but boots often have it on 3 for 2 which helps a bit

3)My hairdresser recommended Nioxin shampoo and conditioner and that has helped a lot.

4)I got a half head of highlights and as morag said it does help as it varies the colour of your hair more so the scalp showing through shows less

5)I used to have long hair but find a shoulderlength cut with layers boosts the roots a little and helps the appearance of thickness

6)Try to avoid a parting if you can. My hair naturally parts but I try to make the parting wiggly so the eye doesn't go from front to back through my hair.

7)You will probably be far more aware of it than anyone else is.

I think, Carrots, that your comment about the op being more aware of this than anyone else is sound wisdom. I have only mentioned my problem to a couple of trusted friends and they had not noticed and one of them is a gp.

I, however, notice other peoples hair such a lot more now and have been amazed at how many women have a degree of hair loss. Obviously this could be due to many things but its suprised me.

I have a sneaky feeling that part of my problem might be hereditary too as my Nana had very thin hair from a young age. My personal fear is that the iron will help my body in general and I need to treat seperately the original cause of the anaemia, but my hair may not improve much. I need to give it a few more months and then see my gp again.

I will just have to keep it longish and never resort to a granny perm.

No granny perms permitted.

Do you think granny perms will ever die out? Surely there must come a time when women of a certain age revolt and refuse the rollers.

Asking anybody whether your hair looks thin is a bit of a "does my bum look big in this?" question. You're probably right that I am more aware of this than others, but OTOH I do notice when a woman's scalp shows through her hair. Perhaps because of my own situation.

I've been on thyroxine for about 8 months, and it has had no effect on my hair. I did have an episode of hairloss years ago, pre-dc, which was bad enough for my hairdresser to notice the change in my hair. He sent me to the GP, who told me to take multivits + minerals. 6 months later I had to have my rib-length hair cut to a chin-length bob because there was so much new growth!

So I am taking multi-vits + minerals.

I've never had any colouring. I don't even know the terminology - whatever is a "half head of highlights"?

When I get a half head of highlights the hairdresser just puts very thin streaks of slightly lighter colour through my hair. She uses three colours very close to my natural colour and leaves lots of the top layer in my natural colour. I only get it done in winter as it happens naturally in the summer (I am an ash/strawberry blonde). It just brightens up my hair but it does give the illusion of more body too.
I only notice other people's thinning hair because of my own paranoia and I only feel, "I am not alone" when I notice it.
Hopefully the vits will help.

Can't offer any advice re thinning as such, but as for what other people see, I lost about a third of my hair to alopecia in patches a couple of years ago, and most people I know swear they never noticed a thing, even though I was acutely aware of it (I used hair clips to hold hair over the patches, but was terrified of them shifting about). I notice thin hair etc far more on other people now than I did before this, it is surprisingly common, but I think most people will not notice at all.

Hello again. A half head is where only the top layers of hair are coloured and the underneath layers are not. Its cheaper obviously and can look fine, but I discovered that my hairdresser only charges an extra £13 to do all the hair so I now have this to try to up the bulk a bit.

I think I might invest in some vitamins and minerals too. Can't hurt. We have a digital photo frame and dh has spent ages recently scanning old photos from when we were much younger. It has really reinforced how much hair I have lost.

What colours would be used on dark hair?

Not being a hairdresser its impossible to advise really. Do you know someone whos hair is coloured and you like? Maybe ask for her stylists name. It doesn't have to be blonde highlights. If you go into a salon they will show you a colour chart with samples of hair in different shades. Many of them will be very dark and could be used just to add a bit of variation to your own shade. Plus the texture of your hair would change slightly and appear fuller.
There is no harm in asking and a good hairdresser will listen to you and offer advice. If you don't like what they have to say go elsewhere, a consultation rather than an appointment to do the work at first will give you time to think. Its quite normal procedure.

But you don't necessarily need to go lighter?

I know gold tones suit me, as I have in the distant past sprayed my hair with gold streaks for fancy-dress parties. There is no way I would do gold highlights though - I do not want to look like my mother!

Yes, it was the highlights that made the difference not the regaine (I didn't continue with it).
When I have dark hair and want to go lighter I always ask to see the colour chart at the hairdressers and they'll discuss which colours go well together. The warm and cool tones etc. I normally have 2 or 3 shades.
The colour makes my hair shinier too which is always a bonus.
Half a head is what I go for only because it's cheaper and I never wear my hair up and so no one sees the underneath/bottom of my head and the dark bits.

Thanks for the reminders about iron/multivits etc. I've always been anaemic too and forget to take them.

Sometimes I have just a shade or two different from my natural colour so I still get the effect but not the drastic colour change - sort of "Trinny" shade from Trinny and Suzannah.
What colour is your hair pretty?

Pretty - as someone up thread has said, three very subtly different colours, one similiar to your natural colour, is the best way to go. I'm quite grey on top (how did that happen?!) so have gone for blonde h/lights so the regrowth isn't obvious. But I also have one darker colour in as well. The trick is to have them done well to avoid a stripey effect.

I have dark brown hair with lots of individual grays, not enough yet to affect the overall colour of my hair.

My hair thinned out when I was ill a while ago and I found bumble & bumble thickening shampoo, conditioner and especially the serum really helped it.