Recommendations for hair styling products and tools for my thin and fine hair please

[Lambsydaisy]

Hello. I've had my thin, frizzy and fine hair cut and coloured this week because I feel bald. I'm really happy with it, it's now a bob and I can style it to hide the thin areas. but I need new stuff!
I reckon I need a hairdryer that is more gentle, lower heat, maybe a dyson? and a round brush? what do I look for in a brush and what sort of size? I'm going to want to smooth and style my hair with the brush and dryer but without pulling it out.
I have a natural wave if I air dry, but air drying increases the frizz, so would a curl cream help on the days I want to be a bit wavy but don't want frizz? And do I still use a curl cream if I diffuse it instead of air drying?
I've only ever used a heat protection spray so know nothing about anything else. Any other products I should consider?
The colour is a gloss over the highlights I've been growing out, and I'll keep going with that until all the highlighted damage has gone. Priority is hair health and controlling the flyaways/frizz without weighing down my hair. the flyways are new hair growth not breakage imo, my hairdresser agreed. What hair I do have grows well at the sides and back but the top and crown is very thin now, I think I have female pattern hairloss that has been exacerbated with a period of high stress and few months ago. I've just started oral minoxidil, so hopefully in 3 or so months I'll not be so bald.
Please help me with some recommendations for your tried and test hair stuff 🙏Thanks!

@Lambsydaisy just to wish you well with the oral minoxidil, I've been taking it for 18months now and it has helped to an extent, I'm seeing good enough regrowth over the past 12 months. I'm waiting to get mine styled next month to a long bob. I use a shark speed style hairdryer, low heat setting and use velcro rollers once dry. I'd love some feedback on good products so hopefully you'll get some feedback 🤞

I was strongly advised against oral minoxidil by my dermatologist.... topical using a toothbrush is the way to go

One of the only things I found thwt i rate is colour wow carb maximiser (its called that or similar) comes in a white bottle.

@SalmonOnFinnCrisp yes, I am concerned about side effects with the tablet but I have poorly pets and thought the risk to them was a bigger concern right now. I'm giving it a go for 3 months whilst I've got a cheap deal and after that will switch to the liquid or foam if it's starting to work for me, and figure out how to minimise the risks the cats and dogs.

Thanks for the recommendation I'll check it out.

Thanks @Mindfullisa I'll have a look at the shark speed style. and I'll update this thread with stuff that works for me once I've found some!

@SalmonOnFinnCrisp I'm interested in this perspective, I wonder what are the main concerns about the oral minoxidil your dermatologist has? I'm tolerating it well for now, but my dermatologist hasn't explored other medications and our consultations are very brief with little time for discussion which I find frustrating to be honest! It's quiet difficult to see a dermatologist even privately here in ireland so I don't really have options for second opinion.

I have been using minoxidil spray for months and haven't really noticed a difference so I'm now switching to Finasteride (?) I think that's what it's called. I'm interested in whether a more expensive hairdryer could help too. My cheap one has just broken and I wonder whether it would make a difference. It only takes me 2 minutes to dry my hair anyway though as it's so fine now.

I think I've settled on Monday volume shampoo and L'Oreal Elvive bond repair conditioner both of which I can get in the supermarket.
Mousse or curl creme for airdrying, what do you think?
Kevin Murphy Body.Mass for root lift when blow drying and this double as a heat protectorant, and a 35mm round brush, or larger?
I need to decide how spenny I'm going on the hairdryer. my hairdresser uses a dyson supersonic r, and I've seen other hairdressers using it too on insta, but that's a lot of money!

I really rate Parlux hairdryers, not cheap but much less than Dyson .

As it’s not desperately expensive I’d recommend trying an LED hairbrush, like this:

https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/p/solaris-labs-ny-intensive-led-hair-growth-brush/14272367/

It’s impossible to definitively say exactly how effective they are, but after more than a year of consistent use I’ve seen noticeable improvement in hair growth. And it’s easy and relaxing to use.

(Obviously you could jump straight to an LED helmet if you prefer!)

I second the Colour wow carb maximiser . Not sure if that’s the exact name . Got a sample in a beauty box . Not a fan of Colour Wow products generally but this stuff does seem to work .

I wouldn’t bother with a Dyson hairdryer, I was given one as a gift and hated it, I thought it made my fine hair look worse. It was the only thing I’d changed in my usual routine but I noticed my hair just looked lank and flat.
Now I use a Babyliss Air Wand, my hairdresser said these type of things are ok for hair as long as the bristles aren’t very hard plastic and that you don’t put too much tension on.

I dont recall he didn't really elaborate much... I do remember him saying he wouldnt recommend it to friends or family unless there were v specific circs as it has more side effects (which makes sense vs topical)
If might have been my personal medical history?

Also test the airwrap before committing i thought it was very meh and went for the shark

Thank you @SalmonOnFinnCrisp for the feedback , your in good hands with a dermatologist who takes a conservative approach I think.

I think you can use any cool hairdryer rather than Dyson. My focus would be condition over style for a while. Find a very plain pined back style for a while.

i have been using The Ordinary Hair Growth Serum for my menopause baldness and feel great with it. I have also used Grow Gorgeous shampoo and Nioxin spray and mouse. I like the latter 3 but I don’t like the feel of products in my hair, never have so I only use them occasionally. I did go mad using everyone all at once over several days and found my hair in a giant Matt for about 2 weeks 😬 so I’m back to using it one at a time when needed.

Thanks @AliceMcK I've bought the ordinary hair growth serum. Totally agree about focusing on condition for a while.
The Monday shampoo is great, the elvive bond builder conditioner is good but needs to stay on for 3 mins which is a phaff, I'm going to use it like a normal conditioner and rinse out more quickly than recommended during the week when I've a lack of time.
I bought a new round hairbrush, a Kent one, but think I've bought too big as it's not really picking up and gripping my hair, so I'll get a smaller one too I think.
I've been to the GP too and they've agreed to blood tests, just need to get booked in for those. A lack of phlebotomists means they don't do this at the GP surgery and I've got to book in with a hospital outpatient unit!
I've not had any side effects with the oral minoxidil so far and have read up on what I should look out for. I've a blood pressure monitor in the house so will be able to keep an eye on my blood pressure, that seems the most serious side effect to look out for.

I have fine hair and really struggle to get any volume on it but recently I have been using a shark hairdryer with the round brush and it has really made a difference I’m really thinking of investing in one.

Oh and red light thingys. I've got a red light mask I bought from Boots years ago, which sat in the cupboard. I dug it out this week, checked the box and it's got the 660nm red and 850nm near-infrared light that all the studies say is best for results, which I was not expecting considering how cheap it was at the time. So I've been popping that on in the morning. The hair gets in the way of the light reaching the scalp efficiently according to what I've read, but I figure that I've got it so I might as well use it. I've love a proper low level laser cap but can't afford one of those. Mind you, maybe I should consider that on black friday instead of an expensive hair dryer.

I have a Parlux hairdryer. When I researched them quite a few years ago, the consensus from reviews etc was that the Dyson is too powerful so creates more frizz.

That said, I rarely use my hairdryer and prefer to let my hair dry naturally. I use Lush Super Milk leave in conditioner and Colour Wow Wonder Spray (the curly one).

Sulphate free shampoo and conditioner all the way for fine hair, especially as you have hair loss. I mainly use Faith in Nature Shea and Argan, it is great for the scalp (mine can be quite dry and itchy) and they also do a nice hair mask in the same range.

Thank you @CalmForCats I'll add Parlux to my list of choices for black friday. I really like Faith in Nature, I use their shower gels and did look at their seaweed & citrus shampoo but couldn't figure out if it actually contained seaweed or if it was just the scent name, iyswim, so I chose the Monday volume shampoo instead which is sulphate free. On offer at Ocado so I just got it in my weekly shop.
I'm sure I'll know people that have the hair dryers mentioned, I think it's a great idea to have a go before spending, I'm going to start asking my mates and see who has what @Lifesyoungdream @SalmonOnFinnCrisp