Finding the right cut for your hair texture is one of the best ways to enhance your look and flatter your features. While thicker strands often do well with layered looks to help utilize the texture, it can oftentimes be more difficult to determine the perfect cut for locks that fall on the thinner side. It’s tempting to simply follow the trends when it comes to getting a new haircut, but tailoring your trim to your specific needs with the help of your stylist will allow you the best chance at loving your look even outside of how they styled it at the salon.
We spoke with hairstylist Jess Poynter to get her best tips on what to ask for the next time you’re looking for a new style if you have thinner hair, and with a well executed cut you’ll be feeling like the most put-together version of yourself in no time.
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A Single Length Chop
The shag haircut has become increasingly popular in recent months, but for ladies with thinner hair, sticking to a cut with one single length will make all the difference in optimizing the volume you do have. “The main function and purpose of layers is removing weight,” explains Poynter. “Yes, they also can create movement in the hair and allow for "hidden" volume at the crown, but that is a different kind of layer. (It also takes a more skilled stylist to know the difference).”
If you’re layering your hair while already struggling with the thinness of your strands, this cut will only further exacerbate the issue, making your locks look limp and hang around your face in a way that will hardly flatter your features. “It's not to say that everyone needs to run out and get one length lobs or bobs,” says Poynter of the use of single-length haircuts to enhance texture. “Instead, work towards that with each cut. It's also not to say you can't give the illusion of layers with a one-length haircut.”
So how do you make the most out of a single length haircut to properly express your unique style? Poynter has some simple tips she goes by to achieve more vibrant looks with a more basic cut. “I do a one-length haircut on myself with face-framing layers,” she suggests. “The hair around our face is the most delicate and fragile hair on our head, often prone to breakage and split ends. By cutting face framing, your hair looks like it has movement without comprising the whole cut.”
Switching your part around may also be against the common approach to styling your hair, but Poynter explains that this is the best way to achieve volume at the root and ensure your hair doesn’t get too used to falling a certain way. “By "confusing" the hair, it doesn't fall in one spot and thus doesn't have fine hair flatness,” she notes. Utilizing small tricks to enhance what could be seen as an uninspired haircut can help to give your look a natural boost without having to subscribe to other cuts that don’t necessarily flatter your texture.
Product is another underrated solution to styling thinner hair, and with a single length cut you can use moisturizing ingredients to make sure your strands appear shiny and well balanced so they can be styled much more effortlessly than layers. “Incorporating more moisturizing products into your routine will allow for an added "weight" to the hair, thus giving it more fullness,” says Poynter. “Be careful though not to add too much moisture at the root because that will in fact create the opposite effect.” Getting a single length chop doesn’t have to mean being bored with your hair, and leaning into your thinner texture by utilizing styling techniques will allow your hair to look voluminous and fresh despite thinning.
