Best Haircuts for Fine or Thin Hair

How to cut fine hair for volume?

Let’s be clear on one thing: Being born with super-thick, flowing, supermodel-esque hair may afford you more options, but there’s no reason fine-haired ladies need to throw in the towel. Much of beauty is about optical illusions. Just like the right lipstick can make your lips look fuller and the right eyeliner can make your peepers pop, the right haircut can transform thin or fine hair into a (seemingly) thick, voluminous mane.

Using the advice of a few trusted stylists, we put together this roundup of the three best haircuts for thin hair—with lots of photos to prove it. These simple, yet strategic haircuts and hairstyles will trick onlookers into believing you have more hair than you know what to do with.

1. Blunt Cut Bob

Long locks can weigh down any look, so keep fine hair shoulder length or above. The trick for pulling off a shoulder-length style is making it a blunt cut. Blunt lines make your hair appear thicker.

Tip: To maintain and amplify fullness, avoid overtexturizing hair with lots of layers.

Cate Blanchett‘s blunt bob looks the epitome of chic, especially with her low side-parting and impossibly shiny blonde. Cate always keeps her naturally fine hair shoulder length or above.

Sleek and razor sharp, there’s a simple elegance to Rosamund Pike‘s immaculate bob.

Take inspiration from another of Charlize Theron‘s short hairstyles. This bob, cut level with her chin and styled with a side parting, perfectly frames her face.

Another actress to embrace the blunt cut bob is Saoirse Ronan, whose laser-cut style was a lesson in precise hairstyling. Wear your hair super sleek with a centre-parting to follow her example.

Here’s a style thick-haired women have a harder time pulling off: short hair tucked behind the ears. Thicker hair tends to stick out more and doesn’t stay behind the ears as well, but thinner hair sits smoother.

Loosely slicking your hair back is a perfect hair style for fine hair. Yolanda Hadid is a big fan of slicking her fine hair back for special occasions.

The wavy bob has become the hottest hairstyle obsession for women of all hair types, but it’s especially popular for those with thinner hair because it’s short enough to never fall flat, and the wavy texture gives the illusion of thickness. For added dimension, add highlights. 

2. Choppy Pixie 

Shorter hair is stronger than longer strands, so even very fine hair can benefit from a super-short cropped cut. Pixie cuts can actually make your thin hair appear thicker than it really is.

To feminize a boyish pixie cut, like Robin Wright‘s, blow-dry bangs to the side using a small round brush.

Want to look like Charlize Theron? (Don’t we all?) The trick to keeping hair like hers modern and youthful is using products that add toughness and texture. That means picking lightweight waxes or pomades and tossing anything you associate with sleekness, like gel or frizz fighters.

Michelle Williams has rocked a pixie cut since 2007, and has been sporting the short look ever since. It almost seems unnatural to imagine Williams without her Mia Farrow-esque pixie, but it looks like she’s in the stages of growing it out now. Michelle Williams has a bob now, proving that the in between growout period doesn’t have to be completely painful.

3. Shoulder Length Hair

Another trick to try if your hair is on the longer side is the deep side part. With a deep side part, you’re essentially lumping all your hair together on one side, creating the illusion of volume. You also create lift at the roots.

Amber Valletta has beautiful hair. It is naturally fine and wavy. The deep side part works perfectly for her.

Paris Hilton has fine and straight hair. The side part hair style works perfectly for her. She usually wears hair extensions but you can spot her sometimes without them.

Miranda Lambert