These Are The Best Brushes For Thin Hair

For women with fine or thin hair, achieving pageant-queen-level volume often feels next to impossible, especially when you factor in Southern humidity and summer heat. But armed with the right tools and proper techniques, fine- and thin-haired belles can also treat their ‘dos to a Texas-sized volume boost. Here, master stylist and owner of Birmingham, Alabama-based salon Hairfolk Eric Goss spills his secrets for giving fine- and thin-haired women sky-high volume.

First things first: There’s a difference between fine hair and thin hair, says Goss. “’Fine hair’ just means that the strand of hair itself is tiny. You can have a lot of fine hair. But if you have ‘thin hair,’ that refers to the amount of hair you have.” But no matter, he says: The secret to coaxing volume out of both types of hair is pretty much the same. It’s all about the styling products, the brush you choose, and your technique.

Start with a styling product that adds volume. “Grandiose Hair Plumping Mousse by Oribe is exceptional,” says Goss. “I’m obsessed with it.” He’s also a big fan of Oribe’s Sculpting Cream. “You apply it to your hair in layers, and it is phenomenal. It helps you lift your hair from your scalp, and it also thickens it.”

Then it’s time to choose your brush. While a good brush is not a one-size-fits-all cure-all for volume woes, it certainly helps, Goss notes. “I would use a metal round brush before I’d use anything with boar hair bristles,” he says. “Boar hair brushes tend to straighten your hair out, but they don’t help you get the volume you’re looking for.” He recommends Wet Brush’s Epic Professional Blowout Brush or Olivia Garden’s Ceramic + Ion Thermal Hairbrush instead.

Size matters, too, says Goss. A smaller round brush will give you more lift at the roots because you can get closer to the scalp with it, especially if your hair is shorter. Longer haired girls may have a harder time getting volume this way, he says.

For women who have fine hair, but a lot of it, a vent brush may work better for teasing out volume than a round brush, says Goss. His pick is the Wet Brush Pro Epic Quick Dry Brush, which has holes in the back to allow air to move through the brush while you blow dry, which helps lift hair for greater volume.

Ultimately, says Goss, your hair’s volume comes down to the techniques you use when blow drying it, rather than the styling products or brushes you use.

“You can use your brush to direct your hair the way you want it to go when you’re blowing it out,” he says. “If you’re trying to increase volume, it’s all about the top section of your hair, where your part is. I typically take a section that is as wide as—but no wider than—the round brush, including the part, and pull that hair forward in three sections with the round brush. I pull it forward while I blow it dry, and once it goes back, it makes a bubble there that gives you volume.”

Goss’s other volume secret? The “cool” setting on the blow dryer that most of us ignore (or if you’re me, the one you reserve for cooling down your face after the hair dryer made you feel overheated). One little pump of the cool setting, or a “cool shot,” on your lifted roots helps set that lift in, so your volume stays put when you’re on the move.

So there you have it fine- and thin-haired gals. Voluminous hair is yours for the taking!

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What are your at-home blowout tricks? Share them with us in the comments.