hair thursday makeover 86

Meet Lauren.

From Lauren’s email:

I am a college student and am moving to a new state and starting a new career path and would love to start fresh with a new hairstyle. I seem to have the most bland hair that can’t seem to do anything but fall flat. I would really appreciate the help!!!

Lauren’s hair:

Naturally medium brown
Normal to oily
VERY fine and VERY straight
Lengthwise, anything but a really short pixie will do
Uses a blow dryer on occasion, along with mousse, hairspray, and a curling iron that she hasn’t mastered yet
Only uses shampoo

I’m so glad Lauren sent me her plea (even if it was a year ago..yikes!) because it addresses an issue that I’ve learned a lot about lately. WHAT TO DO WITH SUPER FINE HAIR. And I have some great advice because I speak from personal experience! Well, not so much MY hair, but my son’s hair. (Who knew you could learn beauty advice from a preschooler, right?)

Take a look for yourselves.

He has really beautiful hair – great color, super shiny, but it is SO FINE.

I know we talk about layering a lot at Hair Thursday, but this is one type of hair that will not benefit from lots of layers. Trust me, I learned the hard way about a year ago. I was positive that layering my son’s hair would give it some movement and texture, when in reality, the layers made him look like he had a run-in with a overzealous weed whacker. Movement? No. Texture? Not so much. Wispy, flyaway and discombobulated? HELL YES. It looked pretty bad, but luckily layers grow out…as evidenced in the above photo.

The key to super fine hair is precision cutting. Those with very fine hair can pull off super sleek looks that most of us thicker peeps can only dream of! I do recommend shorter styles, as most below-the-shoulder looks will appear stringy.

Here are two looks to consider for Lauren’s new style.

(Uh, not saying Lauren should go blonde. Just happened to be the color of the cuts I liked.)

Option #1 would work beautifully on Lauren’s hair. The below-the-ear to chin-length is a great one for fine hair. It doesn’t become stringy and has a defined style. Some very (VERY) light layering is happening towards the ends to give that tapered look, but the layers are kept very long and blended. I also love the idea of bangs sweeping across Lauren’s forehead. Great accent for her eyes and cheekbones!

Option #2 is along the same lines, but keeping the length. In fact, Lauren could always cut #1 and let it grow to #2 when she wants to grow it out. (Love the side part.)

As for products and styling, I love the info that Tracey from Sweetney shared with us several months ago. If you have fine hair, this is a must read!

Also, it’s worth mentioning that adding highlights and/or lowlights can really give super fine hair dimension and a fuller-looking appearance. Food for thought, Lauren…

So…what’s the verdict? Option #1 or #2?