Haircare Products I Use For My Over 50 Thinning Hair
My hair has always been baby-fine, poker-straight, and very thin. Add menopause and thyroid issues to the mix, and you have the perfect storm for hair loss. It’s always a struggle to find a hairstylist who knows how to cut my fine hair, so I’m thrilled to have discovered one near me. I’ve learned from experience how tough this all is and how no one ever talks about it. For that reason, I’m sharing how I’ve been updating my haircut and the products I use for my over 50 thinning hair. I hope this post helps you feel less alone if you’re also suffering from thinning hair, and this gives you hope in discovering new products.
Hair Loss in Women
Let me start by saying…midlife hair loss is not unusual for women. In fact, it is way more common than you think. While it’s talked about in men all of the time, it seems to be rarely talked about in women. I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. I know firsthand how it can impact your confidence and cause you to feel embarrassed. Sometimes even to the point of wanting to avoid your hairdresser.
I’ve discovered that the way my hair is cut, the products I use, and how I blow dry it are my best hope to camouflage hair loss and make it look thicker and fuller.
My Over 50 Haircut
As your hair changes and thins, you will likely need to change up your typical haircut and possibly go even shorter. This is why finding a stylist you trust is so important. Having someone knowledgeable about what will look best is crucial.
My old haircut shown in the video is a short, blunt bob with no stacking in the back. It’s the same length in front as it is in the back. Then she cut a blunt layer around the top of my head which allows me to get some lift.
But recently, my hair has gotten so thin that my stylist and I agreed it was time to grow out my layers and go a bit shorter. The result looks dangerously like a bob. I say dangerously because bobs feel so expected on a woman with fine, thin hair, and I’d prefer a more unique style. It’s the best haircut for my current hair, so I’m getting creative with products and experimenting with new ways to style it. Below, you’ll find a picture of my new haircut.
I’ve made a little video you can watch here to help deconstruct my haircut, the products I use, and the process I go through to style it.
I use a round brush, mousse or gel, dry shampoo, and hairspray. I use a lot of products, yet when I’m done, it doesn’t look like helmet hair.
Best Treatment for Thinning Hair in Females
Products to Use for Regrowth
My physician suggested I try 5% Rogaine for men to slow the thinning and encourage regrowth. It’s something that I truly can’t live without. I’ve found the best pricing on Amazon and order 3 bottles every 3 months. If you stop using Rogaine, the new hair will fall out, so I continue to use it daily.
You can see how I apply it to my hair in this blog post.
I’ve dabbled with other shampoos and conditioners but never found one that I preferred in every way until I switched to Olaplex. Every product in their line is paraben, sulfate, phthalate, gluten, and cruelty-free, so I feel as good about using them as they feel on my hair. It’s highly moisturizing and leaves my hair feeling healthier and looking shinier. The No.5 Maintenance conditioner helps hydrate my hair without weighing it down.
Once a week, I spray the No.0 Bond Building on dry hair and let it saturate for 10 minutes.
I am a big fan of this Kevin Murphy Anti-Gravity Oil-free Gel. It adds volume but isn’t greasy, no matter how much I apply.
Any dry shampoo helps make your hair look like it has more volume, but this Perfect Hair Day is my very favorite.
I recently tied this Color Wow On Steroids styling spray, and it’s amazing. It doesn’t have the dry shampoo feel, yet it adds tons of body.
I spotted this hair foam with the same BioPeptin Complex as the brow serum and decided to give it a shot. This is not a budget item, but it makes a big difference in my hair which feels thicker all over. I still use my Rogaine, and then I add a tiny dollop of the foam directly on the spots around my hairline that are receding the most and comb through. I only use it once daily in the front, so 1 bottle lasts me close to 6 months. Reviewers say they’re going through the bottle way too fast to be cost-effective, so I assume they’re using much more than I am.
I love this round brush for helping to add extra body too. I have several sizes based on how long my hair is.
I’ve also discovered that just being gentler with my hair has made a big difference. I now squeeze the water out of my hair with my towel rather than rubbing it vigorously. I comb it with this wide toothcomb before I add any products.
I swear by these velcro rollers. My ultra-fine, thinning hair needs all the help it can get, and a few moments in these rollers while I shower gives it some nice lift.
I use these hot rollers on my freshly washed and dry hair for tons of volume.
I also upgraded my drugstore hairdryer to this Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer last year. It’s got a cult following that I now understand. My hair dries in half the time it used to take just using medium speed and heat which is much gentler on my hair.
More Products to Help with Thinning Hair
While I haven’t used these products before, I have heard good things from others about each of them and wanted to share.
Do you struggle with thinning hair?
What products do you use? I’d love to hear what has worked for you!
I also drove 85 miles to a stylist until I got tired of it and forced myself to find someone closer. I get a good cut now but I have to come home and restyle it myself!
I’m sure that will happen for me but for now, I am playing it safe
Oh my gosh
I go home and restyle after a cut as well. I do get a good cut but it is never styled the way I like and the way I feel comfortable in. I have dreams of a makeover but will I have to go home and restyle?
So true! I always restyle my hair too.
I’ve been going to the same stylist for about 30 years, and I still go home and restyle!
YOu’re right. You can show stylists photos up the kazoo and it’s till i,possible for them to get it right. It’s like me trying to paint like Money. Not gonna happen. I think it’s worth the drive to go back to the stylist who cut it the way you liked it. Make a lovely day of it.
So true. They seem to have an agenda all their own.
When I would go to my hair dresser I too would try to fix it different. Since she could not style it the way I liked, she would give me everything I needed while I did my hair myself.
I met many, many lovely hairstylists when we moved to the Pacific Northwest nine years ago. Not one of them was able to cut my hair, so now I travel to the Sassoon Salon in Seattle to get my haircut. Happy, happy happy.
That sounds like a great plan!!
I drive 50 miles each way to my stylist in Eugene, Oregon and have for 15 years. She knows me and my hair. I’d rather find a new gynaecologist than a new stylist.
She once mentioned to me she has a client who flys in from Alaska every 10 weeks!
She sounds pretty amazing. I feel in good company traveling to see my stylist. It’s a long day on the road but so worth it.
A stylist who listens and can style fine hair is worth the trip! I’ve had baby fine straight hair my whole life and now that it’s gray its fine with a wave. Go figure, I wore my hair in a layered bob but I tried a short pixie and love it. It’s neat, tidy and little bit sassy in our humid climate here in Georgia. Our hair like makeup and attire are important to our confidence and joy.
You’re so right Cathy. Our hair can make or break our confidence.
I am moving to a new state and scared to try and find someone who can cut my fine, thin hair into a easy Bob.
I just moved from NY to DC area, at the peak of the pandemic. My worst fear is finding a stylist for a good cut and style for my fine, straight hair! I was with the same stylist for 23 yrs! I was just searching on line for a hairdresser, when this post popped up! Fate! Maybe it will bring me good fortune for my hair! I will travel and pay! In NY my cuts were $110! Worth every penny! Thanks for the shares, fellow fine haired gals!
Good luck Stephanie!! It’s so hard to replace a good stylist
It can ruin your confidence. My stylist I had done a great job this past year but all of sudden she cut all my hair off. Even my bangs. I’m devastated. My fine hair does not grow fast at all. It took me 9 months to get the style and length I had. I’m just sick about it!!!
That’s awful, I’m sorry. Time to embrace hats, brighter lipstick and find a new stylist. It’s so distressing when that happens.
Yes mine to I am now got it long enough to do the bob style I want I am giving her 1 more chance I hope she learn form if .
Fingers crossed
Obviously, you struck a chord with many of us. I’ve followed my stylist everywhere & thus now take a ferryboat to Whidbey Island! It is worth it: the extra time you save not fighting your hair everyday! Less stress for you everyday! I had been keeping my straight hair short & layered for years, but 1 1/2 yrs ago I let it grow out & was shocked to find it was now CURLY. The ONLY pleasant surprise of getting older! Was so surprised to discover that the shape of your follicles can change with age. I love your hair & think you need to show your cut to more local stylists – meanwhile keep commuting!
Lucky you, curly! That would be such a fun discovery after a lifetime of poker straight hair. You do live in a gorgeous part of the country. I love taking those ferries.
Hi there
I can really relate to this blog. I had those perms – ugh. Then when I was living in Toronto in my 20s I went to a salon and wanted a ‘light’ perm – oh my goodness I ended up with what was referred to as an afro. After the initial shock I went back to the salon to try to get it fixed. The stylist couldn’t understand that I wasn’t happy – so I said to her – would you go out on the street looking like this. NO.
Even now I’m still trying to get some consistency with my hair style. It had been turning to hit and miss the past year at the same salon. My stylist went on maternity leave. I tried other stylists there – inconsistent. Recently I tried a new salon. Hopefully it will work out there
Your regular stylist does a fantastic job – worth the drive or as one reader said go directly after getting it done to the new stylist and say this is what I want done.
I had a body wave like that one time which was horrific. They decided to chemically straighten it and most of it fell out. That was not a good year.
Yes, I have medium length blond curly hair which I love for the most part and is what I am known for. It is low maintenance and doesn’t take long to style with a diffuser. I do have quite a collection of hair products though. Always in search of the perfect product or cocktail of products. My hair seems to reject it if I use the same product cocktail two days in a row. Looks great day 1…different story day 2. Hence, my collection of products. I have a stylist who I have been going to for more than 10 years who has curly hair too and she is fast. Highlights, haircut and style in 1.5 hours to 2 hours max. Life is good in the tresses department.
You are so lucky! My old stylist has hair just like me which I think makes a big difference. She knows what it will and won’t do.
Your hair always looks pretty to me. Even though you have mentioned hair thinning, I never thought that when I see your hairstyles.
Ten months ago I went to a new to me hair stylist. I showed her a photograph of myself with a past haircut/style that I really liked. It was a long bob with bangs. I pointed out to her that in the photo it was “very slightly stacked in the back” (those were the exact words I said) and I would like it to be that way again.
She seemed nice enough, but I don’t know what in the world she was thinking. When my haircut was finished and I was handed the mirror to see the back of it. I was speechless. It looked terrifying. The length of the top “stacking” was only about two inches long, and it was a thick layer in my thin hair, right on the back of head.It got worse from there. It was absolutely nothing like the photograph I showed her. It looked like she thought I said for her to stack it to look like I’m on crack. Oh, it was horrible, for months, and months, and months. I think my knee replacement surgery and recovery slowed the regrowth of my hair, though I also think there may be a Murphy’s-type law somewhere that says when you get a really, really bad haircut your hair will grow more slowly than it ever did before. It finally grew out enough to have it cut just a couple of weeks ago. I told the new hairdresser (at a different salon) to just give me a plain, one length, almost to the shoulder cut. There is still a bit of difference in the length in the back from the previous hack job, but this hair stylist did an excellent job of making it look good. I am so thankful to have my hair looking normal again.
I don’t understand why it seems like some stylists just refuse to try and do the cut we show them from a photograph of our hair in a style that we liked. Maybe they are just trying to be creative. If they are, I would appreciate them saving their creativity for their own hair.
Ouch! That’s so upsetting. I think many stylists just have no talent. They get minimal training and have at it. I also think they don’t listen and that’s a lack of respect in my opinion. I’m glad it’s looking better now for you. Bad hair really hits our confidence hard.
Love your hairstyle, Jennifer! Merry Christmas!
Thanks Cheryl Ann, I can’t wait until it’s back
My mother and I were looking at some of my childhood pictures when I asked her why my bangs were soooo short. She said she had given me a Tonette perm and burned my hair off! “Tonette, with the younger woman in mind”. If you look on YouTube, there are some cute commercials for Tonette perms! Luckily, my hair grew back but it’s still stick straight and baby fine.
Sorry to say, I’ve had that same disaster. My mom also used to cut my hair and the bangs were always crooked and miles too short. Luckily it grows but some of my pictures are hilarious.
we have very similar hair and by your description exactly the same cut. I have moved quite a bit and the. Last time my stylist offered to be on call for the new stylist. It worked! I would drive to get a good cut but that last move was 4 hours each way and I couldn’t do that!
Four hours would be pushing it for me too, Catherine.
You don’t feel good if your hair doesn’t look good. I moved 12 hours away from my stylist so I had to get my new one trained right. It took me four years but I finally got her cutting my hair exactly like I like it. We live in a small town and I reall did not have many other options.
Your hair looks great and I would definitely drive two hour shift to keep it the way I wanted it.
I wish I’d been able to get through to this local gal, but honestly, she’s just not that talented. Good for you Debbie!
Small rural town in Colorado! I got lucky with a wonderful stylist! My is a sort of Bob also. I have white and silver striped hair, fine, thin but wavy. The waves always put off stylists but Danita has wavy hair and understands how to dry cut my hair. I use EvolVh Ultrashine shampoo and conditioner, every few times a pump of their protein repair treatment, style with Kenra 6 styling cream, one dime amount mixed with gel. All over my wet hair, comb with wide tooth comb and scrunch my waves back all diffuse with my Dyson.
Your waves sound so wonderful. I would love to have a few 🙂 I’ll check out the Kenra 6. What gel do you mix it with?
The blu capelet or shawl in the first photo is a fabulous color, who makes it please? Your hair always looks great in your photos but I hear your pain!
It’s several years old Deanne from a company in England called Catherine Robinson Cashmere. I’m not sure they still make this color but you could google them.
Your new haircut looks great Jennifer! My hair is not really thin but looks like it is thinning which is noticeable on my fine straight hair. I always appreciate your recommendations!
Is the WOW hairspray very scented?
The shine spray has a minimal odor, nothing overpowering but it does have some.
I can relate. I’ve been driving an hour each way for the last few years to get to my old stylist, in very heavy traffic. So I am going to try someone here locally. Yesterday was my last appointment with my stylist, she gave me the formula she uses for my hair color and when I got home I took a few selfies so I can show the new person how my hair looks right after I get it done. My hair is a simple below chin-length bob but I can’t do layering, it just makes my fine hair look thinner. I’m not good at blow-drying. I am probably one of the few people who still uses hot rollers, it gives my very straight hair the body it needs. Hair is so important, if its not right, nothings right.
Good luck Debbie. I hope your new stylist can copy what you have. Non-layered cuts are usually easier for them to get right.
I’m currently experiencing exactly what you’re talking about Jennifer! I think it’s a new trend in haircutting :/
My current cut looks like your first picture and resulted in all of the body being taken out of my hair. My hair is thin only in the front but now my entire head of hair feels thinner than ever after this cut. In the 4th picture down of you, your hair looks beautiful – very full in the back. Is this the front of your old hair or new haircut?
These are my old haircuts before we moved. With fine hair, every hair counts and I wish stylists would be more careful. I’m sorry you’re struggling with this Laurie. It sounds like you need a new stylist.
I love your new haircut on you! It is very flattering and full looking! My hair is fine, thin and wavy which challenges stylists. I wear a sort of Bob also, not quite as short as yours. Too bad we can’t add pictures in comments.
Hi Jennifer. Am I correct that you’re living in the Sacramento-ish area? If so, my aunt has a stylist in Woodland that she’s gone to for years that she swears by and she also has fine, thin hair that’s a little below chin length and always looks good. Let me know if you’d like the stylists contact info and I’ll get it from my aunt
Hi Valorie. I am going to stick with my gal for now but will keep your suggestion in mind and may ask for her name later. Thanks!
My hair is thick (not as thick as it used to be though – thanks menopause!) and curly, but very fine. It has to stay short because the weight of it will make it flat and I have to have some height on top! Thank goodness for hair products! BTW Jennifer – I always think your hair looks great!
Hair products to the rescue, Barbara!
I my self have thin hair from Menopause, and try so many tricks in my bag , but the dry shampoo , I’m giving it a try .
thank you so much!! Marilyn.B
I too had lots of hair, but fine and curly. About 65 it started thinning and the frizz, yuck. We have to spend a fortune trying to get the right formula for our individual needs. The best for me is a combo is Routine shampoo & conditioner with Olaplex #6 finish.
I have a theory that stylists create styles the exact opposite of what they themselves have. Hence Christina, with her gorgeous curls, loves blow drying me sleek and straight. Everytime. Nothing like the pictures I show her. Nothing can be done about it. We’ve been friends since our children were born. -Lily
At least it’s just how she blows it out. You can fix that part at home;)
Well, at least I’m not the only one with stylist frustration!
The latest thing after years of going to the same stylist? She suddenly cut my hair about 1/4″ long at the crown. This led it to stick straight up for several months until it regrew. I have no idea why she did this, because I would have said no. Maybe the cut was taking too long?
Now that is sorted, so she cut my bangs crooked. Always something lately.
Sounds like it’s time for a new stylist!