Are you tired of managing your thick head of hair or going to the salon to constantly add layers? Would you prefer learning how to thin out thick hair without layers?
Then, you’ve come to the right place! Below, we provide several key strategies for thinning out your over voluminous thick hair.
Is It Possible To Thin Out Thick Hair Without Cutting?
There are several hair products hair treatments and hairstyling techniques that can manage and reduce the appearance of thick hair without cutting it.
Lightweight mousses, volumizing sprays, or sea salt sprays can help in managing the hair’s appearance without cutting.
Certain hair treatments like relaxing treatments or keratin treatments can flatten the hair and appear less bulky. These treatments change the hair’s texture and can make it more manageable.
Straightening curly or wavy hair can also make it appear thinner. However, this approach requires regular styling.
Here are some techniques that don’t involve haircutting to thin out your thick hair:
- Straightening treatment
- Washing your hair with the right shampoo and conditioner
- Obtaining a keratin treatment for your hair
- Using anti-frizz cream before you blow dry your hair
- Styling your hair with volume-reducing products
While these methods can help in managing the appearance of thick hair, they do not physically remove hair or reduce its density like cutting or thinning techniques.
Advantages of Thinning Hair Without Layers
Thinning hair without layers can offer several advantages over thinning with layers, particularly for those looking to maintain a certain look or manage their hair more easily.
- Thinning out thick hair without layers maintains a uniform hair length, offering an even look. In contrast, thinning with layers creates varied lengths, which can be harder to style uniformly and might require more maintenance.
- Non-layered, thinned hair is generally easier to style and manage daily. Thinning with layers, while it can add volume and texture, might necessitate more complex styling techniques to manage the different lengths.
- Thinning without layers allows you to keep your original hairstyle intact, just with reduced bulk. On the other hand, adding layers while thinning can significantly alter the overall style of the hair.
- Thinning out hair without layers effectively reduces bulk while retaining a good amount of volume. Thinning with layers might lead to too much volume reduction at certain parts of the hair, potentially leading to a less balanced look.
- Non-layered, thinned hair can result in fewer tangles and knots, as the hair length is consistent. Layered, thinned hair might tangle more easily due to the intermingling of different hair lengths.
So, thinning hair without layers offers the advantage of a more uniform length, easier styling, and maintaining the original hairstyle, whereas thinning with layers can lead to more varied lengths, potentially more complex styling needs, and a significant change in the overall hairstyle.
How To Thin Out My Thick Hair Without Layers?
You can use thinning shears or scissors to cut your hair and make it thin, or non-cutting techniques to make your hair look thin. We have covered the best techniques below:
1. Straightening Treatment
Do you have curly hair high in volume? You will find that there are several different types of straightening treatments available for your hair type.
First, you can use a flat iron to make your hair straighter and somewhat flatter. Make sure to add heat-protecting hairspray after using a flat iron.
You can also use the chemical hair treatment rebonding to straighten your curls.
A third option is to use Japanese straightening, which is a long process that can take up to eight hours.
2. Using the Right Shampoo and Conditioner
You will need to pick the right shampoo and conditioner to reduce your hair’s volume. Yet, you should choose shampoos without parabens or sulfates, as these factors lead to hair loss. Look for shampoos and conditioners that can control frizz since they also decrease volume.
A few good options for frizz-free shampoo include:
- Maui Moisture Curl Quench Shampoo
- Garnier Fructis Sleek And Shine Shampoo
- R+Co Bel Air Smoothing Shampoo
- Shea Moisture Raw Shea Retention Shampoo
3. Thinning Out Hair With Thinning Scissors
Thinning scissors, also known as texturizing shears, have one blade with teeth and one normal blade. The teeth can have various spacings and sizes, which influence how much hair is removed with each snip.
Thinning out your hair using thinning scissors involves removing strands in certain parts of the head. Thinning out these strands will take plenty of weight off your head and make you feel lighter on top.
How It’s Done:
- The hairstylist sections the hair and uses the thinning scissors on the selected sections, typically starting a few inches away from the scalp.
- They carefully place the scissors parallel to the direction of the hair and make cuts at intervals along the length. The amount of hair removed depends on the density of the teeth and the number of cuts made.
- The technique focuses on removing bulk from within the hair rather than changing its external shape, thus avoiding layers.
Ideal For:
Thinning scissors are suitable for reducing volume in thick, dense hair without altering the hairstyle or hair length.
However, if your hair is damaged or brittle, you may want to avoid thinning out your hairstyle. Thinning out your hair with these scissors also works best if you have wavy or curly hair. Other types may not look as good when thinned out.
4. Slicing Technique
Slicing is a subtle way to thin hair using regular scissors. It involves sliding the scissors along the length of the hair.
How It’s Done:
- The hairstylist sections the hair and gently slides the open scissors along the mid-lengths to the ends.
- The scissors lightly graze through the hair, removing some strands while leaving others, effectively reducing bulk without affecting the overall style.
- This technique is often done on dry hair to better see and control the amount of hair being removed.
Ideal For:
Slicing is particularly effective for those who want to reduce volume in specific areas, such as the mid-lengths or ends, without impacting the overall hairstyle or creating noticeable layers.
5. Getting a Keratin Treatment
A keratin treatment is meant to straighten out your hair and reduce the volume on a semi-permanent basis.
Keratin treatments also make your hair more shiny and smooth. You will also reduce frizz with the help of keratin treatments.
This type of hair treatment can take a few hours, depending on your hair’s length. Usually, a hairdresser at a salon will first wash your hair and then apply the treatment.
You’ll need to wait for 30 minutes while the treatment does its magic.
6. Applying Anti-Frizz Cream Before Blow Drying Hair
If you have frizzy and thick hair, you can make it thinner and more manageable with anti-frizz cream. The best option is to apply the anti-frizz cream before you blow dry your thick hair.
It’s not always easy to find the right anti-frizz cream or products, so you will need to do your research. For thick hair, we recommend using the KERASTASE Discipline Maskeratine Hair Mask.
If you use that hair mask at least twice per month, your hair will become softer and more manageable.
7. Using Volume Reducing Products
Another important strategy to try when thinning out your thick hair is to adopt more volume-reducing products. First, you will need moisturizing shampoo and conditioner to decrease hair volume.
Make sure to choose volume-reducing products with natural moisturizing components. To cut down on frizz, you’ll need to shampoo your hair every two to four days.
Once your hair dries off, apply an anti-frizz cream. A heat-protectant spray can also help protect your hair whenever you use a flat iron or a blow dryer.
So, you can choose special cutting techniques to thin out your thick hair or products and styling techniques to make your thick hair look thin as mentioned in this article.
FAQs
Take a look below to learn the answers to the most common questions regarding how to thin out thick hair without layers.
Yes. Thinning out your hair with thinning scissors can potentially damage the ends of your strands. Hairstylists who don’t have experience with these scissors may not realize that they shouldn’t use them on dry, brittle hair. That will only further damage that hair type.
It’s also possible that you won’t like what your hairstyle looks like after you thin out your curls or waves. If you use these scissors too close to the roots, it can damage hair roots and strands over the long term.
It is perfectly fine to thin out short hair without adding any layers. Further, thinning out thick hair is more common among people with short hairstyles.
You can even consider getting a Pixie cut if you want to reduce that extra volume. A bob is another short hairstyle where you can use thinning to remove extra weight. You’ll love the feel of a lightweight head of hair.
You will need to talk to your hairstylist to determine how often you should thin out your hair. Some hair types may have their strands grow faster and thicker, while other types may take longer to grow.
Generally, you should see your hairdresser every six to eight weeks, as that’s often how long it takes for the hair to grow and thicken.