The struggles of having thin hair

You’ll spend so much on Batiste


Everyone faces insecurities in their life, and has at least one thing they wish they could change about themselves. In my case, my hair has always been something I wish I could change – the frequently limp state it seems to be in can be a real pain to deal with as it is so fine.

There are many pros and cons with having fine hair – primarily cons – which I’m sure that many others have also experienced.

Washing your hair nearly everyday

The eternal struggle that any girl with thin hair experiences is the need to wash your hair every other day if not everyday. You continuously envy the flatmate who can last days without even reaching for the dry shampoo and their hair looks like it’s been freshly washed and styled. You also most likely know someone who has paid to get their hair thinned at the hairdressers, and have questioned how such a thing could be a service that someone would willingly pay for.

Scalp burn is a very big issue in the summer

No matter how much you cover your hair, and no matter how much your mum insists that the bottle of Soltan Head and Hair spray will help, it never will. Even exposing your head for a ridiculously short amount of time will leave you with a sore and red scalp. If you were lucky it faded quickly, if not then you were left with a visibly red parting and your mum would nag you incessantly to wear a hat every time you left the house afterwards.

Dry shampoo is an essential product anytime you visit the shops

Multiple empty cans litter your room because you buy it so often, usually in an attempt to replenish it before your current can runs out to avoid having none. God help you if you’re in a rush and need a quick spray to freshen your limp hair, because you will have to try at least 3 cans before finding the dregs of some leftover. You don’t need to read articles rating which dry shampoo is the best though because you’ve already had enough experience with every brand to know which one works the best.

sorted for the week

When tying your hair up you need to commit to washing/straightening it after

Even tying your hair up momentarily will leave you with a noticeable groove where the hairband previously was. You therefore have to commit to tying it up only if you’re going to leave it up all day, unless you’re willing to straighten it, wash it again or embrace the groove from where the band was.

You’ve tried every volumising product available

You saw the advert for that new L’Oreal thickening shampoo and conditioner, and felt that familiar flicker of hope. You so wanted to believe that it would succeed where the other products failed, but sadly no. Even when you spend £25 on the products that your hairdresser recommended, you somehow end up with limp and greasy hair that makes you look like you haven’t washed it in weeks. You also have to be careful with the amount you use of everyday products like conditioner, because using too much – as you may have guessed once again – makes your hair greasy.

You’re limited in what styles you can wear 

The simple messy bun is coveted yet remains an impossible pursuit for a girl with thin hair, but admittedly it is comforting when other girls with any type of hair experience this same problem. Curling your hair is another situation that requires endless energy. Even after taking the time to curl every strand meticulously and applying copious amounts of hairspray, the curls fall out an hour later and look like you barely even brushed your hair before leaving the house. If you’re lucky you might be able to pull together just enough hair to form a short and very thin plait, but it just doesn’t work or look how you wanted it to.

 

If there’s any sign of mist you lose all motivation to leave the house

It starts the moment you leave the house, and even with an umbrella or hood to shield you from the vapour that shit will mess your hair up completely. Mist undoubtedly is irritating for any type of hair, but there’s something so soul destroying about seeing your previously shiny and newly straightened hair begin the descent into greasy and straggly tendrils.

It’s not all bad though, and there are some minor upsides to having thin hair. I may buy thickening products on the rare occasion but I easily spend about half the amount that my friends with thicker hair regularly do on de-frizzing products. It also takes me less than 5 minutes to wash my hair and dry it – while my friends are seeing if they have enough time to wash their hair before a night out, I’ll be already ready and using my time wisely by pre drinking my cheap Tesco vodka and generally loving life.