The Best Volumizing Products For Fine Hair

Fine hair is just as capable of reaching ’80s-music-video-girl heights as its thicker counterparts — it just needs a little extra coaxing to get there. For a gentler alternative to a can of hairspray and a vigorous tease, try any of the best hair products to add volume to fine hair listed below, which all encourage even the finest, slipperiest hair to hold a lift. Choosing your favorite volumizing product mostly comes down to your preferred vehicle, whether that’s in the form of a feather-light mist, a dry shampoo, a texturizing spray, a powder, or a mousse. You’ll also need to consider your intended finish, i.e. silky-smooth and frizz-free (go for the mist), defined waves or curls (a mousse is great for that), or tousled (try the texturizer or dry shampoo). But across the board, it’s a good idea to start with the right shampoo for fine hair, and a conditioner to match. Not only will they not weigh down your hair with heavy silicones and too-rich oils, but they'll offer some plumping, lifting, and thickening benefits in and of themselves. Also, a lot of the products listed here work double duty as protein-rich strengthening treatments, which can help fine, fragile hair look thicker and fuller over the long-term.

Scroll on to shop nine of the best volumizing products for fine hair, all for under $50 on Amazon.

1. Best Shampoo & Conditioner

Presumably inspired by big ole’ Texan ‘dos, this R+Co shampoo and its accompanying conditioner contain a smart blend of ingredients that help strengthen, thicken, and volumize each strand of hair, like biotin, vitamin B5, and saw palmetto extract. Coconut oil works as a gentle scalp treatment, which helps create a more optimal environment for hair growth — the root (if I may) cause of bigger, bouncier, rodeo-worthy hair overall.

2. Best Strengthening Spray

Think of this ultrafine mist as equal parts weightless volumizer and strengthening treatment. The formula is powered by the brand’s proprietary keratin protein — a near-identical match to the protein our hair naturally produces — along with hydrolyzed wheat and soy proteins to help rebuild damaged hair, while vitamin B5 provides deep nourishment. You should see repaired split ends, more vibrant color, and smoother hair in the long term; and unparalleled, long-lasting volume in the short term.

3. Best Color-Protecting Spray

Here’s another volumizer-meets-treatment, this time for color-treated hair. In here, a unique, lightweight polymer blend creates a “spring” around each strand to boost body and movement without compromising softness or shine. On the treatment side, a UV filter helps protect your hair from environmental aggressors that can dull your color. Amazon reviewers are especially vocal about this product: One customer with “baby soft thin hair” loves the natural-looking lift it provides, and pretty much everyone confirms it makes their hair soft, flexible, fuller, and easier to style.

4. Best Finishing Spray

This light-as-air styling mist delivers impressive lift without any moisture, so it won't make thinner hair look slick or feel crunchy. It’s just as much a texturizer as it is a volumizer, though you won't get the gumminess of a hairspray, or the unwashed look of a salt spray. As it is literally weightless, you can go ahead and build it up as much as you want, or keep adding more throughout the day.

5. Best Texturizing Spray

If you are after the kinda-dirty-but-cool look you get with a traditional texturizer, spring for this one from Oribe. It’s the be-all end-all of texturizing sprays, according to almost every hair stylist on the planet, and also me — not a stylist, just very into piece-y, bedhead hair without stickiness or residue, plus some grease-cutting action and the sultry scent of Italian bergamot, white peach, and cedarwood. (Not too much to ask for, right?) It’s pricey for sure, but my own 100-milliliter bottle has lasted two years and counting.

6. Best Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo is the not-so-secret secret to achieving Bardot-esque amplitude (along with soaking up grease and oil, extending your style, and making unwashed hair smell a lot better, of course). There’s no harm in picking up a “volumizing” dry shampoo, but that’s basically redundant and you just can’t go wrong with Batiste Dry Shampoo, a total classic that gets the job done for under $10. For the most volume possible, flip your head upside down and massage the product into your roots. That also ensures that any white residue gets fully absorbed. (Though this dry shampoo doesn’t leave much white residue behind in the first place — another reason why it’s such a standby.)

7. Best Mousse

This mousse isn’t a regular mousse — it’s a plumping mousse, thanks to the addition of hydrolyzed collagen that increases your hair’s elasticity, which can help make it look fuller and feel stronger. Also unlike regular mousses, this doesn’t leave your hair feeling crunchy or stiff, or flatten its shine. Instead, reviewers with thin and thinning hair say their hair is softer, bouncier, and actually feels more nourished after applying a half-palm-sized cloud of the stuff.

8. Best Powder

If you’re steering clear of aerosol cans and their various chemicals, try this volumizing powder instead. This finely milled, translucent powder blends invisibly into all hair colors, and its hint of grit gives your style hold and longevity. It also happens to be one of the best-selling volumizing hair products on Amazon, where fine-haired reviewers confirm that it lives up to its big-and-sexy moniker. One customer even reported that it made their baby-fine hair a little too voluminous, so use it sparingly.