14 Best Products for Fine, Flat Hair in 2024, Stylist-Backed

Active Ingredients: Intra-cylane, hyaluronic acid, peptides, ceramides | Hair Type: Fine, medium | Size: 5 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

If you’re in the market for an ultra-lightweight product that adds volume and fullness, Kérastase Densifique Mousse checks all the boxes. The light-as-air foam calls on intra-cylane to add weightless volume and uniformity, but it doesn’t stop there. Ceramides smooth flyaways and hyaluronic acid moisturizes, while peptides strengthen hair and encourage healthy growth.

“This mousse is great because it adds body to fine, flat hair without drying it out,” says Spino. “It can be used to air-dry or for a blowout.” The strong scent may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like floral-musky fragrances, you might find it delightful.

Active Ingredients: Keratin, prickly pear, stem cells | Hair Type: Fine, thin, dry, damaged, color-treated | Size: 4.9 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

For under $20, you’ll get five ounces of this Japanese leave-in treatment—and a little goes a long way because the liquid turns into a soft foam when you pump it out. Containing keratin, prickly pear (which helps protect hair from UV rays), and stem cells, the affordable formula gets to work smoothing frizz, preventing flyaways, and fortifying your hair without adding weight or wetness. However, if your hair gets easily tangled, this product won’t really help you comb it out.

Active Ingredients: Thickening copolymers, hydrolyzed silk, marshmallow extract | Hair Type: All | Size: 6 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

One of fine-haired folks’ biggest complaints is that volumizing products make their hair stiff and crunchy. Our drugstore pick definitely doesn’t but does add the volume and hold they’re looking for.

“I recommend It’s a 10 Haircare’s volumizing spray for fine hair,” says hairstylist Carolyn Aronson. “It’s a lightweight volumizer that has marshmallow extract to help give the hair instant volume without drying it out.” And you can bet it won’t make your hair stiff or crunchy. We wish the effect lasted a little longer but that’s often the downside of a volumizer without the crunch factor.

Active Ingredients: Hydrolyzed wheat protein, vitamin B5 | Hair Type: All | Size: 10, 16 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

We all hate facing flyaways right? If they’re always in your mirror, Kenra Volume Spray has your name on it. This finishing product promises to keep fine strands in check for a whopping 120 hours (whaaat??) while protecting your hair from high winds and frizz-causing humidity. Basically, it does everything you need it to for when you’re out all day, and maybe taking pictures outside (think wedding hair). Though it’s lightweight, we should note it has a slightly sticky feel.

Active Ingredients: Keratin, silica | Hair Type: Thinning, fine | Size: 0.4–1 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Unfortunately, those who already have thin hair tend to experience hair thinning before the rest of us. Thankfully, some products like this one make it appear like you’ve got more hair than you do. Available in nine shades to match any natural hair color, it deposits pigmented keratin protein and silica powder to add body and volume immediately. The clever formula also adds hair-like fibers to thinning areas to create the illusion of a fuller head of hair. It’s great for root touch-ups (and we love they have different-sized bottles so you don’t need to spend a ton if you just need a little). We wish its magic would last a bit longer, though.

Active Ingredients: Thickening copolymers, amino acids | Hair Type: Fine, medium | Size: 6.8 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Looking for volume in all the right places? We love Oribe’s formula, especially since it holds up on long days. Spino is also a fan of Oribe Maximista: “This spray helps give density and hold shape,” she tells Byrdie. “Spray your roots or throughout your hair to thicken it.” It even protects your hair from the damage heat tools and the sun’s UV rays. The formula can feel a bit tacky upon application but it lives up to its instant volumizing claims.

Active Ingredients: Amino acids, ginseng | Hair Type: All | Size: 6.3 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

After many styling endeavors and lots of exposure to the elements, hair can become brittle, dry, or otherwise damaged (especially if you also process it with dyes and lighteners). Vernon François is your best bet to help reverse that damage. Use it as a pre-styling spray to nourish and strengthen damaged hair with amino acids and ginseng, which supports healthy growth. We love that the spray instantly revives curls and waves while making hair healthier over time. And you can bet the weightless mist won’t make your fine hair go limp.

Active Ingredients: Crystalline zeolites, plant extracts | Hair Type: All | Size: 8.5 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

We love a product that does two things for the price of one, and this one certainly qualifies. It acts as a dry shampoo by sending polymers to the roots to remove oil and pump up volume while also texturizing the mids and ends to give you big, bold style that lasts for days, not hours. “Some sprays are to be used wet, some dry,” says Spino. “This one is a dry spray you can spray [on your] roots or throughout to give your soft hair a little grit.” After trying this Oribe texturizing spray firsthand, we can tell you it gave our hair new life and added noticeable volume while still looking natural. That said, it can feel sticky when you first apply it. It also comes out of the nozzle quite fast, so you don’t need to press hard at all.

Active Ingredients: Coconut oil, castor oil, green tea | Hair Type: Fine, thin, curly, wavy | Size: 2 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Want smoother hair without relying on lots of chemicals? Qhemet Biologics has you covered with this blend of natural oils and green tea that smooths and moisturizes. While the oil content makes it a bit too heavy for styling, this is an excellent overnight treatment for fine, flat, and low-porosity hair (meaning your hair isn’t very absorbent). We love that it uses castor oil too, a centuries-old hair treatment that helps lock in moisture and acts as a thickening agent. You should see an improvement (and maybe even some hair growth) over time.

Active Ingredients: Thickening molecule, emollient blend | Hair Type: Fine, thin | Size: 3.7 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Lack of texture can make thin hair appear flat, but this cream addresses the issue with mastery. The kicker is Living Proof’s proprietary “thickening molecule,” which coats hair with teensy-tiny dots to make it look and feel fuller (the brand says it can actually look up to 30% fuller). We love that it not only acts as a styling agent but protects hair from heat all without silicones (aka it’s vegan). After putting this product to the test, we were pleasantly surprised by just how much thicker it made hair look. Don’t use it near your roots though or it may give you that wet hair look (and not the good kind).

Active Ingredients: Thickening polymers, keratin | Hair Type: All | Size: 10.2 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Spino recommends mousse for fine hair—it boosts volume without adding weight. Team Byrdie loves JoiWhip, an ultralight foam that adds substantial volume with thickening polymers while smoothing and strengthening with hair’s favorite protein, keratin. It has a slightly sticky feel, but we think this is a small price to pay for a noticeably fuller mane.

Active Ingredients: Saw palmetto, biotin, vitamin B5 | Hair Type: Fine, thin | Size: 2, 8.5, 33.8 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

We love a hair-thickening product you can incorporate into your shower routine as easily as swapping out your conditioner (especially when it’s cruelty-free). The secret to this thickening conditioner is saw palmetto. The plant-derived ingredient expands your strands creating weightless volume and fuller, denser hair. It also contains biotin which anyone who’s taken prenatal vitamins will tell you helps hair look as healthy as can be. Apply it after your shampoo of choice, let it marinate for a few minutes, then rinse your hair clean.

Active Ingredients: Biotin, oleanolic acid, rice protein | Hair Type: All | Size: 8.4–33.8 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

We also like Kevin Murphy’s Plumping Rinse for a thickening conditioner. It’s rich with ingredients that thicken the hair and promote growth, including biotin, oleanolic acid (a hair-loving antioxidant), and rice protein. After use, hair will appear fuller with volume that lasts all day. A couple of things reviewers noted: it can be hard to get the product out of the bottle, and the scent can be perfumy and overpowering.

Active Ingredients: Sunflower seed oil, vitamin E | Hair Type: All | Size: 5.1 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Heat protectants formulated as serums or oils can be heavy on fine hair, but this spray from Pureology is light as air while adding volume that lasts for 24 hours. It’s a vegan formula free of preservatives like parabens and phthalates. We also love that it protects color-treated hair from fading and environmental stressors. The woody, milky, floral scent is pretty great too. Some users noted it can feel a bit sticky upon application though.