Top 12 Products for Fine Hair

By far the best shampoo on the market, Kerastase is consistently rated by the pros and can be found in the top salons in the country. I have fine hair and Kerastase's Volumactive is the shampoo I have in my bathroom. I buy the biggest jug I can find and it lasts me more than a year. It's a pricey shampoo, but worth it. It leaves no residue, smells amazing and keeps my fine hair from falling flat. $28 on up.

A great alternative to fancy volume shampoos is Garnier Fructis. Try the shampoo and the conditioner. Another great inexpensive shampoo is Pantene Sheer Volume. Where to buy: Your local drugstore.

Quick tip for extra body:
If hair is flat and greasy, add instant lift with baby powder at the roots and crown. When you apply, avoid the hairline and the part, massage in and watch your greasiness disappear.

InStyle Magazine named Paul Mitchell's Teas Tree Lemon Sage Thickening Shampoo as their top pick in the 2009 issue. Priced well at about $11, this shampoo adds volume at the roots.

Elle Magazine dubbed Danilo - the guy who gives Gwen Stefani big hair - "The Body Builder." A celeb stylist for the past 15 years, Danilo is known for creating voluminous red carpet hair. According to Danilo (in Elle), up to 40% of hair's total volume can be achieved in the shower and Phyto is his shampoo choice. For best results pair a volume shampoo with a volume conditioner. Danilo says they build on top of each other.

Another excellent volume shampoo is Bumble & Bumble Thickening Shampoo and conditioner.

Molly Sims said in Marie Claire magazine that she loves this dry shampoo for building body and disguising dark roots. Dry shampoos (a cheaper version is baby powder) are great for building body.

Another great dry volumizer: Stila hair refresher

This inexpensive mousse works great to add volume to fine hair. Apply a tennis-ball sized amount to roots and comb through with a wide-tooth comb. The volumizer is activated by the heat from your blowdryer.

This is our all-time favorite volumizer. "It makes fine hair look like Texas hair," Rodger Azadganian, owner of Seattle's Seven salon, said in InStyle magazine. Spray on damp hair for instant fullness.

Can't afford a fancy mousse? No problem. This mousse ($3.69) will create volume once the heat from the blowdryer hits the product.

Celebrity hairstylist Steven Ward swears by this root-lifter for full-bodied Brigitte Bardot volume. With this mousse, your hair won't feel stiff or crunchy. Plus, at under $15 we love the price.

Mousse works much like spray. You want to add to roots and work it through the rest of hair.

Another great mousse: Nioxin volumizing reflectives bodifying foam

Once you've applied styling mousse and blow-dried hair, section hair and mist with an aerosol hairspray like this great one. This spray creates height & stands up to humidity.

When you have flat hair, you want to give hair volume at the sides, not at the top, according to Allure beauty editor, Jolene Edgar, who makes the good point that volume at top will make you look like a beauty queen (oops!). Edgar suggests this Phytovolume Actif Maximizing Volume Spra, which should be sprayed at the roots while hair is damp. If you lay off the blowdryer and let hair airdry, you'll notice your hair has much more volume than it does when dried straight. Scrunch hair with your hands as hair dries for added volume.