Options for thinning hair

With apologies to the men who read Retirement Confidential, this post is about hair, thinning hair and hair loss among women. My husband is bald and has been practically since he was a teenager, so if you are a man and have experienced hair loss, I’m on your team!

Women often have a complex relationship with hair. Too long, too short, too thin, too thick, too frizzy … never good enough. My thin hair is probably as long as it has ever been, I do next to nothing with it and I like it as much as I ever have. I finally went for a trim, and I was worried my stylist would want to chop more off, but she’s on board.

I planned my retirement hair to be healthy and low-maintenance. Some people go super short, and I like that look very much. I just like this better on me. Since I wear it longer and all one length, I only get it trimmed two or three times a year.

Yes, I’m also hoping to avoid hair loss. While hair loss can be genetic and/or hormonal, I do my best to avoid damage. No dye, no heat, no chemical processes, no silicones.

Well, I say no heat, but I have cheated. Last year, I think I only blow dried my hair three times. I’m going for zero this year. Air drying is less damaging, and I also find the slight wave makes my thin hair look fuller than if I’d blown it smooth.

We could argue all day about the pros and cons of products with silicones, but I stopped using them a few years ago. Silicone does make my hair look shiny and smooth in the short-term, but it’s essentially a plastic coating, and I can’t think of anything good about that long-term. It took awhile, but my hair adjusted to being plastic-free.

For me, less is more. I only shampoo and condition twice a week at night so I go to bed with slightly damp hair. Somehow that makes my hair look better in the morning. I use a boar-bristle brush to distribute the oils.

I wear my hair up a lot. And I wear a hat when I play golf or go out in the sun/wind. I talked with my stylist about hair loss, because I see so much of it among women – particularly on the back of the head.

She said while my hair is naturally thin and fine, I don’t have any hair loss to speak of, although it’s beginning to thin around the temples. I could probably disguise that with bangs, but bangs make the rest of my hair look thinner, so there’s always a price to pay.

I’m not sure what I’d do if my hair starts to go. When I was bald from chemo, I didn’t wear a wig. I wore a little bandanna styled like a do-rag, and it looked pretty cute. I could also see me in a buzz cut. Patti at Not Dead Yet Style has been open about her hair loss. She wears adorable wigs. Ronni at Times Goes By talked about wearing berets to cover up thinning hair.

For now, I’m just trying to keep the hair I have. But honestly, if it goes, it goes. We have lots of options.

8 thoughts on “Options for thinning hair”

  1. I’m planning on digging into my vast collection of baseball caps when I retire. Is that a hair style?

    1. Yes, it is. I know your hair is short, but I’ll have to do a post on my baseball cap bun, which is my go-to look for just about everything.

  2. I just love the color of your hair. Hopefully mine will turn white like my great grandmother’s. My hair is long, too, and it’s pretty thick. I do dry it twice a week when I wash it because my hair takes a long time to dry. Plus I have to confess I like that drying it makes it straight. My hope was that I could braid it, but that’s not working out because I can’t reach behind me.

    1. Thank you! It has gotten a lot whiter in the last few years. Thick hair is a good problem to have. Have you tried a side braid?

  3. A friend of mine has hair similar to yours. She refers to the color as “chromed”. I’m on the fence about coloring. My hair is snow white now. When I don’t color it, I often get asked about the seniors’ discount and called “dear” by service people. My hair is thinning on the top of my head as more hair sprouts on my chin! I say I will just shave my head and go to scarves/hats when it’s all gone from the top of my head. We’ll see.

    1. My chin is quite active as well. If my hair goes, I think I would do as you suggest — scarves and hats. As for the white, my stylist said colorful streaks go great in white hair. I decided not to do it, but that might be an option.

  4. I have lots of hair. My stylist says my hair is fine but I have a lot of it. And it’s curly. I’ve always fought it. About a year ago, I decided to stop coloring. My hair’s turning a nice gray, I think. Not as pretty as yours but better than I thought it might be. I wash my hair 2-3 times per week, usually based on what I have planned. I’ve tried air drying but my hair needs some direction. You’d think with curly hair it would dry into nice curls. No, it just gets frizzy. So I mousse it up and dry it about halfway. That actually gets me the curls I like as opposed to the wild and crazy look. My current length is tough when it comes to exercise and wind. There’s not much I can do with it that’s even remotely attractive. But I like it overall. Oh well. I’m at that age where I’m not sure I care as much.

    1. The cool thing about gray hair is that it evolves — so what you start with may not be what you end up with. Mine whitened a bunch over time.

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