Best Styling Product for Thinning Hair (Male): Reviews and Ultimate Guide

Best Styling Product for Thinning Hair

There are a whole host of male hair styling products for thinning hair, that include shampoos, creams, and pomades.

While it may seem like it’s hard to style thinning hair, with any of these products you can achieve a look you’re happy to wear day in and day out.

Getting to know some of the best options will help you reach a decision over what type of product is best for your hair, so you can get to looking your best every day.

Let’s dive into our top picks for men’s styling products for thinning hair. Here they are…

👑 Our Pick for Best Overall

⭐ Our Other Picks for Best Thinning Hair Styling Products

• Best of the Best: Baxter of California Clay Pomade
• Runner Up: American Crew Texture Lotion
• Best Shampoo: Jack Black True Volume
• Best Sea Salt Spray: Pete & Pedro SALT

Best Styling Product for Thinning Hair Reviews

Baxter of California Clay Pomade (👑 Best of the Best)

The best styling product for thinning hair male in our view is Baxter of California clay pomade.

This clay pomade from Baxter of California is an excellent hair styling product to use for thinning hair, and is widely praised by past customers. This pomade provides a firm hold and a matte finish. It is ideal for creating natural hairstyles or a messy look, and one it sets in the hair it is both strong and pliable.

This pomade from Baxter of California is infused with natural ingredients including clay and beeswax. It is ideal for moulding thinning hair into just about any natural-looking hairstyle, and can be used alongside the brand’s comb for optimal results. It’s particularly recommended by the brand for creating a neat pompadour style. 

This is a paraben free styling clay which is made from ethically-sourced ingredients, which makes it a great sustainable option. It’s also won several awards, the Men’s Health Grooming Award for Best Styling Product and the Details Reader’s Choice Award for Best Hair Wax.

This is also a great-smelling hair product, which makes it an enjoyable product to incorporate into your daily grooming routine. It has a deep licorice scent, which will make your bathroom smell like a true male grooming haven.

As a pomade that’s designed for fine and thin hair, it can add the volume and texture to your hair that’ll make it look healthy and nourished.

Customers rate this clay pomade, and several users who claim to have thin hair report that it provides an all-day hold and makes their hair look more full.

American Crew Texture Lotion (🥈 Runner Up)

American Crew is a top hair product brand which is popular in many barbershops and hairdressers. This texture lotion is a fantastic hair product for thinning hair.

This lotion from American Crew is recommended for fine hair, and has been formulated with natural extracts such as ginseng. This is what allows the hair to look thicker and makes it appear more full. Whatever the length of your hair, you can pull off a fantastic natural look with definition using this lotion.

As a lightweight lotion, you get all the texture you could want without having a product that feels overly heavy or clumpy in your hair. It’s perfect for longer thinning hair as it can make it appear natural and settled as opposed to rugged and wild. There’s also no strong scent of alcohol or anything of that nature, so it shouldn’t cause an unpleasant odor in your bathroom as you use it. What you’ll be met with instead is a fantastic scent that’s characteristic of the American Crew brand.

Customers of this texture lotion from American Crew have plenty of good things to say about it. The biggest positives to come out of the reviews include how this lotion provides extra body to the hair, and doesn’t make it look at all greasy. It also has a solid hold, so you can apply it once and don’t have to worry about the wind messing up your hairstyle.

Features:

•  Lotion
•  8.4 fluid ounces

Jack Black True Volume (🚿 Best Shampoo)

If you’re looking for a shampoo to use in the shower that will add volume to thinning hair then we highly recommend you try Jack Black True Volume.

If you have thinning hair, then it’s a good idea to invest in hair care products that can add volume. This will help make the hair look and feel more full and healthy. As a volume thickening shampoo, this product from Jack Black does the trick, and can be easily applied to wet hair in the shower. That makes it incredibly easy to implement into your daily routine. While it may not style your hair, this shampoo can give you the volume you need to work your hair into a variety of styles.

This shampoo is sulphate-free, fragrance-free and cruelty-free, making it a safe and sustainable product to add to your collection. The ingredients that it does have are healthy for thinning hair, and can help create more volume. Some of the star ingredients you’ll find listed on this shampoo are a variety of proteins and vitamins, natural oils, and botanical extracts. Each ingredient has been carefully chosen to fortify and strengthen the hair, for the best results for thinning hair.

Creating will provide extra volume to hair shafts, while wheat protein will fortify thinning hair and bulk it up to a healthy level. Then there’s white lupine which will revitalise the scalp. The various natural oils such as lavender and tea tree leaf are there to reduce irritation, redness, and inflammation. Then the botanical extracts like nettle leaf and basil leaf can hydrate the hair and create a healthy sheen.

While it may be an expensive shampoo, this doesn’t prove to be a big factor for the many satisfied customers who use this product on a regular basis. What people tend to like most about this shampoo is that there is a lack of artificial, harmful chemicals and the ingredients that are used are natural and proven to help create thicker hair. Several people have commented that their hair has more volume as a result of using the shampoo.

Features:

•  Shampoo 
•  16 fluid ounces
•  Sulphate-free
•  Fragrance-free
•  Contains creatine, tea tree leaf, white lupine protein, and basil

Pete & Pedro SALT (🌊 Best Sea Salt Spray)

If you haven’t heard of sea salt spray before, then it’s about time you learnt more about it. This sea salt spray from Pete and Pedro is a great hair styling product that can provide volume and texture with just a few sprays every day.

As a sea salt spray, this is a great hair styling product for thinning hair and in particular straight hair. This product has also been featured on the hit U.S. TV show ‘Shark Tank’, when the man behind popular YouTuber channel Alpha M Aaron Marino pitched his hair product range to the investors. As well as securing some investment on the show, the brand Pete & Pedro also secured many happy customers with its quality hair care products for men.

So aside from enjoying a lot of commercial and TV success, what makes this product the best sea salt spray for male thinning hair?

Well, this sea salt spray from Pete & Pedro adds thickness, volume, and texture to thin and fine hair. It provides a light hold, so you just need a few sprays after a shower and it should give you a great look which you can play with throughout the day. As this product contains sea kelp it’s a very nourishing hair styling spray, and is great for hydrating the hair and scalp. It’s also parabens free, which is a big plus, since parabens can be damaging for the hair. It can even work for your beard too if you’re rocking facial hair.

Past customers praise this sea salt spray for its effectiveness, and claim that it adds fullness and volume to thinning hair. There’s also some people who say that it adds a lot of texture and keeps the hair looking healthy and shiny.

Features:

•  Spray 
•  Parabens-free
•  Key ingredients are sea salt and sea kelp

Ultimate Guide to Thinning Hair Products

There are a lot of things to consider if you’re looking for a styling product suitable for male thinning hair.

First, you have to know what type of hair you have, as this will help rule out certain products that target specific hair types.

Then, you’ll need to determine what type of product is best for you and what you want to achieve with your hair.

There’s also many ingredients found in hair styling products, and it’s worth knowing which of those are desirable and which you should try to avoid.

Type of Hair

First things first, determine what type of hair you have, since this will largely affect what styling product will work best for you.

Straight

Straight hair is one of the more common types of hair you see in men, and it’s the kind which always seems to fall straight when all is said and done.

It is also a type of hair that can lead to an oily scalp, which is one of the first factors to bear in mind when choosing a hair care product.

Dandruff is another thing to be concerned about with this type of hair, so any hair product that helps prevent the development of the white stuff is a big bonus.

The oil can make the hair fairly soft and smooth, and will require a certain product to hold it into a specific hairstyle.

Since this type of hair can often seem flat and a little bland, it doesn’t look great when it starts to thin out due to the ageing process.

One of the best hair styling products to use for straight hair is some type of sea salt spray, as this will give the volume and texture a healthy boost.

Curly

Curly hair can get very puffy and hard to control at times.

Look on the bright side though, if you have curly hair you have healthy locks to work with which should make dealing with thinning hair easier.

Having said that, this is one of the more complicated hair types for men to deal with.

You’re going to need several hair chair products if you want to keep your curls looking healthy and nourished.

You’ll be best served using a leave-in conditioner and a hydrating cream, before blow drying it for the best results.

Wavy

Wavy hair is somewhere in between straight and curly hair, and can strike the perfect balance and is maintained well.

It often has a lot of volume, although the wavy nature of the hair can get in the way sometimes.

You have plenty of options if you have wavy hair which is the good news, so there are a lot of hairstyles open to you even if your hair is starting to thin out.

Pomade is considered to be one of the best types of product to use for this wavy style of hair.

You should also try to use some kind of shampoo which hydrates the hair, to prevent frizz.

Coily 

This is the type of hair that looks a little like a series of coiled springs.

This type of hair is like curly hair, only on another level.

What’s best for coily hair is to keep it hydrated at all times, since it can get out of control in an instant.

To keep it how you want it to be, you’ll probably want to invest in a good conditioner that you can work deeply into your hair.

The key is not to let this type of hair dry out, since this is when you encounter problems like frizz and hair breakage.

Type of Product

Once you know what type of hair you have and which hair styling product is best for you, you can consider which type of product is best.

There are a lot of different hair care products as you’re probably already aware, and each of them has its pros and cons for thinning hair.

The products will vary in a range of things from consistency to the types of ingredients commonly used, so make sure you choose wisely.

Pomade

Pomade is the name given to a waxy or water-based substance which is commonly used for styling men’s hair.

This type of hair styling product tends to be scented, although some pomades are free from any kind of fragrance.

This is a very versatile hair styling product, and you can find a pomade for just about any hair style.

There are pomades with soft holds, and pomades with strong holds, so you can get everything from a messy hairstyle to an organised one.

You can use pomade on a daily basis, and it’s best to apply it when your hair is either damp or dry.

The main way to pick a pomade for your hair is to figure out whether you’d prefer a water-based or oil-based one.

• Water-based

Water-based pomades dry firm and hard, a lot like a hair gel would.

This creates a resilient hold which should last all day long and survive the heat.

It’s a product that’s easy to wash out at the end of the day.

Within this category fall the various clay and fiber pomades, such as our top pick the Baxter of California clay pomade.

• Oil-based

Oil-based pomades are the classic version of this waxy hair styling product, which provides a firm hold but remains malleable throughout the day.

This is the product for those wanting a strong hold that can last as long as a few days, since they aren’t as easy to wash out as their water-based counterparts.

Shampoo

We all use shampoo for our hair, but if you have thinning hair there’s a special type of shampoo you can use to build volume.

This type of shampoo is known as either volumizing or thickening shampoo, and it’s designed specifically to add fullness to thinning hair.

A great example of a thickening shampoo that adds volume and thickness is Jack Black True Volume.

There is a difference between the two, so we’ll get into that now.

• Volumizing

A volumizing shampoo is one which will add lift to your hair by giving the roots a healthy boost.

This is a shampoo that gets to work on your scalp, and helps the follicles and hair shafts thrive.

You’ll appreciate volumizing shampoo if you’re looking for some lift in your hair and a full-bodied hairstyle.

This is for those really looking to show off what they’ve got and prove that thinning hair doesn’t have to mean conservative hairstyles.

This type of shampoo won’t leave any residue behind, and is very effective for countering the effects that aging can have on the hair.

Common ingredients you’d find in a volumizing shampoo include biotin, argan oil, and sometimes even caffeine.

• Thickening

Thickening shampoo does what you’d think it would and thickens the strands of hair on your head.

A great example of a product that does this well is Jack Black True Volume.

This will give off the appearance that your hair is more luscious than it really is, and more healthy.

Using certain ingredients like vitamins and proteins, these types of shampoos will retain moisture and expand the hairs’ width.

This type of shampoo won’t lead to permanent results, but as long as you use it you will notice that you have fuller and thicker hair.

While it can hydrate the hair and hold in this extra moisture, the effect will start to fade once you stop using the thickening shampoo.

This isn’t necessarily a reason not to use it though, since the results can be transformative for thinning hair.

Related: Best Hair Loss Shampoo for Men

Lotion

A lotion is a hair styling product which you leave in your hair to keep it moisturised.

It’s a particularly effective hair product to use if you have a particularly dry scalp and/or have dandruff.

This is quite a healing hair styling product which can restore a healthy level of hydration for your hair and scalp.

It can keep the hair soft, and can even repair damage from the sun’s rays and artificial chemicals.

The lotion does this by encouraging a healthy level of natural oils in the hair, which can in turn counter some of the effects of hair loss. It can accelerate hair growth, which is ideal for having a full and healthy head of hair.

The primary ingredients in lotions tend to be natural oils, since these are excelling for restoring moisture and hydrating the hair.

Some of the most common oils used include castor oil and olive oil.

Lotions can also have botanical extracts such as chamomile and rosemary which can encourage healthy blood flow and provide soothing benefits for the scalp.

A good example of a lotion for men is American Crew Texture Lotion, which has ginseng extract to provide extra thickness and volume.

Sea Salt Spray

An interesting hair styling product that you might not have considered before, sea salt spray can help style thinning hair.

This spray, which often uses sea salt and kelp as in the case of Pete & Pedro SALT, can add texture without leaving behind any grease or clumps.

What a sea salt spray can do for your hair is absorb some of the natural oils you have in your hair, which gives it that post-beach texture and volume.

As for thinning and fine hair, sea salt spray can help lift and add volume and can be used in combination with other hair styling products.

If you want to create a wave like fringe in your hair that makes you feel like you just got out of the sea, then sea salt spray can do that for you.

It’s also exceptionally easy to use and spray on in a matter of seconds, which makes it the perfect travel companion to maintain your daily grooming routine.

Best Ingredients

As a general rule, the best ingredients for hair styling products will be natural.

This is even more important if you have thinning hair, since you don’t want to damage it with chemicals and leave it looking dried out and patchy.

Aloe Vera

One of the most healthy ingredients for all kinds of skincare and hair styling products in general, aloe vera is one of the best things to look out for.

The green plant with healing gel loaded in its large leaves lends itself very well to hair styling products, especially for thinning hair.

The known benefits of aloe vera for hair include soothing irritation and hydrating a dry scalp, and strengthening the strands of hair.

There’s also some evidence to suggest that it can accelerate hair growth.

Proteins

Some of the best things for any hair styling product for thinning hair are proteins.

Proteins that come from egg whites or creating, can thicken and strengthen the hair.

Many hair styling products for men’s thinning hair will feature some form of protein like Jack Black True Volume.

Vitamins

Vitamins, particularly biotin and vitamin A, will make your hair look healthy and encourage growth.

They are essential for the body, and have a variety of healing benefits for the hair.

Botanical Extract

You’ll notice that several hair styling products include botanical extracts or oils, since these can do wonders for thinning hair.

Botanical extracts like millet seed or oils like peppermint can provide everything from antimicrobial benefits to improving scalp health.

Worst Ingredients 

The worst ingredients are commonly known in the world of skincare and hair styling products, and include harsh chemicals and artificial ingredients.

Parabens

Any ingredient that ends with paraben, likely isn’t going to do your hair any good.

As artificial preservatives, parabens are used in a vast array of cosmetic products.

Yet the chemicals inside them can be harmful unfortunately.

Sulphates

Other very common ingredients in hair styling products are sulphates.

These sulphates, which are often listed on the label such as sodium lauryl sulphate, can cause brittleness and irritation.

As detergents, they generate lather for shampoos, but they should be avoided if possible.

Fragrance

While fragrance certainly isn’t a bad thing, it depends what the source of the scent is.

When fragrance comes from a natural source, it’s generally considered fine for the hair, but those that come from artificial sources aren’t so good.

The way you can tell if the fragrance is artificial is if it’s listed on the label as ‘fragrance’. 

Related: Best Clippers for Balding Men

Frequently Asked Questions About Styling Products for Thinning Hair

What is the best styling product for thinning hair?

The best styling product for thinning hair in our view is Baxter of California clay Pomade.

This pomade has won several awards and is made from natural, ethically-sourced ingredients like clay and beeswax.

It is perfect for fine and thinning hair, as it can add volume and accommodate for a range of natural hairstyles.

How do you style thinning hair men?

There are more options that many people believe when it comes to styling thinning male hair.

You can use pomades, clays, creams, and shampoos to style thinning hair, along with many more types of hair products.

You should look for hair products that add volume or texture, since this will make your hair look nourished and healthy.

What is the best shampoo for male thinning hair?

The best shampoo for male thinning hair in our view is Jack Black True Volume.

This thickening shampoo is widely praised by those who use it for its ability to bulk up thinning hairs and provide extra overall volume.

If you’re looking for a quality shampoo for male thinning hair, free from harmful chemicals and full of healthy natural ones, then this is a fantastic option.

Is pomade good for thinning hair?

Yes, pomade can be a great hair product to use for thinning hair.

A pomade can give the impression of extra volume and allows you to work texture into your hairstyle.

This is a great option if you want a natural or messy look to your hair, and it will hold it in place very well as it sets into your hair over time.

Related: Best Beard Growth Products

A Final Word From The Trending Man

Men’s hair products for thinning hair range from the volume-increasing to the texture-adding, and everything in between.

Choosing the perfect product for your hair can be difficult, but if you bear in mind the various factors involved then you can make things a lot easier for yourself.