I have very fine hair, not thin but very fine.  For years I didn't try to grow it because hairdressers told me I "just couldn't, it was too fine."  Meanwhile they kept telling me they'd cut only an inch off my hair and then it would be way more.  My hair seems to grow slowly too.

Finally (duh) I figured out the golden rule of growing out your hair:  Never go to a hairdresser.  OK, there may be hairdressers sympathetic to below-shoulder hair but it's very hard to find one.  I never have.  And they'll all tell you your hair won't look good because it's too fine, if they want to cut it short. Heck, with a short cut my hair just looks wispy and my head looks too small.

End of rant . . . anyway, the secret to getting it to halfway down my back was to abandon hairdressers entirely.  I bought a book called _Haircutting for Dummies_. Despite the title it's an excellent book.  For my very infrequent trims to even the length,  I have my husband follow the directions and pictures. 

I don't think my hair will ever reach my ankles, but the point is:  Everyone told me it was so fine and grew so slowly it would never get at all long, and it did.  I just had to quit cutting it and refrain from abusing it.  And wait for several years.

OK, volume, how to get volume.  I'm still working on that one.  Some tips:  Forget volumizing products, none have worked for me. 

To keep the hair from lying flat on the head, a great trick is:  As soon as you finish washing your hair, spray it with spray gel.  Pull all your hair into a ponytail at the back or top of your head, and fasten with a covered elastic.  Do not part your hair, even if you normally wear a part. Pull it straight back from the forehead. This dries the roots upward and gives the hair a good lift. Note, no blow drying is required.

To get some wave into your hair with no effort, put it into the pony tail, as above.  Let it dry partway, otherwise drying will take forever. Then twist the hair around as tight as you can, coil it into a bun (this is two separate steps), and pin the bun to the top of your head with bobby pins. If the bun is at the top of your head, not the back, you can sleep on it.  You can also put the hair in the ponytail, then braid it tightly, then coil it into the bun.  Or you can make two tight braids coming out from the ponytail, loop them around to the top of your head, and fasten them with bobby pins. 

My problem is, I can get waves or curls, but the first time I comb or brush my hair, I get a sort of halo.  Fluffy body but no curls. I didn't get this when I had a perm.

I'm about to try permanent color on my hair, so if that gives volume as someone said, all the better.

Fran

I should add that, a perm will add a _lot_ of both volume and curl to your hair.  You'll look like it's about three times as thick.  Perms are out of style, so hairdressers aren't very enthused about giving them.  A perm does not destroy your hair if you (a) don't perm more than a couple of times a year (b) you don't use permanent color over it (semipermanent was OK for me) and (c) you condition your hair.

Fran