Your hair has been getting thinner for a while. When you look in the mirror, you are appalled. What's with all that scalp shining through?

Maybe you're just fed up with it and wish it would look thicker. Maybe you're actively doing something that may help your hair grow back, or at least make it stop falling out so much. And you're optimistic. But why does it have to take so long until you see a noticeable difference?

Here are a few things you can do to make your hair at least look thicker while you wait. They're easy and quick so you can have thicker hair tonight. And the best thing: none of them involve expensive or otherwise drastic measures.

Tip 1: Use Color. This technique is especially effective if your hair is graying. In that case, color will make your hair look much thicker instantly. But color can also help if you're just changing your shade a little, and even if you pick a perfect match for your natural color. That's because hair color actually thickens each individual hair just a tiny bit, and the overall effect is very helpful.

Tip 2: Use Thickening Shampoos. Thickening shampoos, also known as volumizing shampoos, really make a difference. There are a number of them on the market. I'm avoiding anything with sodium lauryl sulfate these days, so I'm buying mine at the health food store. Before I went off that chemical, I used to use one with a really embarrassing name by Catwalk. Excellent stuff.

Tip 3: Dry shampoos. I discovered this little trick by accident. Originally I bought it because I thought I might find it handy after hitting the snooze button too many times. But when I combed my hair after the first time I tried it, I could hardly believe my eyes. My hair looked a LOT thicker. It felt that way too! Now this may not be ideal for everyday use, and it's surprisingly expensive, but who am I to tell you what to do. Besides, it thickens up clean hair quite nicely too...

Meanwhile, I have tried two of the dry shampoos, one great, and the other quite serviceable but with far too much perfume for my taste. The price difference is substantial though that I have bought a second bottle of the overly perfumed kind. Unfortunately, the savings are reduced by the fact that the nozzle of the cheaper one tends to clog up.

Just in case you want to know: the fancy shampoo is Naturia by Rene Furterer ($22 for 3.2 oz. on Ebay and Sephora.com as well as Sephora stores), and the other, heavily perfumed one with the clogging-prone nozzle is just plain "dry shampoo" by Batiste ($6.99 at Sally's and also available on Ebay). Both come in environmentally problematic spray bottles, and you should probably also know that the 3 to 5 ounces of stuff is only enough for maybe half a dozen or so applications, depending on how much of it you use each time.

So there you have it. Three easy tricks to make your hair look thicker. You can use one, two, or even all three. Meanwhile, I think I'll investigate some more dry shampoo brands for a follow-up review.