Is Your Hairstyle Aging You? 

What woman doesn’t want to look 10 pounds thinner and 10 years younger? In today’s tech-savvy world, it IS possible to do both. But it’s particularly easy to look 10 years younger when you know the ins and outs of hair colors and cuts. Here’s how your hairdo can help you dip your style toes in the fountain of youth.

Look Young, Feel Young

You don’t have to be young to look young. Today’s fifty is the new forty, today’s forty is the new thirty. That’s because today’s hair and makeup options enable us to create the illusion of youth.

Your hair color and cut are no exception. Your hairstyle can age you 10 years if it’s neither flattering or in style. Your hair color can also age you 10 years up or down. Here are some ways to climb out of your hairdo beauty rut and join the ranks of those who know how NOT to look old.

What “Do” Do You Do?

Ever go through some of your old photo albums and reminisce about all the crazy hairstyles you’ve sported throughout the years? I have. Just check out some of these hairdos from my personal photo menagerie.

I’ve had bangs and no bangs. I’ve had curly hair and straight hair. I’ve had a Ducktail, a Bubble, a Double Bubble, a Flip, a French chignon, a Gamin, an Afro, back to a Gamin and now a wavy, swept-back style. I’ve been blonde, brunette and blonde again. I’m sure you know the drill.

However many different “dos” you do, one of them may be aging you. If you’re in your 40s to 60s, the long straight hair you may have worn in high school will not only make you look like you’re trying too hard to be young again, it will visually pull down your face–making you look older than you are. That is particularly true if you part your long, straight hair down the middle.

Why? Your facial profile is different on each side, so parting your hair down the middle may accentuate the imbalance. Instead, opt for a side part that highlights your best side.

The Long and Short of It

As you age, your facial profile changes. It may become more angular or less so. Either way, a short hairstyle may be the most flattering, as it will frame your face and open up your look. Layering your short hair look by cutting it at angles and at different lengths will also soften the style, giving you a more youthful appearance.

Whether short or long, make sure your hair has movement. Hair that doesn’t move is reminiscent of my grandmother’s day when women got carefully “coiffed” at their favorite salon every week. Young hair has bounce and swing.

Bang Up Job

Wearing bangs will also give you a younger look, as they will soften your face. They can be long and swept to the side or they can be shorter across the forehead.

But do make certain your bangs are softly wispy,. They should be cut at slightly varying lengths rather than perfectly straight, which would look severe and therefore age you.

Color me Beautiful

Nothing ages you like hair that’s color blocked, too dark, too light or the wrong shade or gray. With today’s safe and sound hair bleaches and dyes, it’s easy to change the color of your hair. But there’s a trick to choosing a color that’s not only flattering to your skin tone and eye color but that appears to take 10 years off your age.

   

A general rule for choosing the right hair color is the older you get, the lighter the color. This doesn’t mean that all women over the age of 30 should go blonde. Not everyone looks good as a blonde. But every woman looks younger and better with a lighter shade framing her face.

No woman’s hair is all one solid color, so hair that looks like a solid block of color truly ages you. It not only looks fake, it emphasizes the lines and wrinkles in your face–giving you an older appearance. I once had a client in her 60s who used a home remedy to color her graying hair a solid black. She wanted to restore her hair to the color it was when she was younger, but it had the opposite effect.

 

As we age, our hair, eyes and skin tone changes. So what may have been appropriate in her youth was no longer in her best interest. In addition, her skin tone was a very pale tone, so the dark black hair color only emphasized the contrast-and her age.

Instead, choose lighter highlights and darker lowlights than your overall hair color to give your hair color some depth.

Although 54% of all American women color their hair, it doesn’t have to look like you do. Your hair should be multi-tonal with lighter highlights around your face to frame it. 

If you’re coloring your hair for the first time, start with a shade similar to what it was when you were two to four years old. Then gradually go two shades lighter or darker.

When your hair color is similar to what it was as a child, it looks natural. That’s because there is balance and harmony in nature. And the hair color you sported as a tiny tot was a perfect fit with your skin tone and eye color. It always will be. Even though your natural coloring changes slightly with age, it’s still in a similar palette.

That’s what I did. Notice that even though I was a natural brunette in my adult years, as I have aged I have reverted to a hair color similar to the one I had when I was four. Yes, that’s me! Although the photo is in black and white, I definitely was a blond–then and now.

So when it comes to how NOT to look old, you want your old hairstyle and color to be hair today, gone tomorrow. Step into the fountain of youth with a new “do” on this new day.