If you are seeking to revamp your appearance this spring with a fashionable and refined hairstyle that highlights your finest features and embraces the inherent loveliness of your gray locks, then search no further than these nine classy, sophisticated and celeb-fave gray hairstyles for mature women.
From layered cuts to voluminous styles, these options suggested by pro stylists are perfect for addressing common hair concerns like thinning and loss, while also helping fine hair look fuller and more voluminous. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Dr. Roshan Vara, hair transplant surgeon and co-founder at The Treatment Rooms, Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles, Adriana Tapia, color specialist at Pierre Michel Salon and Lauren Udoh, professional hair stylist and Hair Creative Director of WigReports.
9 Elegant Gray Haircuts & Styles To Try For Spring 2024
1. Side-Parted, Asymmetrical Pixie
Halle Berry's edgy, side-parted pixie cut is timeless, and shows that you can also add another color to gray for a two-tone look anytime! This, as Vara points out, is a "great statement hairstyle and always makes gray hair stand out." Abdullah adds that a deep side part like this can "give more volume" to thinner hair than a middle part, and this can also hide any signs of thinning "in the crown area."
2. Gray Wavy Bob With Sideswept Bangs
Glenn Close's gray shoulder-length bob and side bangs pairing is elegant and ageless. "A longer bob is always very flattering," Vara says, and it is a "great way to grow out your gray hair." Abdullah adds that long, sideswept bangs like these "add length and volume so you don't have to spend hours styling."
3. Silver, Side-Parted Pompadour
Pink is known to rock epic short hairstyles, and her silver hair color is truly unforgettable. With this pompadour look, she adds instant volume and a side part for even more pizzazz. Adding volume to a gray pixie like this, Vara says, can really help "make the color pop." Abdullah agrees, and adds that a deep side part can give more movement to thinning hair than a middle part, and this can also hide any signs of thinning near the crown.
4. Layered Gray Bob With Wispy Fringe
Helen Mirren always shines with her short, gray styles, and this one is hard to beat! With wispy, eyebrow-grazing fringe and soft waves, her bob has subtle and exquisite movement. These type of romantic and delicate bangs, Abdullah concludes, "make your hair appear thicker, and are a great way to add volume to fine hair."
5. Ashy, Gray Pixie With Side Bangs
Jane Fonda is a true trendsetter and style icon, so we had to include one of her quintessential modern hairstyles on this list! The actress recently flaunted a flattering ashy, gray pixie with side bangs that highlights her bone structure and best features. According to Abdullah, adding side bangs to a gray pixie can "really bring on the glamor, especially if you've had recent coloring added." The look, she adds, is "very youthful and fresh."
6. Black-And-Silver Ombré Bob
What makes Jourdan Dunn's black-and-silver ombré coloring look even cooler is its blunt cut, Vara says. "A short blunt cut is fun and whimsical and helps to really highlight gray hair," he notes. Abdullah says that the side part here also makes it stand out. "It creates more volume on the top of the head by literally pushing more hair to one side of your head," she says, and this hairstyle is also great for hiding thinning on top if you have any.
7. Curly Dark Gray Lob
Andie MacDowell's dark gray look is longer than most bobs (making it fall more into the 'lob' territory). Its collarbone-level length and rich dark hue is undeniably chic. This not-too-long and also not-too-short cut provides "volume at the crown" for anyone with curly hair, Udoh says, and you can add "textured layers that frame the face nicely while still maintaining an easy-to-manage style."
8. Metallic, Wavy Old Hollywood Bob
Ciara wowed everyone at the 2016 Met Gala with a wavy, deep side-parted, silvery hairstyle. This look epically channels Old Hollywood glam. Abdullah notes that getting a bob cut and parting naturally wavy tresses to the side can help "frame your face in a very flattering, polished manner."
9. Long Hair With Herringbone Highlights
Herringbone highlights are all the rage with mature beauties on TikTok and elsewhere as of late, for the way they seamlessly blend graying strands with the rest of your tresses. The highlighting technique— as seen on stars like Gwyneth Paltrow — helps us embrace our gray hair while also trying out a fun new trend (it can also provide an instant refreshing update to your typical ‘do!)
Herringbone highlights, Tapia explains, are a “combination of warm and cool toned” highlights. Herringbone highlights intentionally include “natural gray hair into the hairs’ overall color” when coloring it to create a more natural overall look, she adds. Tapia stresses that it’s “not really covering or eliminating gray.”
This highlighting technique, she says, works great for women who are “starting to go gray,” and who want to “ease into the new color,” because it’s much lower maintenance than trying to fully cover up gray hair. “The highlights are blended into the natural color to make graying hair stand out less against someone’s original natural hair color,” Tapia continues.
The Bottom Line
Thankfully, there is an abundance of chic hairstyles that women with natural gray hair can experiment with beyond the nine listed here. When you decide to visit the salon this spring for a hair makeover, Abdullah suggests bringing along some pictures of styles that catch your eye to see what works well with your hair and facial features. Educating yourself on various options will help you make a well-informed decision!
