After a certain age you get more confident and relaxed. You aren’t eager to try so hard anymore, and that’s the magic ingredient that often results in some of the best haircuts and styles of your life.
At the same time that you’re feeling more sure of who you are and what you like in terms of style, you may find yourself confronting hair changes that you weren’t prepared for — like changes in texture, thinner hair, and possibly even sparseness on the scalp. It can be scary at first to learn how to adapt to these differences in your appearance, but with a bit of expert help and by honoring the hair that you have now, you can find a hairstyle that makes you feel like your sexy best.
Here are five haircuts and hairstyles that are perfect for older women because they won’t require you to spend hours with a blow-dryer and they are among the best looks for thinner hair.
1. Wash-and-Wear Hair with Texture
If you’re used to constantly straightening your hair and you feel like it just doesn’t look as good anymore and has incurred heat damage in the process, it may be the perfect time to break free from the tyranny of your blow dryer and styling products. Asking your stylist to cut your hair so that it is shaped in a way that pays homage to your natural curls, waves, and texture can help you take breaks from intense styling. With a few good products, including a quality leave-in conditioner and shine serum, you can embrace wash-and-wear hairstyles that are low-maintenance but make your hair look thicker and healthier.
2. Blunt Haircut
Whether your hair length of choice is a classic bob, to the shoulder, or slightly longer, keeping the ends blunt can help create a polished line that makes the ends of the hair look bulkier and thicker. Blunt hair also curls under easily with a round brush and blow dryer, eliminating the need to style a multi-layered cut. If you feel like you could use a little more lift on top, ask your stylist to add minimal light layers to break things up.
3. Layered Bob
Magical things happen when you cut longer hair into a bob. Suddenly, you may notice that you have more freedom to layer it and rock a tousled look that doesn’t require too much maintenance. Work with your stylist so that the shortest layers emphasize areas of your face that you want to highlight, like cheekbones or your jawline.
4. Shoulder-Length Hair
A shoulder-length haircut or collarbone-length lob is short enough to eliminate additional weight from your hair that can make it look thin and stringy. But this length also gives you a little freedom to play with styles like a half up/half down ‘do, ponytail, or chignon. Decide if you feel like blunt ends will beef up your hair’s texture or if you prefer something with more layering and movement.
5. Tapered Haircut
Tapered haircuts are super chic and modern, with a no-fuss attitude that allows you to grab a bit of styling cream or gel, work it into the top layers to create texture and hold it in place, and smoothen out the shorter sides and back. You can wear a gorgeous cropped tapered haircut (ala Lupita Nyong’o) if you want to go very short, or experiment with tapered bobs that have longer front pieces and shorter backs.
