As winter and the holiday season approaches, it feels like a great time to head to the salon for a new ‘do, seeking the advice of trusted hairstylists.
We’ve found five haircuts that might not flatter women over 50, and pro stylists shared that avoiding these can help maintain a radiant and stunning look during the festive season.
Celebrity stylists and experts have also suggested beautiful alternatives and haircut ideas for mature women, ensuring you look and feel your best.
5 Unflattering Haircuts Experts Say To Avoid Over 50—And 2 Chic Alternatives
1. Skip Lobs With Baby Bangs
The timeless appeal of baby bangs has been showcased by a variety of fashion icons over the years, ranging from Bettie Page and Audrey Hepburn to modern trendsetters like Emma Watson, Emma Roberts, and Krysten Ritter. Despite its popularity, hair specialist Dani Everson, professional hair stylist at Clementine’s Salon, advises mature women to exercise caution when considering this cut due to potential negative effects.
"I love bangs and think everyone has their own special length that enhances their features," she says, adding that "no two bangs are the same." Baby bangs, she stresses, can "overshare someone's wrinkle story," drawing the eye to sagging skin rather than creating a look that has an upwards or lifting effect. "The right length of bangs can help make someone's appearance youthful, but too short borders the line between baby-ish and also aging," she advises.
Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles, agrees that bangs ending before the eyebrows can emphasize forehead wrinkles rather than highlight a woman's cheekbones and attractive features like other hairstyles. "Wherever your bangs fall, that is the feature they will emphasize the most," she explains.
2. Center-Parted Lobs Without Layers
Middle-parts can create a symmetrical look at any age, but Abdullah stresses that they can also draw more attention to forehead wrinkles and make your tresses look flatter. "A bob with a center part might have been your go-to hairstyle before, but maybe your part seems to be getting wider and wider," Abdullah acknowledges, as thinning in the crown area is common as many age.
"If you're thinning in the crown of your head, a center part is going to draw attention to it. This is because you're putting the part right in the same area," she says. To avoid this, Abdullah recommends a side part for more volume and a youthful energy.
3. Shaggy Lobs With Long Bangs
While shag cuts are iconic, 70s-esque and trendy (and usually flattering for any face shape when paired with no-fail curtain bangs), adding too many layers can head into mullet territory. Shags, Abudllah points out, can easily be cut to frame your face and best features, but adding a heavy amount of layers can often do the opposite. The worst haircut you can have if your goal is to look younger is having "too many layers," she explains.
Layers, when cut appropriately, can help to "add volume" and flow to your hair, "giving the appearance of fuller locks," she notes. Adding too many layers, on the other hand, she notes, "can make your hair appear even more limp than before." Too much texturization in a hairstyle can make thin hair appear even thinner, rather than full, she warns. "While shags are fashionable, it's vital to avoid over-layering thin hair because it can make it difficult to work with and lifeless," she advises.
4. Skip Chin-Length Bobs with Blunt Bangs
According to Abdullah, if you're aiming to achieve a more youthful appearance, you should avoid the blunt, chin-length bob hairstyle accompanied by blunt fringe. This hairstyle may not work in your favor as it has the potential to make you look older than your actual age.
Abdullah warns that adding this kind of bangs to a chin-length bob (or slightly longer lob) can also highlight the effects of aging without enhancing your best features. Thick, blunt bangs "push all the attention to the eyes, with all their lines.” This, she says, is seen as a very classic chic look, but it can make you look older if not cut with voluminous layers to frame your face shape.
5. Skip Pin-Straight Long Hair
If you have "fine, thinning, fragile, damaged hair," Janine Jarman, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Curl Cult, recommends "cutting it off." She adds that "healthy hair is always the best bet. If your hair is thin, it only gets thinner as it grows out and if it’s damaged it will only continue to break the longer it gets."
Gina Rivera, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Phenix Salon Suites, agrees in that "long, straight, blunt hair" is not always becoming with age. “The long length can pull the features down and make them appear more drawn,” Rivera says, “If you select longer hair, it’s important to opt for longer layers that will create movement and texture," she advises.
2 Chic Alternatives For Mature Beauties
1. Lob With Curtain Bangs
"You don't want short bangs that fall right in the middle of your forehead where you might have a few lines," Abdullah continues. Instead, she recommends cutting your bangs at your eyebrow level "to emphasize your eyes."
This, paired with face-framing layering in your collarbone-length lob can provide a much more flattering look overall, she notes. Instead of choosing the popular yet often unbecoming baby bangs, one can opt for chic curtain bangs, Abdullah suggests. "These flatter just about any face at any age and neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs," she continues. Curtain bangs, Abdullah notes, are a type of fringe cut that creates a soft, natural looking wave at the top of the head, as seen here on Kerry Washington.
"They are often used to frame the face and specifically, to give it a youthful appearance," she adds, which "look great on mature women" as they make your face appear "smaller and slimmer when they come down to cheek level."
2. Layers And A Deep Side Part
"Try a side part [with more layers] instead. In this manner, you can move the hair from one side to the other, as you wish," she notes. The "added hair going over," like Charlize Theron here, "will increase volume in the area as well, especially if your hair is used to being parted down the center."
If you really prefer a center part, she suggests making "a short one instead, so that the hair in front goes to either side of your face." Then, she adds, the hair in the center can be brushed back. "Any difference that you create when your hair is used to lying flat and completely to the sides will create volume and make a big difference," she says.
The Bottom Line
While numerous haircuts and styles can adeptly conceal thinning, hair loss, and fine hair, experts highly recommend trying these celebrity-favorite options for their versatility and proven effectiveness.
Additionally, Rivera advises that it’s best to always "consult with your stylist on a maintenance schedule but for those trying to regain hair health, make sure to trim every 4-6 weeks."
