The dawn of a new season offers a wonderful opportunity to refresh your hairstyle and embrace a fresh start! A visit to the salon can be the perfect moment to experiment with a new look that accentuates your unique style and personality. However, selecting a hairstyle that enhances volume, especially for those over 40, can be quite challenging.
With a plethora of choices available, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. To ensure your salon trip is a triumph, bringing a reference photo of your favorite celebrity hairstyle can be incredibly helpful. But don’t stop at that! It’s crucial to take into account your face shape and hair texture to find a hairstyle that truly suits you.
Remember, what flatters one person may not be the best fit for another. To assist you in making the ideal choice, we spoke with top hair stylists who identified three outdated hairstyles that might actually and inadvertently “age you.” They also suggested three quick fixes and more flattering options for fall 2024.
Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Dani Everson, professional hair stylist and owner of Clementine’s Salon, Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles and Gina Rivera, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Phenix Salon Suites.
3 Dated Haircuts To Skip This Fall Over 40 — And More Flattering Options
1. 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 that "come past the eyebrows on a blunt lob emphasize every sign of age in the face, as they don't frame the face well,” she explains. “Rather, they 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 ayers to frame your face shape.
Instead, Try a Bob or Lob with Curtain Bangs
"Like the lob with blunt bangs, the bob emphasizes the eye area, which might not look dewy," Abdullah says. "Then, it also emphasizes the jaw area, an area that many of us struggle with as we age."
Her alternate suggestion is also to ask for the ever-so-stylish curtain bangs, since they “flatter just about any face at any age,” with any length, as well, as seen here on Alexa Chung. “They neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs,” she points out.
2. Skip Blunt Bobs with Center Parts
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.
Instead, Try a Layered Bob with a Deep Side Part
"Try a side part instead," Abdullah suggests, pointing to Salma Hayek's 'do above. "In this manner, you can move the hair from one side to the other, as you wish," she notes. "The added hair going over 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.
3. Skip Bobs with Baby Bangs
While this classic cut can provide an oomph of edginess to any hairstyle, Everson says that it could draw attention to wrinkles or other signs of aging with its forehead-baring look. Although baby bangs can work for those of us with an Audrey Hepburn-inspired style, Everson says that this cut, which ends before your eyebrows, might have a different effect on mature beauties.
“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,” and if you are looking to get bangs, “opt for a long hairstyle that will help hide forehead wrinkles.”
This type of fringe, she says, can “overshare someone's wrinkle story,” drawing the eye to sagging skin rather than creating a look that has an upwards or lifting effect.
Instead, Opt for Eyebrow-Length Fringe
“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 says.
Another solution to this style, Abdullah suggests, would also be curtain bangs (seen here on Halle Berry), as they can be cut as long or as short as needed, with an ability to wear them parted or straight down.
The Bottom Line
Rivera suggests that although these three hairstyles are failsafe options, there are numerous classic, transformative and timeless hairstyles for women over 40 to consider beyond those mentioned. The key to finding your perfect look is understanding your facial structure and seeking guidance from a professional stylist.
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."
