With the holiday season around the corner and temperatures cooling down, updating your hairstyle can be a great way to spruce up your look. However, if you’re over 40, finding the perfect hairstyle can be a daunting task with endless options available. To ensure a successful salon visit, it’s advisable to bring a reference photo of a celebrity style that inspires you.
But don’t stop there! Consider your face shape and hair texture as well to choose a style that suits you. Keep in mind that what works for one person may not work for another. To help you make the best choice, we’ve consulted top hair stylists who’ve shared four celebrity hairstyles that could potentially age you. Instead, we’ve suggested chic alternatives to consider.
Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Janine Jarman, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Curl Cult, Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles and Gina Rivera, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Phenix Salon Suites.
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4 Hairstyles To Skip Over 40 And Chic Alternatives
1. Don't — Chin-Length Bob with Blunt Fringe
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 layers to frame your face shape.
Do — Bouncy Bob with Curtain Bangs
Instead, she recommends opting for a bob with wispy curtain bangs, like Selena Gomez above. "A bob emphasizes the eye area, which might not look dewy," she explains. "Then, it also emphasizes the jaw area, an area that many of us struggle with as we age."
Rather than going for a blunt bob, Abdullah's 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. "They neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs," she points out.
2. Don't — Blunt Bob with Center Part
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.
Do — Asymmetrical Lob
To avoid this, Abdullah recommends a side part, as seen on Rosamund Pike above, for more volume and a youthful energy. "Try a side part 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 will increase volume in the area as well, especially if your hair is used to being parted down the center." Rivera agrees, and says that an asymmetrical, side-parted bob or lob is a much better option if you want to shed years off your look.
"The fact that there are changing lengths in the hair makes it a very trendy and current style," Rivera explains, adding that "this contributes to an up-to-date and young look."
Rivera notes that this is "such a popular look right now" because "you don’t have to commit to shorter hair" and it’s versatile.
3. Don't — Choppy, Rounded Shag
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 says.
Do — Delicately Layered, Wispy Shag
When layered and cut correctly, a shag is an "amazing cut that is well-recognized for being versatile," Rivera says. A quintessential shaggy cut, as seen here on Taylor Swift, offers "nice variations for both longer and shorter hair," Rivera points out.
She notes that the choice to "add a bang," and especially a voluminous, side-swept fringe can "add a fresh surprise to this look," Rivera suggests.
For women with longer hair, she says that "an added choice is to shorten the hair up a bit to the collarbone or above" to create some texture, and adding subtle layers to soften.
4. Don't — Pin-Straight, Long Hair
If you have "fine, thinning, fragile, damaged hair," Jarman 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."
Rivera 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,” Rivers says.
Do — Add Face-Framing Layers
“If you select longer hair, it’s important to opt for longer layers that will create movement and texture," Rivera advises.
"Face framing pieces," when added to long hair (like on Jennifer Aniston here) can also result in a more youthful appearance by draw the eye to the appealing facial features," Rivera concludes. "In general, this provides for a fresher and more youthful look."
