Layers can add instant volume to any great face-framing haircut, but they are also easy to overdo, pro stylists warn. We checked in with professional hair stylists and experts to learn more about why layering works well in some instances, and when it could also inadvertently add years to your look (and how to avoid this!)
Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles. With that said, here are two popular long hairstyles that are intended to look voluminous, but could appear more weighed down with too many layers:
READ MORE: 25 Hairstyles For Thin, Fine Hair: These Are The Best Ones
2 Long, Overly Layered Hairstyles To Be Mindful Of:
Women Are Swapping Their Boring Water For This Ice Pop Electrolyte Mix!
1. Heavily Layered 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, as seen here on Juliette Lewis. 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. (Alexa Chung & Taylor Swift are great examples of modern shags that have the perfect amount of layers).
2. Long Layers With Thick, Blunt Bangs
Adding super-blunt bangs to an already layered hairstyle can also add years to your look, Abdullah says. She notes that bangs that end before the eyebrows can especially emphasize forehead wrinkling (rather than highlighting your cheekbones and beautiful features like other types of styles can). "Wherever your bangs fall, that is the feature they will emphasize the most," she says.
"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 bringing your bangs down to your eyebrows "to emphasize your eyes." instead. This, paired with face-framing layering can provide a much more flattering look overall.
Overall, Abdullah advises choosing a theme and sticking to it— whether that's light layering (including bangs) or an ultimately blunt texture. Combining bluntness in your bang area with layering in the rest of your locks can make you look older, as this pairing isn't flattering. "Thick, blunt bangs that come past the eyebrows on a blunt lob or bob emphasize every sign of age in the face," she warns, as they don't frame the face well.
"Rather," she adds, "they push all the attention to the eyes, with all their lines." An alternative to these popular, yet unflattering looks are curtain bangs, she suggests. "These flatter just about any face at any age as they neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs.
