I have read so many articles listing these hard-set rules for how a woman should wear their hair after the age of 50 and don’t wear long hair because it’s not appropriate for your age.
Don’t try to be too trendy and act too young. Don’t let it go gray. It’s so aging. Honestly, can we just not? Can we just not do that anymore?
I’ve always seen hair and makeup as a decorative art form and an amazing form of self-expression. Just like there are no rules on how you should decorate your Christmas tree or how you should decorate your house.
You do whatever the heck makes you feel happy and whatever you think looks good. There are no set rules on how you should decorate yourself. Let’s say it again and there are no set rules on how you should decorate yourself.
You should wear your hair in a way that feels right for you. And if you feel like a certain style looks great on you and you feel beautiful, then you should keep wearing that style.
However, if you feel like you’re stuck and you just can’t figure out what to do next, or maybe what you were doing was working and now suddenly isn’t and you don’t know why.
Well, I’m here to help. Today I’m going to give you five hair-cutting style ideas that are my go-to for helping clients feel fabulous after 50. Let’s go!
Blunt Bob
Haircut Idea 1 is the blunt bob or the blunt lob, which is just a slightly longer version of the bob. This style is characterized by a strong unlayered baseline hitting at the shoulder or above.
You can wear this style even all the way around without a fringe, or you can add a fringe in there or whatever fringe you want. We’re going to talk more about that later.
As we age, our bodies naturally change.
One of the first very noticeable physical changes that a lot of women see is their hair getting thinner because the individual hair has become thinner and the amount of hair that you have on your scalp lessens.
It can result in wispy hair that can be brittle and hard to control, and also hair that just has a lot less volume in general. It’s something that happens often. It’s very, very, very common.
The reason that a blunt bob works so well for women over the age of 50 and why it’s probably been recommended to you before is because when we cut everything into one line, the baseline becomes very dense looking.
When the baseline looks dense, the hair in turn looks super thick. Even if it’s not. Thick healthy hair is a sign of youth, so it instinctively makes people assume that you are younger.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had this experience where you saw someone from behind with super thick and luscious hair and you instantly thought that they were 20 in your brain, and then they turned around and they were a more mature woman.
That happened to me when I was on vacation last week at the airport. I was like, I thought this girl was like 20 and she must’ve been like 60 or 70.
And the reason for that is because thick hair makes your brain connected to youth.
So if you find that your hair is aging, because it’s looking thin, wispy, and dull, consider getting a blunt bob because that will thicken it right up and it will give you an instant facelift.
Mid-Length Cut with Long Layers
If you’ve had long hair for your entire life, though.
And the idea of going as short as a bob scares you. Or if you have a weak jawline or more weight around your face and neck and a bob feels unflattering to you, then haircut number two may be the perfect solution.
Haircut number two is a mid-length cut with long layers.
This haircut, especially when done with some of the face-framing layers, is universally flattering no matter what your age, face shape, hair type, or even body type.
I love this haircut. I love this haircut. Love it. The length of this cut is not short enough to widen the face out, but it’s also not long enough to drag the face down or make the hair look too thin for most people.
If you keep the layering light at the back and more focused at the front, depending on the hair’s density, you should maintain a relatively dense baseline, but also soften the face out significantly.
As we age, we lose elasticity and as a result of that, we get sagging in the neck and the jawline area, and creating movement with layering there essentially contours out the face and softens any lines that we may find unflattering on ourselves.
This is a great haircut. It is. It’s super easy to work with and it looks so good on everyone.
Fringe
Haircut Number 3 is adding a fringe to any haircut that you love, whether that is a short cut or a long cut, what a fringe does to a face is it makes it look smaller camouflages lines on the forehead, and softens out any fine lines around the eyes if and only if cut properly.
Let’s just emphasize that for a minute. The fringe needs to be cut properly.
There are so many variations of fringes that you can play with.
You can make them airy and mostly see-through. You can side-sweep them and keep them denser. You can have them come forward more or open up.
If you do a curtain fringe like this, which opens up in the middle and gets longer, like significantly longer at the ends on the sides, you can pretty much hide all of the crow’s feet at the side of the eyes.
What I do not recommend, though, and why I emphasize that it needs to be cut well, is that if your fringe is too square and blunt or too short, it may be unflattering. Bangs that are strong, blunt, and short draw a ton of attention right here.
And these type of bangs acts as arrows pointing right at the eyes. And it can accentuate any of the lines or puffiness in that area. That naturally happens as we get older on many, many women.
Of course, if this doesn’t bother you and you like this style on your face again, go for it. But I know that most of my clients over the age of 50 prefer a softer cut when it comes to anything.
Framing the eyes or even framing the face, softness diffuses fine lines and wrinkles and darkness and puffiness. Strong lines bring arrows.
So if there’s something on your face that’s making you a bit insecure, make sure that all of the lines in that area are diffused and point cut and softly blended, that will take a lot of that attention away from those areas that maybe you’re not feeling ten out of ten about.
Bixie
Haircut number four is the Bixie.
This cut is so quick to blow dry for those who have any mobility issues and with the use of some pomades and waxes, you can make it like really super playful.
You can create so much texture. It’s very, very easy to style and it’s quick to style. You can go a little longer with this and rock it as a short shag style, which is also very trendy.
You can undercut one side and have it longer on top for something a little bit edgier. Or you can keep the front super long with a nice cropped back.
The possibilities with this cut are endless and you can ask your hairdresser to tailor it to suit your style and your face shape. I love, love, love how chic this is.
Soft Natureal Texture
Haircut number 5 is a bit of a cheat because it isn’t a haircut, but it’s something that I’m dying to tell you. So I wanted to include it here.
My next tip for looking gorgeous after 50 is finally embracing your natural hair’s texture. I am 36 years old. I turn 37 next month and I spent all of my life fighting my wavy hair. It is only in the last two years that I even discovered how wavy my hair is, and I only discovered it because of a video that I was recording.
Literally! I am making this video and I was like, “Whoa, I have wavy hair.” And now I wear it with this natural texture all the time.
When I wear my hair like this, I’ve been told that I look significantly younger, and I would agree with that. I think the reason for this is because natural texture gives an effortless vibe that just screams youth.
No matter what cut you have or choose to get, you know, in the future, push yourself to learn how to style that cut in a way that lets your natural texture shine through once in a while.
You may be shocked to find out what you discover in the process. You may learn to love that natural hair, and you don’t have to do it all the time. It’s just another look in your tool belt of looks that you can enjoy throughout your life.
