Hair can make or break your look at any age, but especially after 40. As we mature, certain styles that once worked can now add years to our appearance.
Ready for a refresh? Let’s explore the hairstyles that might be aging you and discover what to ask for instead at your next salon visit.
1. Super Long, One-Length Hair
Hair that hangs past your shoulders without layers can drag your features down. The weight pulls at your face, emphasizing fine lines and creating a dated look.
Consider shoulder-length cuts with movement instead.
2. Harsh Box-Dyed Black
Flat, inky black dye from a box creates stark contrasts against aging skin. This unnatural shade highlights every wrinkle and can make you look washed out.
Softer tones with dimension bring warmth to your complexion.
3. Blunt, Heavy Bangs
Thick, straight-across bangs cut too heavy create a harsh frame that draws attention to forehead lines. They can look juvenile rather than youthful on mature faces.
Side-swept or wispy bangs offer a more graceful alternative.
4. The Dated Perm
Remember those tight, frizzy perms from decades past? They’re aging you significantly. The uniform curls create a helmet-like appearance that screams outdated.
Modern, loose waves with varied curl patterns look fresh and natural.
5. Overly Teased Crown
Massive volume at the crown was trendy in the 80s but now reads as desperately clinging to the past. Excessive teasing damages hair and creates an unnatural silhouette.
Gentler volume techniques look more contemporary.
6. The Severe Pixie
Ultra-short pixies with sharp angles can accentuate facial asymmetries that develop with age. Without softness around the face, this severe style emphasizes rather than camouflages aging features.
A textured pixie with longer pieces frames the face beautifully.
7. Platinum Blonde All Over
Solid platinum blonde can look fantastic on some, but often turns brassy and creates a harsh contrast with mature skin. The upkeep is also damaging to already-thinning hair.
Multi-tonal blonde with lowlights adds dimension and appears more natural.
8. The Triangle Cut
Short on top with widening volume at the bottom creates that dreaded triangle effect. This shape visually widens the lower face and neck areas where many women experience age-related changes.
Inverted cuts with volume on top are more flattering.
9. Mom Bob With Harsh Layers
The classic “mom bob” with choppy, disconnected layers and an awkward length just screams soccer practice circa 1995. This dated cut lacks the movement and style that flatters mature faces.
A modern, blended bob with subtle layers looks chic.
10. The Outdated Mullet
Yes, the mullet has made ironic comebacks, but traditional versions with short, puffy tops and long backs age you instantly. This style screams “stuck in time” rather than modern and confident.
Contemporary shags offer a fresh alternative.
11. Chunky Highlighted Stripes
Bold, alternating stripes of dark and light color (think zebra highlights) create a harsh, artificial look. These chunky highlights draw attention to themselves rather than enhancing your features.
Subtle balayage creates natural-looking dimension.
12. Crunchy, Gel-Defined Curls
Curls locked in place with heavy gel create that wet, crunchy look popular in the 90s. This dated styling technique makes hair appear brittle and unhealthy—exactly what mature hair doesn’t need.
Soft, touchable curls look youthful and vibrant.
13. The Helmet-Like Bouffant
Stiff, sprayed-in-place bouffant styles that don’t move look instantly aging. This old-fashioned approach to volume creates an artificial silhouette that reads as matronly rather than elegant.
Lighter, moveable volume appears more contemporary.
14. Overly Thinned-Out Ends
Excessive thinning of ends creates wispy, straggly tips that make hair look damaged and unhealthy. After 40, when hair naturally thins, this technique only emphasizes the problem.
Blunt or subtly textured ends create the illusion of thickness.
15. The Rainbow Unicorn Explosion
Sporting every color of the rainbow might have been a bold statement in your twenties, but after 40, this technicolor nightmare often reads as a desperate grasp at youth rather than a fashion-forward choice.