It’s not just our clothes and make-up that make us look younger – getting your hairstyle right can also be key.
Celebrity hair stylist Tom Smith has worked with Geri Halliwell and Louise Redknapp and is so in demand that clients pay over £1,000 for an appointment with him.
Here, he reveals six ways hair ages you – and how switching up styles can take ten years off you…
1. Too short
Long, luscious locks are synonymous with youth, yet women over the age of 50 are traditionally encouraged to cut their hair shorter.
Part of that is down to social pressure on older women to stand out less. But there’s a practical aspect, too – hair thins with age, making it harder to wear long, so the easy option is to hack it off.
However, innovations in preserving hair thickness and health mean it doesn’t have to get thinner as you age.
The drug minoxidil, which can be applied topically (available without prescription in products such as Regaine) or prescribed orally, has been shown to be effective in treating hereditary hair loss in men and women.
However, once you start using it, you have to continue to maintain results.
Calecim is another topical treatment which uses growth factors and proteins that send messages to the body to stimulate hair growth.
Hair stylist Tom Smith has worked with stars including Geri Halliwell and Louise Redknapp
2. The fringe factor
The jawline becomes less defined with age and the face tends to get squarer. You want something to offset that – and, for most women over 50, that’s not a blocky fringe.
Sweeping, soft choppiness from the brow to the cheekbone can work well to create curves that counter any squareness and soften the face. Known as the French girl fringe, or bottleneck bangs – think Margot Robbie or Brigitte Bardot – the hair graduates and frames the face.
If you struggle with frizzy, unruly hair, you can also look to the new generation of permanent or Brazilian blow-dries that can be used just on the fringe area.
3. Under-conditioned
Women over 50 have to work harder to keep hair looking glossy. I always recommend an in-salon Olaplex treatment as a foundation, but I also really like the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer (from £21, philipkingsley.co.uk), a pre-shampoo treatment that is phenomenal at softening wiry, coarse, grey hair, giving that suppleness and swish that youthful hair has.
You should also look at upgrading your conditioner to include a hydrating mask. I like Evo’s The Great Hydrator mask (£11.45, allbeauty.com), but any mask for shine or hydration is a good option.
I tell all my clients to use an oil or serum on the ends of their hair before they go to bed. Hair doesn’t feel greasy in the morning, but it is shiny and less prone to tangling and breakages.
4. Too light
When brunettes go grey, there’s a real pressure for them to make their hair lighter, as a lighter colour contrasts less with the grey.
But if being a brunette is part of your identity this can feel strange and unnatural. It also often means that you end up with cooler, ashy tones that aren’t flattering to your skin.
Instead, I recommend going for a warmer colour – looking for golden tones rather than silver ones, and rich shades of honey, caramel, chestnut and coffee. These illuminate the face in a flattering way, as warm tones reflect more light.
5. Block colour
Hair is naturally multi-tonal, but when you dye it yourself at home, it’s easy to end up with dense layers of overlapping colour in a solid block. This tends to looks flat and one-dimensional.
Ideally, you want contrast to make your hair look thicker and more alive.
Switching up your hairstyle can take ten years off you (picture posed by model)
Box colours often suggest applying colour to the roots and upper mid-lengths and then, ten minutes before you rinse it out, applying to the ends so they are a bit lighter, as they would be naturally. In the salon, I use a lighter shade around the face, where the grey tends to be clustered.
If you’re touching up roots between appointments at home, think about using two shades – one that’s no darker than the darkest part of your natural hair colour on the roots, and another lighter one around the hairline.
6. Stop backcombing
Volume is a sign of hair health and youth, but when you’re getting it through backcombing, heated rollers and big blow-dries, that artificial volume at the roots can look ageing and dated.
Instead, aim for volume in the middle – with clip-in pieces, hair fillers, and texture sprays. Trinny Woodall, 60, gets this right. She wears her hair bulky at the bottom, rather than lifted at the top, and it looks really good.
You can also use curling tongs to give a bit of shape to the mid-sections, as curl not only bulks out the hair but gives movement, too.
- As told to Claire Coleman
