These Hairstyles Will Age Your Look Fast
The right haircut will take years off your age. This is why it’s important to choose a hairstyle and shade that complements your natural face shape and skin color, works with your hair texture, and suits your personal style. Get it wrong and your hairstyle can date you and make you look older and less attractive than you are. Ahead are some common haircut offenders that deflect from your natural beauty rather than enhance it.
1. Short Pixie Cuts
Short pixie crops can be tricky to pull off and are really best suited to younger women and those with finer features. The pixie can be cute and chic, provided it’s not too short and has a little texture and volume as it can look severe. Fair warning; this is a cut that makes your facial features pop which can emphasize fine lines, wrinkles, skin imperfections, and squinty eyes so avoid if that’s not what you’re looking for.
2. Heavy Choppy Bangs
Bangs aren’t for everyone and work best if you have a straighter hair texture. Thick, heavy bangs can overpower your face, making it look rounder and drawing attention to a large forehead or lines around the eyes. If your hair is long and you go for a heavy or choppy fringe it can drag down your face and make you look older. It’s better to go for overgrown layers around the face that can be swept to the side for a softer, younger, more natural look.
3. Sharp Blunt Bobs
A blunt bob, especially if it’s short and ends at the jawline creates a harsh line and a harsh appearance (a la Anna Wintour). Severe bobs can also highlight a double chin and create the illusion of a wider jaw, all of which add up to looking older and less attractive. A shoulder-length bob with a soft side part is a much chicer look.
4. Overgrown Styles and In-Between Lengths
The only thing worse than having a bad hairstyle is having none at all as this makes you look older, less attractive, and like you don’t care about your appearance. Ask your stylist for the best style to suit your face, stay across the latest looks (not that what you see on the runway or your favorite celebrity will always suit you) and have regular trims and shape-ups every 6-8 weeks to maintain the health of your hair and protect against split ends and breakages.
5. Bad Perms and Tight Curls
The tight spiral perm reigned supreme in the 80s and thankfully that is pretty much where it has stayed. Not only is the look dated and adds unnecessary volume, but chemical treatments dry out and damage the hair, leading to flyaways, frizz, and a messy appearance. Short, tight curls can also add bulk to the sides of the face and can look a little unnatural. If your hair is super curly, use styling creams and relaxing products formulated for your hair type. And if you have super straight or slightly wavy hair, add some soft beachy waves with a curling iron and break them up with your fingertips so they look softer, more bouncy, and natural.
6. Edgy Styles, Undercuts, and the Mullet
Undercuts, choppy uneven looks, and the infamous mullet can be edgy, but they can also look ugly. Not only do they create a stark unnatural contrast, but they can emphasize fine or thinning hair and are difficult to maintain and grow out leading to an awkward transitional phase. With its dramatic short front and long back, the mullet can look outdated, unflattering, and out of balance drawing attention to face imperfections and aging.
7. Really Long Hair
Long hair can be beautiful but if it’s super long it can drag down the face, making it look longer and emphasizing fine lines and wrinkles. It can also be difficult to manage and maintain and can make you look older. A more flattering length that will take years off your face when you’re older is just past the shoulders and add some layers to make it more bouncy and youthful.
8. Super Straight Hair
Sleek straight hair, can look flat, and limp, and cling to the scalp highlighting thinning hair or a receding hairline. It can also drag down your face, making it look longer and instantly aging you. If you want to keep it long, cut it into a length that sits at your bust, add some layers, and a softer overgrown blended fringe.
9. Severe Center and Side Part
The center part, especially a severe one, can make the face look longer and more angular and highlight aging, asymmetry in the face, and skin imperfections. You really need young, perfect skin to pull it off so go for a softer side-swept part to look more natural and youthful.
10. Asymmetrical Cuts
Asymmetrical cuts aren’t trendy, they are dated and unflattering, especially if you highlight them even further with unnatural hair shades. Uneven hairstyles are also jarring, throw your face off balance, and are difficult to style and maintain. Keep it chic classic and even.
11. Unnatural Hair Extensions
Hair extensions add volume and length but too many can create a fake and overly voluminous look. Applying hair extensions requires chemical glue which puts pressure on the hair follicles, leading to damage, thinning, and breakages.
12. The Pageboy, Bowl Cut, and Helmet Hair
Beware of anything that evokes helmet-like hair like the pageboy or bowl cut. These straight, even-length styles look childlike, outdated, and ugly. They will also emphasize a round face, make the hair look too thick or too thin, and exaggerate fine lines and wrinkles.
13. Slicked-Back Styles
Slicked-back cuts and ponytails can look harsh and draw attention to your hairline and facial features. This unflattering look can also make the hair appear thinner, the eyes smaller, and throw the spotlight on crow’s feet and wrinkles.
14. Overly Layered Looks
Layers can add texture and volume to your hair but if you overdo them or they aren’t blended properly they can look unnatural and severe. Choppy, spiky, uneven, and badly blended layers can date your appearance and make you look way older than you are.
15. Excessive Styling and Teased Hair
Excessively teasing hair to create volume can cause friction and tension on the hair leading to breakage, and the look is dated and aging. Hair that has too much va va va voom, is overly styled or stiff from applying too much gel, styling cream or hairspray looks tacky and unnatural.
16. Bad Streaks and Bleach
Proceed with caution when it comes to color. Over-bleaching your locks can damage the hair shaft turning them dry, brittle, and straw-like. Chemical dyes can also create a harsh contrast with the skin tone, emphasizing fine lines and making the face look older. Ditto excessive or badly blended streaks which is a dated, unattractive, and aging look.