As we journey through our fifties and beyond, our hair changes – becoming thinner, changing texture, or developing different patterns. The right haircut can take years off your appearance and boost your confidence, while outdated styles might add unnecessary weight to your look. Let’s explore which styles to avoid and which modern cuts will help you look and feel your absolute best after 50.
1. Outdated: The Helmet Bob
Remember those stiff, rounded bobs that required tons of hairspray? They create a heavy, aging helmet effect that adds years to your face.
Modern hairstyles embrace movement and texture, while this outdated style remains frozen in time – literally and figuratively!
2. Modern Alternative: Textured Bob with Layers
Soft layers transform the traditional bob into a youthful, bouncy style that frames your face beautifully. The subtle texture creates natural volume where you need it most.
Ask your stylist for light feathering around the face to enhance your best features!
3. Outdated: The Overgrown Shag
Long, shapeless layers without direction can drag down your features. This remnant from decades past lacks the structure mature hair needs.
Without proper shaping, this style often falls flat and draws attention to neck wrinkles rather than your beautiful face.
4. Modern Alternative: Sophisticated Lob (Long Bob)
The lob hits that sweet spot between short and long – typically falling between chin and collarbone. Its versatile length works with any face shape.
Bonus: this style requires minimal maintenance while still looking polished for both casual and formal occasions!
5. Outdated: Blunt, Heavy Bangs
Thick, straight-across bangs create a harsh horizontal line that emphasizes forehead wrinkles. They often require constant maintenance as they grow out awkwardly.
Many women find these bangs increasingly difficult to style as hair texture changes with age.
6. Modern Alternative: Side-Swept Bangs
Graceful side-swept bangs soften your features while cleverly camouflaging fine lines. Their diagonal direction creates an instant lifting effect for your face.
They grow out beautifully too, blending seamlessly with your other layers as they lengthen.
7. Outdated: The Super Short Pixie
Extremely short, one-length pixie cuts can accentuate facial sagging and neck issues. Without softness around the edges, this severe style often appears harsh rather than chic.
Many women find this cut unflattering as it exposes areas they’d prefer to downplay.
8. Modern Alternative: Textured Pixie with Longer Top
Today’s pixies maintain short sides while featuring longer, piece-y layers on top. This creates wonderful dimension that flatters mature faces beautifully.
The varied lengths add youthful playfulness while still offering the convenience of a short cut.
9. Outdated: The Matronly Perm
Those tight, uniform curls popular decades ago create an aging, outdated silhouette. The rigid curl pattern often looks artificial against mature skin.
This style screams “grandma hair” rather than “gorgeous and confident woman over 50.”
10. Modern Alternative: Soft Waves with Movement
Natural-looking waves create youthful bounce and dimension. Unlike old-fashioned perms, today’s wave techniques produce varied, lived-in texture that moves naturally.
This style works beautifully on medium-length cuts, adding volume without the dated look of traditional perms.
11. Outdated: One-Length Long Hair
Hair hanging straight down without layers can drag your features downward – exactly what we don’t want after 50! The weight pulls at your face.
As hair naturally thins with age, this style often appears stringy rather than luxurious, emphasizing rather than disguising aging concerns.
12. Modern Alternative: Long Layers with Face-Framing
Strategic layers throughout long hair create movement while removing excess weight. The shortest pieces should hit at your most flattering facial points – usually cheekbones or jawline.
This technique maintains length while adding the volume and lightness that mature hair craves.
13. Outdated: The Bubble Updo
Highly teased, rounded updos create an aging, dated silhouette that screams “mother of the bride circa 1985.” The excessive hairspray and unnatural shape age you instantly.
These styles often damage already-fragile hair and look stiff rather than elegant.
14. Modern Alternative: Relaxed Chignon or Twist
Today’s sophisticated updos embrace a looser, more natural approach. Slightly undone chignons or twists create elegance without the dated, overly-structured look.
A few face-framing tendrils soften the style, making it both modern and age-appropriate.
15. Outdated: Harsh, Single-Process Dark Color
Flat, one-dimensional dark dye often creates a stark contrast against maturing skin. This unnatural look emphasizes fine lines rather than minimizing them.
As we age, our skin loses pigment – making extremely dark hair appear even more artificial and aging.
16. Modern Alternative: Dimensional Color with Highlights
Multi-tonal color creates youthful dimension that flatters aging skin beautifully. Strategic highlights around the face brighten your complexion instantly.
The varied tones mimic the natural dimension younger hair has, creating a more authentic, age-appropriate look.
17. Outdated: The Triangle Cut
Short layers on top with heavy, longer bottom layers create an unflattering triangle or wedge shape. As gravity pulls downward, this style emphasizes jowls and neck concerns.
The bottom-heavy silhouette works against what mature faces need – lift and softness.
18. Modern Alternative: Graduated Layers
Strategically placed graduated layers create a flattering silhouette that’s fuller on top and slimmer at the bottom. This shape naturally lifts your features.
The inverted structure works with gravity rather than against it, ensuring your style stays looking fresh all day long.