Am I Too Old for That Hairstyle? An Honest Answer

The question comes in almost every inquiry email, phrased slightly apologetically: am I too old for this? You are not. But there is a real answer to how hair should change with age, and it is not the one most people expect.

What changes: hair thins, texture coarsens slightly, and the scalp becomes more visible in certain parts. Gray hair holds a curl differently than pigmented hair, sometimes beautifully and sometimes stubbornly. None of that means less hair, it means different decisions.

The most common mistake: going shorter and tighter. A very short, very structured style can read severe on a woman in her fifties or sixties, and it photographs harder than a softer shape does. I usually steer toward softness with structure underneath, a chin-length bob set with volume, a low twist with a little width at the sides, waves that hit at the collarbone.

What actually flatters: width at the temples. Almost every woman over fifty looks better with a little more volume high at the sides of the face than with hair pulled flat. It softens the whole frame and lifts without looking like a style choice.

What about gray: gray hair is more porous and takes a curl fast, then loses it fast. It needs a humidity-proof set and a lighter finishing product than pigmented hair, because heaviness makes it hang.

On length: long hair is completely fine. I have styled mothers of the bride with waist-length gray hair in a loose chignon, and it was the most beautiful thing in the room.

For anyone nervous, the honest advice is to book a preview. An hour in the chair answers more than any article can.

Mothers of the bride and groom, grandmothers, and anyone in the wedding party, inquire and I will build your morning around you. Party hair is $225 per person, private events are $225 per person per service, and all rates are listed here.