Top Hair Stylists Reveal 3 Unflattering and Outdated Haircuts for Women Over 50—And 3 Stylish Alternatives to Try in 2024

“You don’t want short bangs that fall right in the middle of your forehead where you might have a few lines,” Abdullah continues. Instead, she recommends cutting your bangs at your eyebrow level “to emphasize your eyes.”

This, paired with face-framing layering in your collarbone-length lob can provide a much more flattering look overall, she notes. Instead of choosing the popular yet often unbecoming baby bangs, one can opt for chic curtain bangs, Abdullah suggests. “These flatter just about any face at any age and neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs,” she continues.

Curtain bangs, Abdullah notes, are a type of fringe cut that creates a soft, natural looking wave at the top of the head, as seen here on Kerry Washington.

“They are often used to frame the face and specifically, to give it a youthful appearance,” she adds, which “look great on mature women” as they make your face appear “smaller and slimmer when they come down to cheek level.”

2. Skip Center-Parted Lobs Without Layers

Middle-parts can create a symmetrical look at any age, but Abdullah stresses that they can also draw more attention to forehead wrinkles and make your tresses look flatter. “A bob with a center part might have been your go-to hairstyle before, but maybe your part seems to be getting wider and wider,” Abdullah acknowledges, as thinning in the crown area is common as many age.

“If you’re thinning in the crown of your head, a center part is going to draw attention to it. This is because you’re putting the part right in the same area,” she says. To avoid this, Abdullah recommends a side part for more volume and a youthful energy.

Instead, Add Layers And A Deep Side Part

“Try a side part [with more layers] instead. In this manner, you can move the hair from one side to the other, as you wish,” she notes. The “added hair going over,” like Charlize Theron here, “will increase volume in the area as well, especially if your hair is used to being parted down the center.” If you really prefer a center part, she suggests making “a short one instead, so that the hair in front goes to either side of your face.”

Then, she adds, the hair in the center can be brushed back. “Any difference that you create when your hair is used to lying flat and completely to the sides will create volume and make a big difference,” she says.

3. Skip Shaggy Lobs With Long Bangs

While shag cuts are iconic, 70s-esque and trendy (and usually flattering for any face shape when paired with no-fail curtain bangs), adding too many layers can head into mullet territory. Shags, Abudllah points out, can easily be cut to frame your face and best features, but adding a heavy amount of layers can often do the opposite.

The worst haircut you can have if your goal is to look younger is having “too many layers,” she explains. Layers, when cut appropriately, can help to “add volume” and flow to your hair, “giving the appearance of fuller locks,” she notes. Adding too many layers, on the other hand, she notes, “can make your hair appear even more limp than before.”

Too much texturization in a hairstyle can make thin hair appear even thinner, rather than full, she warns. “While shags are fashionable, it’s vital to avoid over-layering thin hair because it can make it difficult to work with and lifeless,” she advises.

Instead, Rock A Shag With Eyebrow-Grazing Fringe

Rivera adds that a short or medium-length, delicately layered shag with eyebrow-grazing bangs (Taylor Swift is a fan!) is an “amazing cut that is well-recognized for being versatile. A shag with layers of different lengths offers “nice variations for both longer and shorter hair,” she says.

“Adding a bang can add a fresh surprise to this look, she suggests. For anyone with hair on the longer side, Rivera concludes that “an added choice is to shorten the hair up a bit to the collarbone or above” to create some texture by “adding subtle layers to soften.”