Longer or shorter hair for women over 50?

It depends on what suits you best. Long hair always looks nice, but its the pain of having to ‘do it’ every day.

@juicyful: It’s been both over the last 10 years, but I find that both need some “doing” every day. I’ve heard that women over 50 need to wear their hair shorter as it “lifts” their face. I tried to upload a photo yesterday but couldn’t get it down to 2 mb.

I’m thinking that while in the desert, I will cover it with a bandana and then my hat or government-issued helmet depending upon the cirumstances at hand, ie, mortar shelling.

I am ancient, relatively speaking (a fluthermuther ) and after having gone totally hairless for a while from chemo, I am thrilled now to have thick, curly, salt and pepper hair. I wear it long enough to catch in a clip or pin to top of head in hot weather. I do nothing but wash and condition; it is shoulder length and I love the way it looks. No fussing whatsoever.. I would say; do what your hair wants to and be happy. My neighbor gives me a trim occasionally and the hair looks as good as the fancy expensive cuts I used to get.

And remember that long hair can be braided, clipped and otherwise whippped into some sort of style, even when dirty. Short hair just sits there, looking short and needing to be trimmed every 6 weeks.

I like longer hair. You can do more with it with less maintenance and ponytail under a hat
is my favorite incognito look. Shorter hair needs to be trimmed often and showered every morning before going out. Short hair doesn’t move, less drama!

I’m a young man and so maybe can’t speak to this entirely…though I certainly do occasionally find some older women attractive. That said, I think that longer hair is generally much more befitting an older woman. Shorter hair on women usually works to connote a youthful immaturity, a boyish “pixie” quality. That’s great for younger women, but most older women who try to pull that off end up falling way short of it, by no fault of their own…and just looking like over-shorn sheep. By contrast, longer flowing hair bespeaks a kind of maturity that, to me, indicates that you are comfortable with your maturing womanhood and with your age generally. So, the long and short of things, from my perspective, is that longer hair is usually better for older women because it says “I am at home in my age, and I seek to inhabit my mature womanhood in a more matured, grown-out way” instead of the short-hair attempt at looking like some kind of boyish sprite even though you’re over the hill. And let’s be honest here; if you’re over forty, nobody’s going to think you’re twenty. So instead of fighting your age, run with it.

If you have wavy hair I would say keep it slightly above shoulder length and have longer layers cut into it that highlight your features. This gives you the benefit of having longer hair with more volume, movement and texture that accentuates your natural wave, and allows you to still pull it up or back to cool off. Depending on the layers, this can also lift up your face. Layers can also mean that you don’t have to style it per se – airdrying will just let it do its own natural thing. Also, this provides you with more options for when you want to dress up.

@soethe6: so who’s over the hill, junior? There’s a big space between boyish sprite and six feet under.:-)