Hair Over 50: How to Stop Your Hair From Aging You

Updated April 2023. Originally published May 2022.

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Growing up in my mother’s “beauty shop” has always had an impact on how I feel about my hair. If you think about when we were kids many women went to get their hair “done” once a week. I remember that some ladies only came to see my mother every other week. Yikes. Can you imagine going that long without washing your hair? Dry shampoo didn’t exist then either. So, now that I am midlife and have hair over 50 I pay even more attention to taking care of it. I have even changed some of my hair habits as I have aged.

Now that you know another tidbit about my childhood you can see why hair care is important to me. Today our lifestyles and how often we go to the salon are different than in the 70s and 80s. Our generation tends to go to the salon for cuts and color. That being said, our relationship with our stylist is a little different than the ladies who saw my mother once a week. Nonetheless, we need to have a good relationship with our hair. We wear it EVERY day.

Yes, as a midlife woman, my hair is important to me. However, I just want to age as gracefully as possible and enjoy life. Here are a few other posts that I have written about things I do to age gracefully and how I take care of myself. You might want to check them out.

To Healthy Hair Over 50 That Doesn’t Age You…..

Why Hair Over 50 Has Special Needs

Let’s face it. Getting older is not fun. Many of us start experiencing menopause symptoms in our 40 and 50s. With that shift in our hormones, changes in our hair, skin, body, and metabolism happen too. Just because we experience those normal changes doesn’t mean that we give up hope and let them take over. We just have to adjust to the new special needs our bodies and hair over 50 require. Remember, age is just a number.

The typcial effects of aging on our hair are:

thinning
texture
dryness
greying

All four of these hair issues can make us look older IF we let them. There are ways that you can counteract what Mother Nature throws at you.

brunette over 50 hair woman getting her hair cut in a salon

Me getting my hair cut shorter when it started shedding so that it wouldn’t be so noticeable.

How to Combat The Aging Effects

Now that Mother Nature has thrown us some hair over 50 curveballs, let’s take a look at easy ways to make sure that they don’t age us.

Thinning

We just have to face that we don’t have as many hairs as we did when we were younger. Not only do we have less hair, but studies have shown that the diameter of each strand of hair is smaller. Once you see this starting to happen you can talk with your doctor about it. Many health factors can contribute to this like anemia, vitamin D deficiency, autoimmune disorders, or even side effects from medications. The sooner that you rule those types of things out, the better. Many types of hair supplements can help with this.

Once I ruled out other issues, I began my search for a supplement that would help my hair over 50 years old. That is when I found the supplement that helped me with my hair and it was Nutrafol Women’s Balance. Yes, I have been using Nutrafol for years and it has made a huge difference in my hair.

The reason that I chose to use this product is that it is specifically designed for women 45+ and 100% drug-free. I knew that their ingredients would give my hair the extra help that it needed. If you click the link below you can receive $50 off a 3-month supply or $106 off a 6-month supply. Nutrafol was kind enough to give me a code for my readers since I am so happy with their product. It usually takes 3 months of consistent use to start seeing results.

Click this link for Nutrafol Discount.

Texture

The texture of our hair can change due to several reasons. If our hair has been curly all of our lives, the pattern of our curls can change. Once our hair starts to grey, those grey hairs have a different texture to them. Other reasons that can cause the texture to change are the amount of heat that you put on it, the products that you use, and the number of different chemical treatments that you put it through.

Again, using the correct products on your hair over 50 can help tremendously. Ask your hairdresser what he/she recommends. I have also found that many of the people working at Ulta or Sephora really know their hair products. If you get lucky, you will find someone who works for the brand in the store for a visit and that’s when you can really ask some good questions. A line that is know for repairing hair these days is Olaplex. So, find one of their products and treat your hair weekly.

Dryness

No, it’s not your imagination that your hair is dryer than it used to be. Think about your skin. Is it as oily as it used to be? Again, make sure you are adding enough moisture to your hair with the correct products. Fly away hair and dull hair does not give the look that we want.

Greying

That is a whole Pandora’s box these days. Some women are all about going grey and embracing it and others want to avoid it like the plague. Whatever works for you is what works. If you want to embrace your greys, go for it. As long as you have a plan, then you will look great as your new natural color develops. My former hair stylist embraced it and she rocked it. She also transitioned many of her clients. Her words of advice to me were….when the time comes we will come up with a transition plan. So just like anything else, come up with a plan for your greying process so that you look great the entire time. For now, I will continue to get my hair colored, highlighted, and low-lights depending upon the season.

Me at the end of a cut and color appointment. Yes, we always keep my base color close to my natural color and then add highlights and lowlights for dimension. Photo taken in spring 2021.

My Hair Over 50 Story

Well, I have to admit that I have experienced a few of the most common issues that aging has on hair. Since my mother instilled in taking good care of my hair from the day I came out of the womb I have always tackled each issue head-on.

Just so that you know. I have fine, straight hair. Unless I use quite a bit of product it does not like to hold curl especially in the summer humidity. I have learned to embrace that even though I love soft curl in my hair.

My Relationship with My Hairdresser

This relationship is so important to me. When I thought we were moving a year ago, finding a new hairdresser was truly one of the things that stressed me the most. Not all hairdressers are created equal. I had been going to the same person for about ten years and I trusted her. I would just sit down in her chair and she would work her magic. She was close to the same age as me and always wanted her clients to feel great about their hair. Her thought process was that our hair needed to be up-to-date, but true to our personality.

That was what was so special about her. She made sure you felt beautiful. When she told me that she was retiring in the summer of 2021 I cried. She assured me that she would refer me to someone that would keep my hair looking like I like it. Now I go to two different people. One for cut and one for color. I am my second colorist. The first person she referred me to just didn’t get me. Now I am totally happy with my hair gurus.

Something that I learned from my mother was the importance of booking appointments. It helped her and it ensured that her clients always looked their best. When I go to get my hair cut or colored, I know that I need to make an appointment in eight weeks. I do that before I leave the salon. Not only does it ensure that my hair looks its best, but your stylist loves you for it. Here are some good questions that you should be asking the person who does your hair so that you make sure you are doing what is best for it.

My Hair Style

I will be honest. I am not one for drastic change. A little variation here and there, but not much. There are two things that I am picky about. When I went in for a cut just a couple of months ago, I told my cutting guru that we had to change things up. He was shocked. I had been going to him for almost a year and we hadn’t done much to alter my cut all of those months. There were 2 things that were his parameters.

Length

I HAVE to be able to pull my hair up into a ponytail. I work out regularly and that is not an option.

Part

I can’t really change my part. Cowlicks are everywhere in my hair. A middle part just doesn’t work for me, but what I have done is change the side that I parted it on.

Why I Wanted a Change

I wanted a change because I had just had parathyroid surgery and had two new scars on my neck. They are not very noticeable; however, I see them every time I look in the mirror. I wanted to draw attention away from them by changing my hair up. So my words of wisdom to you are this. If you have something that you want to detract attention from, then change up your hair. People always notice. It doesn’t have to be huge. We just cut about and inch and a half to two inches off of the length of mine.

woman with brunette fine color treated hair wearing a camel sweater 01

Photo taken January 2023. Hair cut and color by two hair gurus that get me and my hair.

My Maintenance Routine

The most important thing to me is keeping both my cut and color fresh. It is on the calendar like clockwork. I have also embraced not washing my hair as often. Now it’s usually every other day. That seems to be what works best for my hair and workout routines. I am sorry, but if I get really sweaty I have to wash my hair.

Favorite Styling Tools

I use a good hair dryer and do not use the hottest setting. With the latest cut, I don’t use any other heat and use velcro curlers in my hair on day 2. Every once in a while I will pull out my curling iron and curl my hair. I have found this T3 curling iron to be gently on my hair and not fry it. Being able to choose the size of barrel that I use is a plus. I alternate between this one and this one, depending upon the type of curl I want.

Favorite Products

Here are a few other things that I have found that work great on my fine hair.

Change the shampoo and conditioner that I use every quarter. Yes I have a rotation. They do not go bad. My favorite brands are Olaplex, Amika, and Alterna.
I use a heavy duty conditioner once a week to do a deeper condition. This conditioner/mask makes my hair feels so soft and hydrated.
Use a color enhancing shampoo after my regular shampoo to keep my color looking its best. I alternate between 2 different colors, steel and cocoa linked below.
Sleeping on a silk pillowcase really does make a difference.

Here are the products that I find work really well on my hair. You can see that I have a quite the variety in the bathroom.

THANKS

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet today. I really appreciate you taking the time to read about my hair issues and how my hair over 50 stays looking its best. Again, some of this goes back to growing up in my mother’s beauty shop all of those years. Ladies, we wear our hair every day so let’s keep it looking its best.

You can also find me on Pinterest and Instagram. I also send out a weekly newsletter, the Sunday News, where I share things that I dont’ share on other platforms. I would love for you to sign up by clicking here.

Hair Over 50: How to Stop Your Hair from Aging You