Hair Over 50: How to Stop Your Hair from Aging You
Hair Over 50: How to Stop Your Hair From Aging You
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.
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.
You can read more about how I Maintain A Youthful Appearance here.
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.
How to Combat The Aging Effects
Now that Mother Nature has thrown us some hair 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 much has 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. There are many health factors that 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. There are many types of hair supplements that can help with this. My favorite has been Nutrafol.
Texture
The texture of our hair can change due to a number of 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 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 hairs 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 totally 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.
My Over 50 Hair 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 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.
Yes, in my early 50s I started seeing shedding. I started taking Nutrafol what a difference it has made. In the beginning I took them as directed and then after a year I dropped it down to half of their recommended dosage. What I do keep in mind is that if some sort of stress is put on my body like surgery or getting ill, then I up it for a few weeks to make sure my hair is getting extra nutrients. Not only has it helped with hair growth, but my hair is shinier and healthier looking.
My Relationship with My Hairdresser
This is something that 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 totally trusted her. I would just sit down in her chair and she would work her magic. She was close the 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 literally 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 on 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 her 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 really done much to alter my cut all of those months. Here 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.
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.
Remember to always have a little SASs in you day!
Hugs,
