6 hairstyles that make you look older, no matter how on-trend they are

I love a trend as much as the next person. I have also learned, after a few experimental cuts I would rather forget, that not every “it” hairstyle loves us back.

What we put on our heads says a lot about us: energy, confidence, curiosity. The right cut can feel like a reset. The wrong one can add ten years and invite a chorus of “Are you tired?” that nobody asked for.

Below are six popular styles that often skew older in real life, plus what to try instead. I’ll sprinkle in a few practical tweaks so you can keep the vibe you like without sacrificing a fresh, awake look.

Before we dive in, a quick north star from stylist Vidal Sassoon: trends exist to serve us, not the other way around. Keep that in mind as you read.

1. The too-dark, all-over color

Jet-black or box-dye brown can be chic on the runway. In everyday lighting, solid, inky color tends to flatten facial features, emphasize shadows under the eyes, and make skin look dull. This is especially noticeable if your natural coloring has softened with time.

I learned this the hard way when I tried a dramatic espresso shade one winter. My healthy runner’s flush disappeared. I looked like I was recovering from the flu. The problem was not dark hair itself. The problem was the lack of dimension.

Try instead: Keep the depth and lose the heaviness. Ask for diagonal-back lowlights and micro-babylights, or request a gentle reverse melt that is slightly lighter through the mid-lengths and deeper at the root and ends. These techniques return movement and reflection. Even a half-shade lift around the face, with a few soft pieces, can wake everything up.

Pro tip: Match your undertone. Cooler brunettes shine with ash or neutral ribbons. Warmer complexions love chestnut and toffee threads. If you are covering grays, weave them in with very fine highlights rather than chasing 100% coverage. Softness usually reads younger than opacity. Hair texture and shine change with age, which is why color choices that add reflectiveness tend to look more youthful.

2. The one-length bob that hits the jaw

A crisp, one-length bob is timeless. When it lands exactly at the widest part of the jaw with no shaping, it can square off the face and highlight jowls or neck lines. On fine hair, it may collapse by afternoon, which creates a helmet effect: polished but static.

Try instead: Keep the bob and change the geometry. Ask for a soft under-bevel that encourages an inward curve, plus invisible internal layers for lift. Choose either a grazed cheekbone length or a collarbone skim. Both lengths miss the jaw’s widest point and are kinder to facial structure. A barely off-center part and a touch of air-dried texture cream help the shape feel natural rather than rigid.

Mindset shift: Think “edges blurred, not blunt.” Youthful hair often looks like it is moving even when it is still. Create that illusion with micro-texture instead of choppy layers.

3.The chunky, high-contrast highlights

Bold ribbons had a comeback during the wave of ’90s nostalgia. Thick, high-contrast stripes can read harsh in daylight, especially against new growth. They also draw the eye horizontally, which widens the face visually.

I once let a well-meaning colorist paint thick caramel bands over my dark base. In photos, the stripes were the star and my face was the background.

Try instead: Trade “chunky” for “airy.” Ask for babylights with a root smudge. Ultra-fine threads and a soft, blurred root place the lightest bits where the sun would naturally hit. If you crave dimension, a teasylight plus glaze combo brightens without hard lines. You get a beachy glow without the zebra effect.

Tone check: Overly ashy glosses can pull warmth from the skin and make you look tired. If your complexion turns sallow under cool lighting, choose neutral-warm glazes. Age-related changes often make hair appear drier, so a warmer, shinier finish can counteract that visually.

4. The micro-bang on the wrong face shape

Short micro-bangs are artsy and unapologetically cool. They also crop the face vertically, they put a spotlight on forehead lines, and they can make features look lower on the face. On wavy or coarse textures, micro-bangs can spring too high, which creates a permanently surprised expression.

Try instead: If you love bangs, go for curtain or bottleneck bangs. They sit longer in the outer corners, graze at the center, and blend into face-framing layers. This shape adds softness, lifts the cheekbones, and disguises fine lines without yelling “bangs.”

Styling note: Blow-dry bangs first, before the rest of your hair. Use a small round brush and a touch of flexible hold. A 30-second routine now saves a full day of fighting cowlicks later.

Confidence check: If micro-bangs are your signature and you adore them, keep them. Ask your stylist to round the edges and avoid a perfectly straight, ruler-cut line. A hint of curvature softens the look and helps it read as intentional rather than severe.

5. The ultra-long, heavy sheet of hair

Super-long, glossy hair can be gorgeous. Lengths that hang to the lower chest or beyond can also drag the face down. The weight pulls volume off the crown and exaggerates any downward tilt at the corners of the mouth or eyes. On finer hair, very long lengths often get stringy, which reads tired.

As a weekend trail runner, I used to default to “long enough for a ponytail” and kept it growing, and growing. In photos my hair got longer and my face looked, well, longer too.

Try instead: Keep the romance and lose the weight. Trim to a collarbone-to-top-of-bust length with soft, face-framing layers. Ask for ghost layers, which are internal and barely visible, to restore lift without sacrificing perimeter thickness. If you crave length, add movement. Create soft bends with a 1.25-inch iron or try heatless rope-braid waves.

Small tweak, big payoff: Elevate the crown. Spray a root lifter at the part, blow-dry back and forth for 20 seconds, then flip to your natural side. The result reads as instantly awake.

6. The “set” look with stiff curls or sprayed helmets

A lacquered finish can be runway-perfect, yet in daily life crunch equals static. Stiff curls, hard side sweeps, and sprayed helmets do not move when you do. That lack of bounce reads older because it fights the micro-movements we associate with vitality.

Try instead: Trade rigid hold for memory. Look for flexible polymers in your stylers and finish with a light mist of brushable spray. Scrunch out any cast and give your ends a little shake. If you love strong curl definition, layer a cream under a gel, let the hair dry, then break the cast. Movement is the makeover.

Video-call tip: If you like a polished blowout for meetings, tuck one side behind your ear and loosen the other side slightly. The asymmetry looks livelier and more modern on camera.

How to keep an “of-the-moment” look without dating yourself

Choose softness over severity. Sharp corners, hard parts, ruler-straight ends, and stark color lines tend to underline facial lines and flatten features. Soft blends, blurred edges, and a bit of root lift create dimension that feels youthful.

Place light strategically. Lighter shades pull features forward. Darker shades recede. If you want cheekbones to pop, keep the lightest color around the mid-lengths near the face and keep the crown slightly deeper, which builds the impression of lift. Colorists often call this contouring for hair, and it works. As hair loses natural shine with age, this trick can make a big difference.

Honor your texture. Fighting your natural pattern leads to heat damage and daily fatigue. Working with it, whether that means enhancing curl, coaxing bend into straight hair, or smoothing frizz without erasing movement, keeps hair healthier. Healthy hair reflects light and moves well, and both of those signals read as youthful.

Refresh the fringe. If you have worn the same side swoop since grad school, try softening it into curtain or bottleneck bangs. You get an instant update without a drastic chop.

Mind the eyebrows. This is not a haircut tip, yet it matters. Brows frame the story your hair is telling. Overly thin or overly dark brows next to stiff hair amplify the aging effect. Balanced, softly defined brows paired with airy hair deliver a powerful, modern duo.

Shopping and salon notes that make results last

• Glosses and glazes: A clear or tinted gloss every six to eight weeks, whether at home or in a salon, boosts shine and minimizes the “dry ends” look that adds years. A neutral-warm glaze adds believable light without committing to heavy highlights.
• Cut cadence: If your ends split before your next appointment, the cut was too blunt or the perimeter too thin for your texture. Ask for a slightly stronger perimeter and invisible internal layers. You will keep fullness and buy more time between trims.
• Heat tool sanity: Lower temperatures and slower passes win. Healthier hair reflects more light and moves better. As hair ages it becomes more fragile, so these adjustments pay off quickly.
• Language matters: Bring photos, of course, but also bring verbs. Try words like lift, soften, blur, bevel, graze, contour, and ghost-layer. Verbs help a stylist translate your vibe into exact techniques.

Final thoughts

Trends are fun, yet they are not the boss of you. If you genuinely love a style that I just roasted, keep it and tweak the details.

Soften the line, shift the length, blur the color, and add a touch of movement. Tiny adjustments can change the whole conversation your hair is having with your face.

The youngest look of all is feeling like yourself. When your hair moves the way you do, whether on a morning run, during a laugh with friends, or while weaving through a farmers’ market, the world reads you as vibrant.

That is the energy we are after.