Let’s face it, everybody wants to look as young as possible. It seems that now more than ever people are obsessed with youth and staying young looking. Men and women are undergoing major surgery on their faces and bodies to try to turn back the clock, not to mention enhance it. There are new face creams and other products on the market everyday claiming to take years off of your face and body. The funny thing is, the most dramatic thing you can do immediately and relatively inexpensively to make yourself look younger is to change your hairstyle. A hairstyle can make such a huge impact on your appearance. It’s immediate and best of all, it dozen hurt and there’s no recovery time. If you don’t like your new hairstyle, simply grow it back. That’s the great thing about hair, there is no permanent mistake.
Once you are into your thirties and forties, long hair with no layers just doesn’t seem to look as good as it did when we were younger. It drags your face down and can actually make you look older than you are. It’s important to have some type of hairstyle. This doesn’t meant you have to have short hair, but if your hair is long and you want to keep it on the long side, bring the length up a little and have your hairstylist add some long layers. This will give it movement and fullness. It’s easier to style once you have layers and the hair products seem to work better.
Long side swept bangs are always a youthful touch to a longer hair style, as opposed to just having it parted in the middle and hanging down. For this look, first wash and condition hair with your favorite shampoo and conditioner. If your hair is curly or wavy, use a smoothing creme such as John Frieda’s Straight Fixation Creme. It helps to keep your hair straight all day and takes the frizziness away. Blow dry your hair starting at the crown of your head. I always find it’s best to dry my bangs first because the bangs set the stage for the rest of your hair style. Blow dry the bangs with a large round brush from underneath the bangs in a downward motion towards your forhead.
Dry the whole top of your head that way. Then move to the sides. It’s easy to blow dry the sides if you do it in layers. Clip up the top section of one side and blow dry the underneath layers first. Then release a little more hair and do the next layer until you are done with side. Repeat on the other side. The back is always the hardest to straighten out if you have curly hair. I start at the top of the back, putting the brush underneath the layers of hair and puling the brush in a downward motion while turning the brush in a circular motion.
When your head is completely dry, flip your head over and direct the hot air from your dryer all over your head, sort of touseling it around. Shut your dryer off. Wait a minute until your hair cools before flipping it back. When you do flip it back, it will have a full and piecey look that will accentuate your new layers and help to make you look younger. Now, instead of long straight hair with no life to it, you have a beautiful style that’s pretty easy to maintain. If you have naturally straight hair, you may need to use a volumizing gel for extra body with this style.
A bob haircut is always a great idea if you are trying to look younger. With all of the many types of bob haircuts that you can get , there is really something for everybody. Start by looking at a hair magazine. I like “Celebrity Hairstyles, Short Hair.” There are so many bob styles in this magazine. Some are chin length and some still reach the shoulder. Some have a few layers and some have lots of spikey layers. They have little pictures of hairstyles that you can cut out and take to your hairdresser to show exactly what you want. This is always a good idea. If you opt for the shorter bob, you will instantly have a more youthful look. Long side swept bangs are a good idea for this style. (bangs cover up the lines on your forhead).
Blow dry your hair dry the same way I described above for the longer layered style. For this style, I usually use some volumizing gel as well as the smoothing creme. This will give you fullness and smoothness. After you are done drying, flip your head upside down and direct the heat from your blow dryer at the roots. Then use the cold blast button (on most hair dryers) to cool off your hair. This will keep the volume in your hair. Flip your head back over and tousle your hair around (you don’t want it to look too perfect). Finish with a spritz of hairspray. I like Biolage Finishing Spritz. It’s not too heavy but holds the hairstyle nicely all day.
If you have curly or wavy hair, either of the above styles can be turned into a beautiful head of curls. Curly hair always looks youthful, as long as you have the right hair cut with some well placed layers. For this style, just use a light gel or a scrunching gel and some smoothing serum. I love the Frizz Ease smoothing serum. A small amount goes a long way, so don’t use too much at once. I like to blow dry the bangs a little so they aren’t quite as curly as the rest of the head. Don’t worry. If you make them too straight, you can always dampen them a little and then scrunch while drying your hair . After the bangs are done, blow dry the underneath layer of the sides with a big round brush until half way dry. Now flip your head over and direct the heat all over your head while scrunching with your fingers until dry. Flip your head back over. If it isn’t curly enough for your liking, put a little more gel into your hands and scrunch through your hair. Flip head back over and dry again. This should help give it a more piecey, separated curl.
If you have longer hair and want to pull your hair back into a ponytail, this is always a youthful look especially with side swept bangs. Pull your hair back into a ponytail in the middle part of the back of your head. If it’s too high, it will look like a little girl’s ponytail. Next, loosen up the hair on the crown of your head so it’s a little poofy before you put your elastic in. Leave a few strands of hair out of the ponytail on the sides so they frame your face. Again, this will not be a perfectly placed style, it will be a more tousled look which is very youthful looking. Finish with a quick spritz of hairspray.
