How to Look Younger With Long Hair

So you’ve got longer hair and you want to look as younger as possible.

In this article I’m going to share some mistakes that you want to stay away from or at least want to be aware of.

Table of Contents

Part

The first tip is all about where you part your hair.

Where you put your hair is actually more important than you think, especially when we’re talking about longer hair. Even more when we’re talking about hair that’s beyond the bra strap.

When you’re talking about hair in those length ranges, we’re talking about a scenario where you either may have less layering, maybe no layering or even if you do have a fair amount of layering, it still may not be able because of the weight of the hair to get the shape that we want to get that’s going to work with our face shape.

This is where the part comes in because the way we part our hair can help us create a little bit more volume in certain areas and can affect the face shape.

I know right now the center part is a very popular thing.

The center part is great if your face is super symmetrical, but if your face is asymmetrical and especially if this concerns you, then that center part is going to draw more emphasis to that.

If you feel like your face is asymmetrical and there’s one side that’s bothering you, maybe it’s an eyebrow that doesn’t raise as much as the other eyebrow or side of your face it’s a little bit lower or whatever that may be, having your hair parted on that side is going to draw more emphasis to whatever that is.

So if your left eyebrow is too low and you part your hair on your left hand side, you’re going to draw more emphasis to that.

Layering

Now let’s talk about layers. The biggest mistake that I see when it comes to layering and long hair is just being concerned to do them, not wanting to do them in the first place for a host of different reasons.

I understand that. There are certain scenarios where it may not be beneficial to do layering.

Layering allows us to do certain things with the shape that give you the ability to accentuate things about your face shape that you want to accentuate.

That’s important because that’s how we lift ourselves up, that’s how we give ourselves style, that’s how we make ourselves look more alive and vibrant.

To me layering is very important.

The longer your hair get, the more triangular it’s going to look. The bottom is going to get fuller, the top is going to look flatter and therefore it’s going to draw the eye down and not lift the eye up.

What if you’re concerned about doing layers in the back but you do want to add some layers?

Well this is when I say layering in the front does a really good job of giving you that little bit of balance. It’s kind of that middle road. That helps us break up that shape more, but also more importantly, it gives us more option when you pull your hair back.

A lot of times longer hair is going to be pulled back into ponytail, so giving yourself the ability to have some pieces that fall down, maybe you tuck behind the ear, the point is you then have options. You can go for more of a sleek polished look or you can go for more of a fun look.

Too Long Hair

Since we’re talking about layers, let’s jump into mistake number three and this is having hair that’s actually too long.

I’m not saying that having hair down to your waist is a terrible thing and you need to run and cut your hair off. That’s not what I’m saying at all.

If having long. long one-length hair makes you happy. makes you feel confident. then you should do that absolutely.

Layering is dictated by length.

If you’ve got hair down to your waist, for instance, you don’t want layers in the back that are above your ears. It’s going to look insane. They need to be long enough to balance.

With that said, even the shortest layers are still going to be very long. That means it’s going to be heavy hair.

You’re going to get a lot of the detriments of having layers with not a lot of the benefits of having those layers.

You don’t want to find yourself in a position where you decide ‘I want to go do layering’ and now you go do layering and it’s not giving you the shape that you wanted, it’s still having a lot of the issues, now you’ve got to spend more time on styling it and it’s no longer the one length hair that you liked in the first place.

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Hair Health

The next big mistake deals with hair health because hair health is a really important thing, especially when we’re talking about longer hair.

Because more often than not, we’re not utilizing quite as many pomades and shine based agents, things to smooth the hair down, because a lot of times those can make the hair heavy.

Also we have to think about the amount of time that you’re spending styling your hair.

Many times on longer hair people don’t want to spend the time that it takes to style hair that long because just takes longer to dry, longer round brush, longer flat iron, whatever.

This is where hair health comes into play and it becomes a very important part.

One thing that we want to pay attention to when we’re talking about hair health is just to pay attention to shampoos and conditioners.

What shampoo are you using? Is it pH balanced for your hair? Are you using it every single day? Maybe you’re using it too often?

If you’re using a stronger shampoo that’s made to strip out any build up out of hair, maybe you feel like your scalp is oily so you use a shampoo like that every time you shampoo, that can be very damaging to your hair.

You want to make sure you’re using the correct shampoo for your hair to keep it in optimum health. And you’re shampooing it as often as necessary but not more often than necessary.

We also want to make sure that the conditioner we’re using isn’t a super deep conditioner, purely because we feel like my hair is drier, because as we age our hair texture is going to change and it may seem as though it’s drier and therefore you feel the need to use a deep conditioner every time you condition your hair.

That can also be too much for your hair and can end up damaging your hair as well.

I like to tell clients to use deep conditioners once a week or so but not every day.

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Color

There is so much to unpack about color, but i’m going to hit on a few key elements.

First of all, there’s the idea that you don’t want to do color. You don’t have to. I’m not a proponent of the idea that people need to be doing color at any given age or any hair length or whatever.

But there is something to think about.

When you’re dealing with longer hair, especially if we’re doing less layering, we need some sort of movement within the overall shape.

One of the easiest, most effective ways to create that movement is through low lights or highlights, to give the hair a little bit of texture.

The other thing you want to think about when you’re doing color though is what kind of color you’re doing.

If you’re doing all over color, maybe you’re coloring gray, maybe you just want your hair to be dark, and it’s typically blonde, that color because your hair is longer, the hair towards the end has had that color there longer than say short hair where that color gets cut off frequently, because the ends get cut off frequently.

That color at the ends, if you deposit that over and over again, it could also get to a place where not only is it damaging that hair multiple times, ending in a result of even more damage, which has a tendency to make the hair look more dry and therefore just aging in general.

But it also could be over pigmenting the ends, in which case you run into a scenario where you’re getting darker mid shaft and ends and that darker hair color or tone may not be as suitable for your skin tone and therefore you find yourself looking more drawn out and that can make us appear less youthful.

If you’re doing a stronger color, maybe you’re doing something like highlights or all over bleach, if you’re doing something that’s stronger and more aggressive to do the damage of your hair, then are you adding heat to that a lot. Are you doing other things on a day-to-day basis with the way you’re styling your hair that could also be adding to that damage.

These are all things that you want to pay attention to. As you age your hair texture typically changes, it can have a tendency to look drier and anything we do to add to that is not going to help the situation.