6 Hair Mistakes To Avoid For Aging Gracefully

There's a lot that goes into taking care of ourselves as we age gracefully. Prioritizing health and happiness, Southern women like to feel good—and look good while they're doing it. Tweaking your beauty routines continually over time is one surefire way to embrace maturing and natural beauty without sacrificing your signature look. Beyond making sure you've traded in suntanning for a sunhat, there are plenty of easy tips for enhancing and protecting your favorite features, including your hair.

Hair can change as we get older. Common issues that arise in mature women's hair are the increase of dryness, brittle hair, or damage that is hard to reverse. Furthermore, what is the most flattering, can change over the years, just like the trends do. Luckily, there are ways to combat all of these hair concerns, starting with what not to do. Avoid these six aging hair mistakes to make sure you're looking and feeling good, no matter your age.

Letting Your Hair Get Too Long

Long hair can sometimes act like gravity in that it can pull your facial features down, and who wants an anti-facelift? Particularly, the extra length can harbor old damage, such as split ends and dryness left over by heat damage, sun damage, and product build-up. Any sort of damage can result in hair that looks less than healthy, so it's best to keep it trimmed regularly every eight weeks and consider taking off length overall to focus on healthy-looking, fuller-looking hair. When in doubt, shoulder-length cuts and above are super flattering, and you can customize your cut with layers and bangs.

Going To Dark

Dark dyed hair, particularly when it's single-process color all over without any highlights or lowlights, can be harsh. It can be tempting to easily cover gray strands as we get older with a wash of dark brown or black, but it can have an opposing effect of dulling your radiance and complexion. Instead, you want to draw life and color to the face with strategically placed highlights around the face and throughout the hair to add dimension.

Going Too Light

It should go without saying, but bleach blonde is decidedly out of fashion. This goes especially for mature hair that is already at risk of harboring damage and dryness. Additionally, extra light hair can wash out the complexion, which doesn't work wonders for appearing youthful. If you're a blonde at heart and wish to continue your signature look, consider adding dimension with lowlights to darken the overall tone for a more flattering finish.

Using Too Many Products

There's a delicate balance when it comes to using hair products. Too many different products at once can have an adverse effect and lead to product overload and build-up in your hair, which weighs it down and drags down the face as a result. Invest in a holy handful of your go-to products, which should include a nourishing hair oil for dryness, a heat protector for damage, a dry shampoo for busy days, and a trusty hair spray for special occasions.

Ignoring Damage

It can be hard to stray away from damage once you're in the vicious cycle of hair coloring and heat styling, especially considering the way that the heat and humidity in the South can bring on major frizz. However, after many years of continuous damage, your hair can suffer. Split ends, dryness, and brittle hair can affect your hair in every way, from how the color looks to how your cut can be styled. Invest in pre-styling heat products to protect your strands, consider skipping the blow-dry on a regular basis, cut down root-to-tip coloring appointments, or splurge on a high-quality deep conditioning treatment to help keep your hair healthy and smooth.

Not Embracing Gray

The stigma around embracing naturally silver strands is gone for good, and we couldn't be happier. Skipping those extra coloring trips to the hair salon is beneficial in many ways, including being good for both your hair quality and your wallet. Instead, focus on keeping your hair healthy and getting a flattering cut that you love. Southern women age like fine wine, and gray hair shows life has been lived to the fullest.