3 Unflattering Medium-Length Hairstyles Women Over 40 Should Skip In 2024, According To Stylists

This article has been updated since its initial publish date to include more expert insight. 

With the arrival of the new year, many of us are eager to freshen up our tresses by visiting the salon for a hair transformation. Seeking guidance from seasoned hairstylists, we have uncovered three medium-length haircuts that are considered “unflattering” for women over 50, and why they should be avoided by mature beauties who wish to maintain a youthful and/ or more radiant look this winter.

These haircuts have the potential to inadvertently age one’s appearance and highlight thinning or loss, experts say. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles, Gina Rivera, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Phenix Salon Suites and Dani Everson, professional hair stylist at Clementine’s Salon.

3 Medium-Length Hairstyles To Avoid This Winter

1. Skip Lobs With Baby Bangs

The timeless appeal of baby bangs has been showcased by a variety of fashion icons over the years, ranging from Bettie Page and Audrey Hepburn to modern trendsetters like Emma Watson, Emma Roberts, and Krysten Ritter. Despite its popularity, hair specialist Everson advises mature women to exercise caution when considering this cut due to potential negative effects.

"I love bangs and think everyone has their own special length that enhances their features," she says, adding that "no two bangs are the same," and if you are looking to get bangs, "opt for a long hairstyle that will help hide forehead wrinkles." Baby bangs, she stresses, can "overshare someone's wrinkle story," drawing the eye to sagging skin rather than creating a look that has an upwards or lifting effect.

"The right length of bangs can help make someone's appearance youthful, but too short borders the line between baby-ish and also aging," she advises. Abdullah agrees that bangs ending before the eyebrows can emphasize forehead wrinkles rather than highlight a woman's cheekbones and attractive features like other hairstyles. "Wherever your bangs fall, that is the feature they will emphasize the most," she explains.

Instead, Try A Lob With Curtain Bangs

"You don't want short bangs that fall right in the middle of your forehead where you might have a few lines," Abdullah continues. Instead, she recommends cutting your bangs at your eyebrow level "to emphasize your eyes."

This, paired with face-framing layering in your collarbone-length lob can provide a much more flattering look overall, she notes. Instead of choosing the popular yet often unbecoming baby bangs, one can opt for chic curtain bangs, Abdullah suggests. "These flatter just about any face at any age and neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs," she continues.

Curtain bangs, Abdullah notes, are a type of fringe cut that creates a soft, natural looking wave at the top of the head, as seen here on Kerry Washington.

"They are often used to frame the face and specifically, to give it a youthful appearance," she adds, which "look great on mature women" as they make your face appear "smaller and slimmer when they come down to cheek level."

2. Skip Center-Parted Lobs Without Layers

Middle-parts can create a symmetrical look at any age, but Abdullah stresses that they can also draw more attention to forehead wrinkles and make your tresses look flatter. "A bob with a center part might have been your go-to hairstyle before, but maybe your part seems to be getting wider and wider," Abdullah acknowledges, as thinning in the crown area is common as many age.

"If you're thinning in the crown of your head, a center part is going to draw attention to it. This is because you're putting the part right in the same area," she says. To avoid this, Abdullah recommends a side part for more volume and a youthful energy.

Instead, Add Layers And A Deep Side Part

"Try a side part [with more layers] instead. In this manner, you can move the hair from one side to the other, as you wish," she notes. The "added hair going over," like Charlize Theron here, "will increase volume in the area as well, especially if your hair is used to being parted down the center." If you really prefer a center part, she suggests making "a short one instead, so that the hair in front goes to either side of your face."

Then, she adds, the hair in the center can be brushed back. "Any difference that you create when your hair is used to lying flat and completely to the sides will create volume and make a big difference," she says.

3. Skip Shaggy Lobs With Long Bangs

While shag cuts are iconic, 70s-esque and trendy (and usually flattering for any face shape when paired with no-fail curtain bangs), adding too many layers can head into mullet territory. Shags, Abudllah points out, can easily be cut to frame your face and best features, but adding a heavy amount of layers can often do the opposite.

The worst haircut you can have if your goal is to look younger is having "too many layers," she explains. Layers, when cut appropriately, can help to "add volume" and flow to your hair, "giving the appearance of fuller locks," she notes. Adding too many layers, on the other hand, she notes, "can make your hair appear even more limp than before."

Too much texturization in a hairstyle can make thin hair appear even thinner, rather than full, she warns. "While shags are fashionable, it's vital to avoid over-layering thin hair because it can make it difficult to work with and lifeless," she advises.

Instead, Rock A Shag With Eyebrow-Grazing Fringe

Rivera adds that a short or medium-length, delicately layered shag with eyebrow-grazing bangs (Taylor Swift is a fan!) is an "amazing cut that is well-recognized for being versatile. A shag with layers of different lengths offers "nice variations for both longer and shorter hair," she says.

"Adding a bang can add a fresh surprise to this look, she suggests. For anyone with hair on the longer side, Rivera concludes that "an added choice is to shorten the hair up a bit to the collarbone or above" to create some texture by "adding subtle layers to soften."