To wear my hair long at 40

[BreatheitAllIn]

I'm sick of hearing what society deems as unacceptable after turning 40. I will cut my hair when I damn well please. Why do they get to decide? Does society tell men what they shouldn't do?

Recommendations for natural shampoos that reduce hair loss, aid hair growth, and aren't too expensive would be appreciated! I'm noticing my usual shampoos like L'Oréal Elvive etc are making my hair look flat, and not as much volume.

I'm in my 50s, mine is very long, thick and dark. I have every intention of leaving it long and am hoping it will go a nice white at some point.

I’m always a bit baffled by these threads. I turned 40 this year, every woman I still have social media contact with from school/uni who are also turning 40 (around 20-30) pretty much without exception have hair ranging from between shoulder and waist length. It’s an absolute non-issue.

Most 50 year olds I know still have long hair too. It’s only those around my mum’s generation (she is nearly 70) who fall under the “older = short hair” stereotype.

How old are these people telling you to cut your hair, OP?

My dad got this stupid notion from somewhere. I loked at him as if he was mad. I inherited his wavy course hair and he wanted me to cut it. What? It's better longer, because I can manage it better. I really don't have the patience to style short wavy hair.

My mum has had bobbed hair since her 40s. Maybe she said it first.

That sounds great do you have a certain brand and do you put it on dry hair or after you have shampooed?

I had waist-length hair at 40, but when I entered peri in my early 40s my hair started to thin around the hairline, changed texture, and just didn’t look as nice. I still wear it past my shoulders, but it’s nowhere near as long as it used to be.

My scalp is itchier too. Must be something to do with drier skin?

I’m simply saying we should dispel this mad idea of an age looking like an age, or even a decade. A person looks their age whatever it is, because they are that age, so that is what a 20, 30, 40, 50 etc yr old looks like.

I'm 53 and have long red hair. Not really much grey in it yet. I hate the uniform short hair grey look for older women. Men and women seem to have hairstyles that are interchangeable when they age. I'm not doing it. I don't like short hair and especially on me. I'll wear my hair in a bun if I have to.

Yes, it is weird because my scalp has a dry patch, but greasy roots!

I'm 57 dark hair past my tits. Couldn't give less fucks tbh.

Hair thinning is the main reason. Short pixie styles are easier to manage. Thin, straggly long hair drags the features down and emphasises jowls. If older women have thick hair it looks good, properly styled.

I have long hair varying between mid back and waist that I put in different braids, I like to switch it up and feature my Mallen streak. Today I'm going with Heidi braids wrapped around my head. The old skool thinking that women should cut their hair after 40 has mostly disappeared, I get quite a few compliments on my hair.

Volumizing product. I'm in the US so I don't know if these are available there. OGX volumizing shampoo with biotin, Mane and Tail herbal volumizing shampoo, Cocomagic Detangling Mist is the best detangler ever, and L'Oreal 8 Second Wonder Water Lamellar shine rinse. Conditioner is Marc Anthony Grow Long Hair conditioner. I do scalp massage when I shampoo.

I’ve had long hair my whole life (now 38). I had a friend tell me repeatedly throughout my 20s that it was time to cut my hair as I was getting too old for that look. Grrrr!!!

I wash my hair and pat dry with a towel. I then add slightly warm coconut oil to the damp hair and leave wrapped in a towel for a few hours. People add an essential oils too (I don’t but you can) I then wash again and condition. Any brand will do, I get a massive tub for not much at the shop I buy my spices from.

Can you walk me through the process? Do you leave it in overnight and wash out or leave it in? Do you put it on the roots?

I’m 55 and have longish hair. If anybody told me to cut it they’d be responded to appropriately. I remember when my mum turned 40 and my Nan told her she had to go and have a short cut and set because it was more dignified “at her age”. My mum had the most beautiful head of red ringlets and was a former model so was in her absolute prime at that age. My Nan couldn’t understand why she didn’t want to do this 😆

OP you can do what you like, keep it long, shave it off, or dye it purple. Nothing will happen. You won’t be put in prison, or explode, or be banished from society.

40 is just the number of years you’ve been alive for. There are no laws to say what you have to look like past this age. I personally think everyone should dress and style themselves however makes them happy. Let’s face it, as women we tend to hate enough of our looks as it is. Say fuck it to what you think you need to look like to conform or whatever, and do what makes you feel good.

I am 37 have waist length hair and for probably the last 10 years I've used solid also free shampoos and my hair is better condition than it was in my early 20s. I also only wash my hair every 5 days or so. I have used quite a few different solid shampoos and am currently using kitsch and kinkind they are pH balanced so I don't have to worry about the waxy feel that some shampoos give at the start

I also only blow dry it a few times a year, no straighteners, curling tongs very rarely

What decade have you time travelled in from to have seen this nonsense? Or is it the same fantasy land where at 40 you now look in your thirties and not 20’s 😂

69, with hair past my waist. I wear it up because once it's up, I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day. It's mostly white now). I'm not interested in wasting my time or money at a hairdresser's, which I would have to if I cut it. I occasionally trim it myself if I think it's too tatty and endy because then it's hard to put up neatly. I never thought about cutting it at 40. That's so arbitrary. I've recently started using a shampoo by John Frieda, which has the word thickener in the name and I like it mainly because it doesn't leave my hair tangled or rough feeling which my usual shampoos had started doing. I also like Faith in Nature shampoos but as I used to wash my hair in washing up liquid as a teenager, I'm easily pleased!

Ok
First: label.m does great hair products. I use the oat and honey shampoo, it looks after my hair without irritating my scalp. Check them out.
Second: Stop believing crap on the internet.
Third: nope, that's it!

No problem.

wash my hair with normal shampoo.

pat dry my hair so it’s damp not soaking

warm the jar of coconut oil in a pan of warm water- so it’s liquid.

using my fingers I massage into my scalp and the entire length of my hair

I leave at least 2 hrs before wrapped in a towel turban thing (before DH I use to leave overnight but he hates sleeping next to my oily hair)

wash out again and use a good quality hair conditioner to finish.

you can add essential oils like rosemary to it- I don’t.

I have been doing it since I shared a flat with 3 Indians girls at uni and they introduced me to it.

i buy a large tub from the local spice shop and works out very cheap.

I could have written this

I think thickness is the main thing. Thin hair is a problem at any length but if it’s short and choppy it looks thicker. Thin, long hair does nothing for ageing features. Short hair is not frumpy, it’s the cut that’s important.

Yea I don’t use heat on my hair - no hairdryer or straighteners

Stop reading stupid articles about how long your hair should be then Op

Clearly most of us haven't heard the same