Long hair over 40

[Cinnabunbun]

I've always quite liked having long messy hair but now I'm in my 40s almost every friend seems to have cut theirs short. Is it weird to keep it long long? It's always looked a bit like Merida but suddenly it looks less boho and more scraggly witch. What do you think of below the boob length hair on 40s women?

I am not exactly sure how it started, but there are memes about it all over the internet. I have had that haircut (growing it out a bit now, but not too long as my hair is in shocking condition). I have never complained about a service or product in my life, no matter how bad. Maybe just having the haircut will make people scared of me

I think it depends quite a lot on whether the style is up-to-date. If someone still has a style they chose years ago, such as a shoulder length perm with a fringe, short flicked sides and shaggy layers for example, it is probably time to think again. Same applies if longer hair has a "dragging down" effect on the features.

Cutesy, your hair is fabulous

OK. I've had a quick good and 'Can I speak to the Manager' haircut seems based on the premise it is the haircut of middle class white women who have an autimatic sense of superiority and entitlement. I think it has a whiff of misogyny myself - if middle aged women start complaining I think it is a good thing and probably a proportionate response compared to all the shit we suck up when we are young and invested in being desirable.

MinitheMinx, you have beautiful hair!

I wish I could grow my hair long again but at 46 the bastard greys break so easily and are wiry buggers so it looks like I've been electrocuted. That and I seem to shed hair faster than my dogs do so the new hairs are really short adding to the look
If anyone knows of any treatments that will help please let me know...

Imo nothing makes a women look older like cutting her hair short. If you look at celebrities a lot of those who had short hair when they were young tend to grow it long as they get older. Meg Ryan for example was famous for having short hair but even she has long hair now!

I have tried to fit into my DC's posh school but it's never going to happen so I am thinking fuck it, I'll be myself and dye my hair like gorgeous Dianne off Strictly. It is amazing. Like Minx's upthread.

HeffalumpsnWoozles, this shampoo is fab
www.syoss.net/en/home.html
It creates bonds and stops hair from breaking. It also seems to prevent frizz (a bit)
But I've found I can no longer buy it in the UK and have bought it on eBay from Poland.

I've long since given up being middle class BrisaOtonal, it's such a bore

The only thing I think when I consider hair length is how it can drag your face down (maybe it's just me, I need bulldog clips) but if you have some layers to give your hair body and width around your head it widens your face and prevents this, but then it's all a bit 80s. I have a long face so I had a fringe cut in. However much a fringe takes years off you it still dates you to the 80s. But then I probably do look like an 80s indie throwback because I can't seem to get my head around having to dress like a grown up too.

I really didn't mean this post to sound so ageist. I guess that I'm just worried about looking silly. Having my hair in a ponytail definitely looks a bit odd these days.

I'm also a bit miffed that it just doesn't seem so easy to have long hair anymore. I have to make more effort with it to smooth it out so that it doesn't make me look so crumple faced.

I see lots of 40s and 50s women with very smart swishy shoulder length hair, but it always looks very done. Do you see many 40s or 50s women with more boho long styles that can carry it off?

I love long hair but it must be in great condition. Going against the grain I think short hair suits perfect features and youth and that longer hair is more forgiving. I also think you need full make-up with short hair to carry it off, Chris Jenner rocks short hair but is always immaculately made up.

@CutesyUserName there's NO WAY you're 56! You look fabulous and your hair is so pretty and well maintained

OP, if it's a nice colour, well taken care of and a nice cut, I don't see a problem. My mom is 50 and she has fairly long hair & looks great

Older women had short hair throughout their lives because from the 50s to the 80s short hair was fashionable (actually not in the 70s, that's the only time in her life my Mum had long hair). Now all the young one have very long straight hair, although at work we are beginning to get one or two women in their 20s with pixies and at school some of DDs friends have short hair so I think the tide is turning again and in a few years long hair will look aging.

I'm biased, I have a pixie and my view is that the women around my age (late 40s) who look best are those who have a good cut (of any length) and their natural hair colour. There are a LOT of bad dye jobs on the long hair (those with pixies often have grey hair or don't have the condition issues that longer dyed hair so often has) and that is really aging. But really it's the colour rather than the length that's the problem, I have a colleague who is a couple of years younger than me who has gorgeous long curly hair, she has balayage (so top half is natural) and looks fab.

I've had short hair for most of my adult life. I regret that now, it looks much better long.
I'm 55. Long hair, don't care.

I agree with Count. Long doesn’t suit everyone any more than short does. I think in years to come, long straight hair will be viewed in the same way as my mum’s and my aunties’ shampoo and set of old.

I agree with Navigation too. I don’t think women complain nearly enough and taking the piss when they do doesn’t strike me as funny or cool.

I definitely agree with @Count re colour. If I'd stuck to my natural black as I've aged instead of the colour I have now (pic UT) it would look awful, dead and draining. Softer colour on ageing complexions is usually the way to go.

I am glad that a lot of the myths about long hair are being over turned - that older women can’t have it, that it is high maintenance etc. Like a pp said if your hair is good it will look good, and it’s perfectly possible to learn quick and easy updos. Please though, don’t put your hair up in bobbles, you will cause it to break at the point where the bobble goes, and around the front where it pulls back from your forehead. If you like it out of the way at night look at silk sleeping caps or do a very loose plait. For putting it up in the day, look at styles you can do with spin pins, claw clips, beak clips, hair forks and sticks, or practice your french/dutch braiding - if you must use a bobble try those telephone wire ones or a good old scrunchie. It is amazing how a nice up do on long hair can actually be quicker than getting the straighteners/big hair doofer out for shorter styles, and a lot less damaging. Finally if you want your hair to look thick, don’t dye it any darker than the roots you have coming through - pale roots make hair look thin no matter how much of it you have.

I'm 42 and have very long hair, much to my mother's distress. Apparently I should have gone shorter a decade ago and been on to a nice Mum Bob or a perm by now

Just thinking about my friends who are the same age or slightly older than me - most of them have hair that is past their shoulders or longer. If anything they've grown their hair longer over the last few years, having had shorter cuts before.

Its' not so much the length of hair, more that some women over 40 need a fringe.
I'm 45 myself. I got a fringe two years ago and look much better for it.

@Miggledy. Funnily enough, the converse was true in my case (at least for now) and I've done away with my fringe for the first time in 55 years. I so wish I'd done it sooner but always felt I'd feel 'too exposed'.

I'm 48 and never had my hair so long. It's fine but silky and is a nice feature God knows I need one.
It's not the age of the woman, it's the quality of the hair. If post menopause my hair gets dryer and thinner, I'll wear it shorter. If not, I won't.
I think it's because long hair was associated with youth/sexuality ('let your hair down in the bedroom' etc) that more mature ladies are not meant to have it.

Fringes = free botox

Fringes ftw

I had a fringe all through childhood and teens. Took me 20 years to grow it out! I look much better without it, personally.

I'm 34 and apart from a moment of madness when I was 6 I have always had long hair.

Tbf, it's not in the best condition right now, but it just needs a trim and I don't really care if you're " supposed to cut it at a certain age. Some people look good with short hair, some just don't. Regardless of age.

Just have your hair how you like it and fgs, don't read any centre folds in the Daily Fail or Femail telling you how to have your hair at each stage of your life They're still angry with Kate Middleton for reaching 35 and not instantly going for the chop. Positively furious actually! I'm sure I read (at my parents I hasten to add!) an article titled "Kate, isn't it time you got the chop?.." or similar. It was a full blown, double page "article". Ugh.