Well, not changing hair after a certain age keeps you looking younger as people will say you haven't changed a bit when it's really your hair that hasn't changed a bit. A lesson from Claudette Colbert

At 79...

However, my hair is now curly and it frizzes in the summer, so it all gets cut off in the spring, and now that fall is here, I grow it out again so it's warmer. I can blow it dry and it stays straight without the humidity.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Fri, Nov 14, 14 at 10:30

Ha, I am in the process of growing out my SHORT pixie and was just saying to someone this morning, I can't believe at my age I am still "growing my hair out." My hair stylist happens to be extremely good at helping gracefully grow out a cut, so it's not too bad, but I am at an in-between stage that is difficult at the moment...but in a month or so, I'll be at my desired length. I know a lot of people who don't ever change their hair styles -- or at least haven't changed much in the years that I've known them -- and maybe 1/4 of my friends actually do change their styles every few years. I have always been one to have my hair short for a couple years or longer, then grow it out (not long, but bob length) for a while, and back and forth. And for the record, I am never 100% happy with my hair no matter how long or short it is!

Annie, I'm the opposite. I have very thick somewhere between wavy and curly hair, and I grow it long for the summer so that I can wear it up in order to keep cool (I put it in a pony tail just off the top of my head, and it curls and looks fine, kind of like a curly bunny tail), and then at the end of the summer, I cut it off.

I've always had a short hair cut, real short.
I tried growing it out this year just for a change. I hated that my hair was always in my face, not long enough to tuck behind my ears fully.
Chopped it all off again.

I did find that it aged me as well, pulled my face down kind of thing.

I did find out that I have kind of wavy hair, which doesn't show up when it's short :-)

I LOOOVE short pixie haircuts! I have had pixie haircuts in the past and I would do it in a second if I could (yes, still) get this 25-30 pounds off! Now, I wear my light blonde hair a little below shoulder length, straight long bob, long bangs. I get highlights every 6 weeks. I would love to cut my bangs short but I have a short forehead and it doesn't work on me.

My stylist changes it every once in awhile but, left to my own untalented devices, it always looks pretty much the same. A slightly shorter or slightly longer version of the same thing. Well, not exactly the same because even if I do the same procedure everyday, I end up with different results.

My hair is curlier as I age. And I frizz with very little encouragement. Some days I think "yes! Nailed it" and those days I don't see anyone I know. Other days I think "whatever, I have places to go, things to do, people to see, I can't spend any more effort on this" and, naturally, I run into all sorts of people that day.

I do vary from letting it curl naturally to straightening it on bone dry winter days. For the past few years, I've had it long enough to wear up so I do that every few days.

Honestly, I have considered not going to the gym on days I wake up and my hair looks good. But I go because I know it's an illusion and by the time I go out and about for the day something will have changed.

Annie, is that first pic of CC wax?

I am always changing up my hair. It's fun. I always figure if I don't like a particular cut/style, it will grow.

Not very often. Same basic hair style for a long time, but I did grow out my bangs about 7 years ago. My hair is not very thick and it's fine and straight so it limits what I should do with it. I sometimes have it cut a little bit shorter in summer but basically the same angled bob about medium length (just below chin length) and easy to blow dry.

I love when other people change their hair, including the color, frequently. I can't. The ONLY feature I've ever liked about my hair is the color, and now that I'm going gray I like the "shade of gray" it's turning. I know I'd look 10 years younger by coloring it, but I know me: I'd go too long between touch-ups, and besides I don't want to be 90 and still blond (like my mom!).

My hair is fine and straight, every permanent I've had makes my hair break for months after and it looks ridiculous when it starts growing out.

I've found two stylists ever who can cut my hair in an easy style, and I treasure them. I guess I change my hairstyle only about every 15 years!

I have been parting it down the middle lately-but only looks good if I don't tuck it behind my ears-which I end up doing anyway.

bb, I'm not sure...I keep posting early pics of her and then I come back and the link is broken, so I keep replacing it...not sure which one you were referring to...just images I pull up off the net.

hhireno, it sounds like we have the same hair. Sigh.

For years and years I've worn the same side-parted blunt-cut, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, sometimes with bangs and sometimes without. I finally bit the bullet and asked for a "longish shag."

LOVED it when I walked out of the salon, but it has never looked like that since. It takes at least 30 minutes to blow dry (gah ... all these layers!) after which it looks like I was plugged into a light socket. My blunt-cut hair was never this frizzy or hard to style! I then spend another 15 minutes or so flat-ironing it to get it under control (I never owned a flat-iron before this). On the third day, it finally starts to look good and on the fourth I have to wash it again and start all over.

When I was leaving the salon right after my cut, I asked my stylist what I needed to keep it looking good. He lined up four small bottles on the counter totaling $145.00!!!! Even after that reluctant (and outrageous) purchase, I still can't pull off the styling. And it's exhausting.

I honestly think this is why people stick with the same style for so long ... after a while you learn what is easiest to care for in the least amount of time and you tend to want to stick with that routine, even if the look isn't the most flattering.

Pretty much never. Except last week

I have had straight, shoulder length dirty blonde hair, my entire life.

I went through a brief stage of wearing it very short, with soft layers in front, because it kind of looked the same as when I wore it back (which i used to do a lot). That was only for a year or so in my 30s.

In my early 30s I started highlighting it and it got pretty blonde, but then by my 40s I dialled it back, and now I do blonde highlights and dark highlights, and recently started to have them put toner on the gray strands at my temples.

Last week I got a trim and I had a new stylist (I go to the same salon but always book last minute and take whoever is available for a cut) and she suggested some wispy, sideswept bangs. I am an amiable sort, so I said "sure".

They looked great. DH loved them. Kids? Well, they just want you to look like you.

One week later, of course I can't get them to look like she did, and they are annoying the heck out of me. So I guess I am growing my hair out too, SueB.

I've almost always had long hair with layers. After ds2 was born I chopped it all off. I'm not sure what the style is called.... Chin length in front and stacked in back. I liked it but it was more work than a ponytail so I grew it out again. After ds3 was born I wanted a change again, but needed to keep length for my beloved ponytail. I got bangs. I love it. It took a while to get used to feeling them on my forehead, but now it's better than long layers. I always had long pieces falling out and getting in my eyes, but that never happens with bangs. I'm still trying to grow more length though.

Hardly ever. I've had long, straight medium brown hair pretty much my entire life, except for a 2 year period when a then-boyfriend talked me into cutting it short. People really liked it, but it was a PIA to take care of and it just didn't look like "Me". Until this past Spring, it was about 4 inches below my shoulders. I had my longtime hairdresser cut it so that it just skims my shoulders and I really like it. As always, I still have highlights in it, as well. DH loves it, but DD would have preferred me to never change it (LOL). I can still haul it back into a ponytail, so I'm happy.
Sadly though, I didn't inherit my DD's ability to style my hair in many different styles. Lucky her, she inherited thick, straight, light blond hair from my mom. It's about 6-inches below her shoulders and she styles it differently almost every day! Not me. My hair is usually high-parted on the side and either straight, curled softly or wacked up in a ponytail.
Lynn

everyday. Seriously...

Med Onc advised hair would 'thin'. Hell, he should have said it could be harvested! On the flip side, ahem, wigs have become a new bf.

Like most consumables, price matters. Typically, hair texture, color and sheen can be easily graded by a new consumer. By looking carefully at the crown, one can discern quality.

Recommend a bricks and mortar store initially to ensure selecting a comfortable fit (vital) and flattering style. IMO, one MUST take a wig to your stylist to be cut/framed to your face.

Was surprised to learn such a large percentage of women wear wigs, extensions and/or fills. Hhireno, I even have a 'hat with hair' for the gym.

Always nice to have options.
~bgj

Not very often. I had various renditions of a bob for at least ten years straight. I finally reached an age where I no longer though the longer, straight hair around the face was as flattering as it used to be. Got a short haircut that looks much better and have stuck with that now for a couple years. Overall I've probably just switched between these two basic cuts for 20-30 years since I cut my very long hair off after college.

Never. I go like clockwork every 3.5 weeks, every other time I get blonde highlights and darker "lowlights" and a cut, and on alternating visits I get just the gray covered and a haircut. I would love to go completely gray but my hair---which started going gray in my mid twenties---is not a pretty color of gray or silver. So I will be like somebody's mum up above, a 90 year old blonde chick.

Mtn, my stylist has been trying to bully me into bangs for eons.... I can't do it, I MUST be able to put my hair behind my ears. Before I had to use reading glasses I wore headbands every day, and now I just have loads of cute reading glasses (red plaid ones on now with a gray outfit) that perform the hairband function. I love bangs..... on other people!

KSWL, the cynic in me is thinking this woman puts bangs on everyone to drive up the frequency of haircuts. I love the "glasses on top of head headband look" but do it only with sunglasses and I don't use reading glasses - but I should get glasses soon.

Not often at all. I have thick, dark, extremely curly hair but I wash and blow dry it straight every morning and get it colored and cut every 4 weeks. KSWL you can be the 90 year old blonde chick and I'll be the 90 y.o. brunette chick!

Seriously, when I retire I think I will let it go curly so I don't have to spend half an hour blow drying it every morning.

I do change things up to look current, but I can't do all the styles that I would like. My hair is dry and frizzy, so I keep it shoulder length.
Although I did have layers and bangs in the past, I find a few long layers works best. And that's the thing. Yes, any stylist can make your hair look great, but if you can't do it than it's worthless and frustrating.

I do watch what the stylist does and have learned a lot about how to control my hair.

My current style is side long wave, shoulder length, blown relatively straight.
My hair would be salt and pepper which I don't think is attractive for a woman.
It is ALL about products. I shampoo, condition (A few times a month I glaze) then there is a styling product for when my hair is wet (I have a few different ones and some I can combine) then when dry I have other products for shine.
I have started using hair spray and found one that actually works. It's called It's A Ten and although I haven't yet tried it in the summer, it has worked nicely on day with high humidity levels.

I'm 42 and I've had more or less the same haircut since I was 18. I have long (mid-back) very curly hair, no bangs, long layers, side-parted.

My hair was dark copper red, but is fading and getting lighter. I am sprouting lots of WHITE hairs along my hairline and on top. I have started getting lowlights in my previously virgin hair to cover this up.

I would love a change, but can't go shorter or I get a pyramid effect, no matter how many layers or how much thinning I have them do. If I went short, I'd look like little Orphan Annie. Can't do bangs (ask me how I know haha)

I worry about what to do as I get older, worry it's been the same forever, worry I need to look more mature/professional. Oh well. I'll be the 90 year old with a frizzy bun, I guess.

About every ten years I decide I'm tired of my long hair and chop it off. I've never been pleased with the shorter length styles. I refuse to spend 30 minutes every morning taming/styling so it's easier to have long (mid-back or longer) hair. Wash, comb out, and go to work. I don't even blow dry it. If I could have someone style my hair in the morning (in less than ten minutes) while I'm drinking coffee and reading the news I would. But slavery has been outlawed and I can't afford a personal maid so..... ;-)

I'm the old lady,60, that still thinks she is 15. Except for an unfortunate lapse of judgement in 1984 when I thought short permed hair would be a kick I have had straight blond hair to my mid back or longer with bangs. As it is greying it is getting thicker. It is always in a bun,braid or ponytail. I also only have the same wardrobe I had when I was 15. My entire wardrobe including shoes would fit in a big suitcase. I enjoy simplicity above all else. Leaves me more time and energy for wacko decorating and making art. Life is good.

The older I get, the less I care what it looks like ( but still very much care) and am concerned with not being bothered by it. So, it has been the same for at least ten years, long, so can pull it back or up and off my face.
I cannot have hair touching my face it bothers me too much. So much for beauty, I would look better with bangs. I don't care, the hair itself is pretty.

you're supposed to change it?

I think it depends on the style if keeping it the same for years and years works.

Most of my life I've had longer hair. A few years back I cut it short and kept it for about a year then grew it out again. I've never not had some type of bangs. I feel they help balance my face out. I also have a widows peak that I'm not wild about.

My plan is to keep evaluating my clothes, makeup, and hair as I age. I'm not looking forward to coloring.

I've had a long to short pixie for the last five years. It wasn't my choice, but due to my hair falling out it was the best option. Now, I love it and won't ever go back to having long hair.

Color is a different discussion! I usually stay in the realm of blonde but the shade changes a lot. October of last year, I was bleach blonde with a pink streak. Pink for breast cancer awareness month - a couple of friends did it too. Right now, I'm strawberry blonde but on Monday I'm going in the opposite direction - ash blonde.

I have thick, wavy hair. During my younger years it was long. Years ago I finally realized I look best with layers and bangs. My hair looks and does best when it is layered and thinned/texturized. Which is why I rarely change hairstylists - if I find one that knows how to do my hair - I better keep him/her. My husband now goes to the gal I go to - as he has almost the same type hair! LOL We are both still blessed with heads full of hair.

I switch things out somewhat. Shorter layers, longer layers, always long bangs, usually sideswept. I've worn it kind of layers flipped out for a while and now and been pulling the curl kind of under (with my hands as I style and dry) and still almost always tuck behind my ears. I like it behind my ears and don't care for the cuts that to me look like sideburns LOL if that makes sense. Only very rarely will I pull pieces forward in front of my ears. While bangs never bother me, that does. My hair is shorter, but since I have alot of it and the top is longer layers (shorter around the neck/bottom), it doesn't really look that short. I have it highlighted occasionally to mix things up. I'll let it grow out a bit and curl more for a change. I never, ever try to straighten it. I learned working WITH my hair instead of against is my best bet and I actually like my wave/curl. I don't seem to get alot of frizz, but I think that's the cut and products. I do agree that products make a huge difference. If I can't get my particular conditioner and/or gel, you can tell. I can dry/style it in very short time, mostly use my hands - a brush to pull my bangs out and the crown up then I do the same thing with a curling iron on just a few pieces. I will say that I cannot stand too short bangs and I cannot stand my bangs too curly.

I have had variations on the same theme most of my life. I have figured out (for the most part) what looks good on me. I look dreadful in short hair and stick to chin length or longer. I used to keep it all one length but now I have layers and find that it falls into place much better that way.

My hair was dark brown in my youth but after years of highlights and covering gray, it is now blonde. In fact, I am going for a cut and color on Tuesday and will ask the colorist to tone it down with lowlights. I think the really blonde haor does not work well with my skin tones, although it makes the gray roots less obvious.

Once or twice I tried something different and lived to regret it. Also, my hair wants to be parted in one particular way and any attempt to change it is useless. The hair just works its way back to where it wants to be over the day.

Like a lot of people I hate my hair. It is thin, fine, straight. And I have never been good at styling it and for years just haven't bothered in the mornings to make much of an effort with it. I'd rather sleep 15 more minutes than spend it trying to blow dry and style it. Generally, I throw on some mousse at the crown, bend over, blow dry for a minute or so, flip it back, touch it up with a pick.....however it turns out, that's it. Currently, it is about chin length with some layers? I get highlights 3-4 times a year and cut every 6-7 weeks. Maybe when I retire I will take more time with it and attempt to learn how to wield a styling brush.

I had a one length bob for years and got sick of it so had it cut shortish and layered. It took so much time to style, and since my hair is thick and wavy a lot of times I couldn't get it to look right no matter what I did.

So I spent months growing out the layers. Then when I got there, I realized I was still sick of that and HATED my pyramid head look. So I got lots of long layers and am liking it now. It's shoulder length, but next week I am going to get it cut a couple of inches shorter. The longer hair is dragging my face down.

I had a pixie cut when I was in my twenties and loved it! I still love that style, but I am kind of afraid to do it now- I am tall and beanpoleish and don't want to look like a boy. If I was shorter and curvier, I would do it, I love how it looks crisp and can make you look well-groomed.

I don't change the color- I have a dark golden blonde shade that is close to my natural color when younger. My eyes are very pale and I look very washed out when I am too blonde!

I've had two bad haircuts in my lifetime - 3rd and 12th grades. Both times, stylist took my long hair and I was left looking like a boy. I asked for it the first time, but not the last. Then, I skipped school and got suspended for three days. I still got to go to DisneyWorld with my BF's and his family for Spring Break, so all was not lost. I will never have short hair again.

As you can see, it's comical (or frightening?!) how similar my kindergarten and senior hairstyles look. Rest assured there were long, straight looks in between (remember the 70s).

I tried to grow it out recently but it ends up too flat. No matter how hard I try to make it a bit poofy with my round brush (I despise hair gels and sprays). I started getting gray hair when I was a senior in HS, and like the above poster I go every three weeks for a slight trim and color. Recently I asked her to start making it lighter since my roots were showing up so bad (at 3 weeks!!!!). I'm not even 55 yet, so I am not ready to go gray... she tells me (I won't look) that I am easily 80% gray - I think she's being generous!). So while I still feel like a brunette, I am slowing becoming more blonde. :( The photo on the right was taken before we went a tad lighter. My hair does not want to hold color. It is very frustrating! I come out one color and easily have 5 shades between visits. I'd love to do something different, but nothing drastic. I still want to be able to pull it back and leave long enough to keep my neck warm.

*edited to remove photo

This post was edited by allison0704 on Sun, Nov 16, 14 at 14:16

Everyone I know has basically the same hair style they had in high school. Maybe the color changes a little or the length a little. A few perms along the way. But the basic style never changes.

Once I allowed a stylist to cut and style my hair anyway she thought it would look good. She cut it shorter in the back and the sides angled longer toward the front. Every woman who saw it loved it, every man hated it. Everyone gave me their opinion even when I didn't ask. Never did that again.

You're supposed to change it???

Allison, those pictures are great. You really have kept the same look over the years, except for the bangs. You look great, so don't change anything!

I started getting gray in HS too! ( it's a thyroid thing )
The night before college graduation I let a friend trim my hair with the help of a few beers. Pixie! I had long layers and now my ears were there sticking out! Last time I had short hair. Over the years I had many different styles but always colored my nearly black brown hair due to the gray. Until after my mothers funeral when I was 42. I just couldn't do the coloring and the "styles" anymore. So I stopped cold turkey. It was ugly. I kept going until I noticed strangers were coming up to me and complimenting me on my hair. First time in my life! By this time it was below shoulder length and silvery gray. Underneath it was still dark almost black so when I put it up it is quite dramatic. All was good as I was still skinny but since menopause hit I've put on a few pounds but my daughter refuses to let me change my hair. It is now me. Still below shoulders, still gray and some days straight, some days waves, some days up. Most often a ponytail when working the horses. And SO easy, compared to all the coloring and Do's.

Shee, my usual style is a very short sort- of pixie. I'd love to see any inspiration pics you may have of a long pixie. Short hair is reputed to be easy, but I am newly loving the ease of longer hair, but now it's in need of a style. Dang! Missed your pics, Allison.

I'm actually kind of surprised many are saying they keep about the same style. Nothing at all wrong with that, I just thought it would be the opposite for some reason.

Martinca - Here are a few I like.
I wouldn't wear mine sticking out like this. Looks like wind.
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IâÂÂm really liking this one. Of course it can be worn many ways.
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I like these shorter ones.
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I need to let mine grow a little longer first. I do know it's going to bite growing it back out.

Cute looks...thanks!!