Oscar Wilde once famously said that, “With age comes wisdom.” But he forgot to mention that your hair might start to thin out and lose its shine! Getting older can be harsh on your hair, but don’t worry, there are things you can do about it!
No matter how many candles were on your last birthday cake, the right haircare products and processes can make a huge difference. In this post, we’re revealing 15 tried-and-tested tips for keeping your locks looking luscious and lustrous in your fifties and beyond.
1. Watch Your Diet
Eating enough of the right foods is a great place to start. Diet is always important, of course. But it can be more pertinent as you age because your appetite gets smaller. This makes you more susceptible to nutrient deficiencies that impact your hair (not to mention your general health). Among other important foods, consuming sufficient protein, leafy greens, and omega-3 fatty acids is key.
2. Wash Your Hair Less Frequently
A decrease in oil production means our hair tends to get steadily thinner, drier, and coarser as we age. To accommodate this, try washing it less often. Shampooing too much will remove the natural oil that’s present, stripping the hair of what it needs to stay healthy and radiant. Everyone is different, so it’s hard to say exactly how often you should wash. Once or twice a week may suffice, though. If you hate the thought of this or need to wash more often, try switching to my natural DIY shampoo that’s formulated for frequent use.
3. Use Conditioner
Applying conditioner after shampooing is another vital step to thwart the signs of aging hair. It’ll help add moisture to your locks and replenish the natural oils that shampoo removes. If you want to go a step further, you can also use hydrating serums or leave-in treatments.
If you do use a scalp serum or moisturizing leave-in product, know that less is more when applying it! Aging hair requires gentler treatment, so a little goes a long way. Likewise, putting on too much can weigh it down, which is unideal in the pursuit of voluminous locks.
If you’re into DIY and never made a conditioner before, you’re in for a treat! Not only are they easy and fun to make, but you can tweak them until your heart’s content
4. Consider the Natural Look
Some women fight their graying hair as long as possible. We won’t tell you not to! Just know that there are definite benefits to taking the natural route. Chemical dyes can make everything drier and more brittle, resulting in more breakages. Conversely, embracing those grays should help retain your hair’s thickness and overall health.
5. Use a Natural Dye
If you are going to dye your hair, consider using a natural product like ours. Although the colors can be less reliable than the chemical kind, natural dyes do work. Better still, they can help condition and strengthen your hair at the same time. Consider talking to a stylist, though. They’ll advise you on the best products for your hair type and situation.
6. Avoid Daily Heat Styling
Because older hair is drier anyway, it’s sensible to limit how often you blow dry it, straighten it, or use curling irons. Heat styling once or twice a week should give your hair enough time to recover from the damage it causes. For similar reasons, consider applying a heat protectant beforehand to give your hair an extra layer of defense.
7. Use the Right Shampoo
Now might be a good time to invest in a new shampoo. Speak to your stylist for bespoke advice, but the ones you’ll probably want will have words like “thickening” or “volumizing” pasted across the front. These products contain vital ingredients, such as protein, biotin, and vitamin B5, which can boost your hair’s voluptuousness and moisture levels. If you are into DIY, take a look at 11 Sulphate-Free Homemade Shampoo Recipes For Gorgeous-Looking Hair
8. Consider Cutting It
Many women fight the signs of aging tresses by cutting their hair short. It makes everything appear more voluminous and simultaneously makes it easier to care for. You don’t have to go to those lengths (pun intended), but it’s 100% worth cutting your hair more regularly. Doing so will prevent splits from working up the shafts, make them less prone to breaks, and help everything stay in top condition.
9. Brush Your Hair Regularly
100 strokes before bed each night may be overkill, but there’s a definite benefit to regular brushing! It stimulates blood flow to your scalp, delivering the nutrients and oxygen your hair needs to be healthy. It also distributes those essential natural oils along each shaft. Just be gentle! Try detangling your hair with a comb prior to brushing to avoid unwanted breakages.
10. Try Using Oil
Applying certain oils can help address the reduction in oil production from your scalp. Coconut oil, for example, has long been used to improve hair and scalp health. Argan oil is similar. It’s so rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and other key nutrients that it’s a downright moisturizing miracle. And jojoba oil is excellent for strengthening weak and thinning hair.
Here They Are: 10 Everyday Oils To Help Stimulate Hair Growth – Natural Secret To Long Beautiful Hair
11. Get Your Beauty Sleep
Changes to circadian rhythms, melatonin levels, and other related factors cause our sleep to worsen with age. Unfortunately, this can have a knock-on effect on our hair! Among other possible issues, sleep deprivation increases stress levels, contributing to hair loss and making it gray quicker. So, now more than ever, try to protect your sleep! Your hair will thank you for it.
12. Treat Your Hair Gently
As you can probably tell by now, aging hair needs extra TLC. So be gentle with it! Skip the tight ponytail in favor of a loose braid. Sleep on silk pillowcases at night so there’s less friction. Get a brush with nylon or boar bristles (they’re better for thinning hair). And, when you use it, start from the bottom and work upward. Oh, and try to avoid brushing when your hair’s wet, comb it instead. That’s when it’s most fragile.
13. Use Color Strategically
Alongside steps to actively thicken and nourish it, you could use some strategic color to create the illusion of more voluminous locks. Adding highlights and lowlights instantly gives your hair the appearance of more depth and dimension. A bonus is that it can also hide any grays that have started to come through.
14. See a Medical Professional
While they’re natural parts of aging, hair loss and thinning can also be symptoms of underlying medical issues, such as hormonal or thyroid problems, or things like stress, genetics, and certain medications. That’s why speaking with your doctor about hair-related issues is often sensible – especially if you’ve noticed rapid changes. They’ll help identify/rule out these causes and suggest possible solutions.
