Here are some hairstyle examples sent to me by women age 46-53 that I thought would give you some ideas of how to care for and arrange your hair.

After a certain age, hair has a different quality than in your youth. It tends to be a little coarser and sometimes sparser and difficult to manage, but with proper care, an older woman can have beautiful hair.

Anglea Whitman is 46 and has this advice:

Hair care tips: I do not use harsh chemicals on my hair -- never have. I take nutritional supplements and eat lots of leafy green vegetables and poultry. I use a variety of shampoos: if I use one brand too frequently, it weighs my hair down. Other than an occasional trim, I have not had my hair cut short since being a child. I have always had long hair. My husband likes it, and I like to look nice for him!





Angela is a Contributing Columnist to the “Patriotist” web site, organizer and founding volunteer for the “Loving Touch Pregnancy Care Center,” and organizer and founding volunteer for the “Hope Christian Church Food Pantry" (and about 12 other community groups and projects!). She is married and has two grown sons and two grandchildren.

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Carla Chapman is 53, lives in Texas, and finds this hairstyle to be easy to arrange, comfortable, and simple for her busy life as wife, mother, and grandmother. As we've become "older women," most of us find that we are ten times busier than we ever were when our children were younger and have less time to spend on hairstyles that require an enormous amount of maintenance. If you want to know more about this style, you can contact Carla through LAF's Feedback Form.

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Gail Burns is a professional hairdresser, who now uses her talents at home to do her mother's hair and those of her family. She has several styles for longer hair:







Gail has several hair care instructions for longer hair:

• Don't shampoo too frequently if your hair is not very oily. Overly manipulating your hair is not good for it, if you want it to be healthy and shiny.
  
  
• Try to let hair air dry as much as possible. Heat from dryers can damage hair, as well as curling irons and hot rollers. Setting the hair on rollers and allowing it to air dry is the best way to have curls without damage. Foam rollers are a good way to get extra curl, especially if left in overnight.
  
  
• Detangle hair with a wide-tooth comb after shampooing, and be very gentle, starting with the ends and working your way up the hair shaft.
  
  
• Use a gentle shampoo, and apply it to the scalp only. The ends of one's hair is farthest from the scalp and the oil produced there. Let the shampoo rinse out through the ends. This is enough to cleanse the ends, and hair tangles less this way.
  
  
• Start working the conditioner in at the ends, and do not apply it directly to the scalp. Finish with a cool rinse.
  
  
• For those who like updos, toss out any bobby pins that are beginning to lose their tips. The exposed metal can damage hair. Do not use uncoated rubber bands, as this can also cause damage. Use minimal teasing in hair to reduce split ends.
  
  
• It is important to trim hair regularly, but if you are trying to grow your hair out, every six weeks is too soon. Hair grows about half an inch a month, so get hair trimmed every three of four months. If you take good care of your hair, it will need trimming less often.
  
  
• Brushing is also very important to stimulate the scalp and bring the oil down through the hair. Do not brush tangled hair. Gently comb it out, then brush hair with a good boar bristle brush. The natural bristles are very gentle to the hair, while keeping it smooth and polished.
  
  
• At night it is important to braid very long hair. This saves time in the morning and also protects the hair from the friction on the pillow from tossing and turning. One good way to have curls in the morning is to put the ends of the braids in a few foam curlers after spritzing them with setting lotion or plain water.

Gail also does her 80-year-old mother-in-law's hair. Here is a recent "do" from the side:



And here is her lovely mother-in-law:



When you try to have longer hair, you may run into some problems keeping it coiled up or twisted in a way that will stay put. After using very large hair "claws," I discovered that they held too much hair, making them heavy and likely to slide the entire hairstyle down and out. I then began using small clips around the sides of the hairstyle. I discovered that even the thickest, slickest hair will stay up if these smaller clips are used correctly. The tiny claws hold smaller amounts of hair and are more likely to hold up throughout the day. A hair "bun" or coil stays up longer on top of the head than on the back of the head, but both styles will stay up using smaller claw-clips or butterfly clips.

Hot weather is a good time to get the hair up away from your neck. For a quick up-do, just twist the entire hair, from any position, until it coils around in a type of knot. Secure in place. This style looks lovely secured with a claw-clip to match your clothes.

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