Your 30s can be weird. You've grown out of those wild, try anything, up all night times of your 20s (you have, right?), but you're not quite ready to sit at home with a PBS special and a mug of chamomile tea. What you're really after is something in the middle — a fun evening with friends with a dash of adventure, but without the mysterious "bar bruises" and a wicked hangover.
It's the same thing with your hair. In your 30s you need a hairstyle you can still have some fun with, but you can't get away with some of the, uh, experimental styles you had in your 20s.
Rest assured that you don't need to chop off all your hair into a "sensible" cut the moment the clock strikes midnight on your 30th birthday. Instead, try one of the fun, chic, and easy-to-wear hairstyles in this roundup and follow the advice we got from Mika Fowler, a stylist at the Gavert Atelier Salon in Beverly Hills, Calif. As long as you also steer clear of the major hair mistakes Fowler filled us in on as well, it'll be smooth sailing until your next milestone birthday. And don't worry, we have hair dos and don'ts for your 40s too.
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Don't: Get a "mom" cut
True, you might actually be a mom now that you're in your 30s, but that doesn't mean you need to look the part. You've got plenty of time to go short, and at this stage in your life a cut like Scarlett Johansson's can make you look older.
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Do: Try a longer cut
Ultimately your haircut is dependent on your face shape, so women with longer faces will want to keep their hair shorter. But the rest of us should feel free to wear longer hairstyles (while we still can). Fowler says to aim for a longer, versatile cut in your 30s, one you can wear curly, straight, up, down, whatever (like this sleek look on Keira Knightley). This gives a more youthful vibe and still lets you play with your hair without drastic measures like a mohawk or neon-pink hair color. Speaking of which ...
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Don't: Go crazy with your hair color
"Your 30s are a turning point," says Fowler. "You're not a baby, but you're not super mature either. It's time to start thinking about enhancing your natural beauty." In case you haven't noticed, cotton candy pink is not exactly a hair color found in nature.
Crazy colors and extreme changes, like going from black to platinum blonde, can look cheap, says Fowler. Cheap is OK when you're 20, not so much when you're 30.
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Do: Go for natural color
Fear not, you can still color your hair. You just "need to match your skin tone," Fowler says. Take Jessica Biel: Her sun-kissed highlights give her deep blonde hair a halo-like appearance.
Another reason to keep it natural: As you get older, your skin can look tired. A natural shade that works with your skin can make it look fresh and awake, Fowler says. Extreme shades will just make dull, tired skin look worse.
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Your 30s can be weird. You've grown out of those wild, try anything, up all night times of your 20s (you have, right?), but you're not quite ready to sit at home with a PBS special and a mug of chamomile tea. What you're really after is something in the middle — a fun evening with friends with a dash of adventure, but without the mysterious "bar bruises" and a wicked hangover.
It's the same thing with your hair. In your 30s you need a hairstyle you can still have some fun with, but you can't get away with some of the, uh, experimental styles you had in your 20s.
Rest assured that you don't need to chop off all your hair into a "sensible" cut the moment the clock strikes midnight on your 30th birthday. Instead, try one of the fun, chic, and easy-to-wear hairstyles in this roundup and follow the advice we got from Mika Fowler, a stylist at the Gavert Atelier Salon in Beverly Hills, Calif. As long as you also steer clear of the major hair mistakes Fowler filled us in on as well, it'll be smooth sailing until your next milestone birthday. And don't worry, we have hair dos and don'ts for your 40s too.
