“I remember hearing that when women get older they shouldn't have long hair.
But who said that?
If our hair can be long and it's not damaged, then why couldn't we keep this length?" asked Demi Moore in an interview with
People
magazine in July 2022, thus relaunching the debate on a received idea that hard-skinned.
Read also“Who says that as you get older, you can no longer wear long hair?”
: Demi Moore talks about her hair routine
New social norm
Michel Messu, sociologist and author of the book
An ethnologist at the hairdresser
(Fayard editions), confirms that "the woman's hair has become shorter due to the evolution of her social activity and consequently, the reduction of her time dedicated to hairdressing.
The more activities she had thanks to social changes, the less time she had to take care of her hair and therefore, she shortened it”.
The specialist recalls that the sculptural hairstyle has long been an element of class distinction to which women gave a lot of time and importance, especially at the time of Queen Marie-Antoinette.
“In the 17th and 18th centuries, when the activity of the noble or bourgeois woman was essentially to appear in the world in beautiful forms, she spent a lot of time making very elaborate hairstyles.
So she kept her hair long to afford it.
In the working classes too, women kept their lengths, but they made practical hairstyles, by making braids or enclosing them in scarves for example, so as not to be embarrassed in their activities.
Their common point, however?
“They wore long hair because according to the stereotypes in force at the time, it was a mark of femininity.
The beauty of the woman was manifested in particular by this long hair, which was very strongly linked to seduction.
We
Demi Moore at the Fashion Trust Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, March 21, 2023. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images
Technical progress
Then, in the 1960s, progress in the cosmetics industry (in particular with the launch of the first Elnett hairspray from L'Oréal) brought new possibilities to the hairstyle of women's hair in order to reconcile practicality and beauty.
“During the 20th century, these technical developments allowed women to wear shorter but still attractive hair, facilitating their interactions in this new social world, this active salaried life.
She was able to keep the potential of seduction of her hair, by arranging so that these are not an obstacle to her activities, ”explains Michel Messu.
Today, the major players in beauty are continuing their scientific developments in this direction;
witness the number of new “anti-aging” hair treatments or treatments designed to boost hair growth, which are multiplying on the shelves of our stores, at hairdressers or in the offices of aesthetic doctors.
Food supplements, mesotherapy or even "microneedling" are enjoying growing success.
Read alsoAll about microneedling, the effective treatment to fight hair loss
In video: what haircut to change your head?
Less maintenance
For practical and economic reasons, however, short hair has advantages that still appeal to many women.
"Until the age of 40, 45, I had long hair in the middle of my back, but over time it can quickly become 'neglected' if you don't style it", testifies Clémentine, 59, considering also that she is “no longer old enough” to wear them long because that would “age” her.”
On the other hand, there is no question for her of going to the ultra-short: "It's not for me, I tried and it was a disaster."
Today she wears a square.
Actress Michelle Yeoh at the Golden Globes Awards in Beverly Hills, January 10, 2023. Matt Winkelmeyer/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Care routine
As far as she is concerned, Laurence, 48, imposes a muscular routine to maintain her very long and smooth brown hair that she has sported for almost a decade.
On the program, two double shampoos per week systematically followed by a keratin mask and a little serum on the ends before brushing.
She also treats herself to a hair botox treatment once a year, and started doing root color and a gloss on the lengths last year.
His efforts to take care of his hair look have earned him many new compliments.
“I was hardly made of it before, when I wore my hair short.
Today, whether they are curly or stiff, they always have their effect,” she rejoices.
And to add that
they have become an integral part of his personality: “Without them, I don't feel myself.
I had in mind the look of Demi Moore in her early forties, when she wore maxi hair, very smooth, with straight bangs.
I dreamed of it, and I did it!
It was she who broke my absurd blockage which made me believe that you had to be young to have hair at your waist,” she confides.
Penélope Cruz at the photocall of the film
L'Immensità
in Paris, December 13, 2022. Stephane Cardinale-Corbis / Getty Images
This choice that Laurence fully assumes today, however, went against what she had been taught in the past: “My mother kept saying that at 40 you have to cut your hair.
As I got older, it was out of the question for me to give in to this received idea.
Hair length is not a matter of age but of maintenance.
If they are beautiful, healthy and well maintained, I don't see why my age would deprive me of them,” she replies.
As for the idea of going back to short hair one day?
"Never again !
Over time I might not wear them as long, but on the shoulders.
As long as they remain healthy and therefore beautiful”.
In video: the trendy long haircuts of the year
Hair aging
For many, it is not the desire that is lacking, but the material.
“Women over 40 and 50 all have in mind the long hair of Gisele Bündchen or Elle McPherson.
Except that they do not all have hair that is sufficiently thick and of good quality to be able to wear them as long as they are, ”underlines Natacha Dzikowski, author of the book
I have the age that I want
(editions Leduc).
According to this 50-year-old who defines herself as a “happy age activist”, the archetypal short haircut has gained popularity, in particular because it allows you to create an “impression of volume for those who do not have one”.
"It's interesting when you start to have thinner, less vigorous and less dense hair with age",
Read alsoLength, vitality, shine... Pro advice for regenerating hair after 40
Indeed, we are all born with our own “hair capital” which wears out over time and impacts the appearance of the hair.
“You have to accept the fact that your hair ages and loses its vigor, like the skin.
It evolves over time and follows a life cycle that changes every seven years.
Sometimes it can be radical,” explains hairdresser Hovig Etoyan, founder of the salon Le 14 in Paris.
While genetics plays a big role, “how you have treated your hair throughout your life will also influence its condition later on.
You can make efforts in your routine and your lifestyle to delay this as much as possible, but over time they will weaken, thin out and grow back less and less quickly.
Hence the use of the short haircut,
Julia Roberts at the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles, January 15, 2023. Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Some clients want to delay switching to a cropped haircut for as long as possible because they feel that once they get there they fall into the “older women” category.
Hovig Etoyan, hairdresser and founder of the salon Le 14 in Paris
Take a step
For some, accepting this reality is not always easy.
“Some clients want to delay switching to a short haircut for as long as possible because they feel that once they get there, they fall into that stigmatizing category of 'older' women.
They think they can't go back after that.
There is a real blockage”, observes Hovig Etoyan.
“Some arrive with a photo of her at 30 and ask us for the same cut as at that time.
They know deep down that it's not possible to get exactly the same thing, but they need to hear it from their hairdresser."
Read alsoThese hairstyles that do not age: 22 celebrities over 50 who have the right cut
Natacha Dzikowski admits to having made some reconciliations herself: “I've always dreamed of having full hair, with beautiful curls and lots of volume.
Obviously, I have quite the opposite: they are thin and flat.
I can't let them grow to my shoulders anymore because they are too tired, weakened by discoloration and brittle at the ends.
However, I'm not going to wear super short hair because I don't like it either,” she says.
As a result, “I have a degraded and structured cut, right down to the neck.
It allows me to keep lengths and have volume.
It is the sum of a number of realistic compromises.
I know what I can and cannot do.
If I want to have Gisèle's mane one day, I'll buy myself a wig!
The idea is not to look like a teenager at 50, but to be aligned with yourself in the present moment, to be in tune with your age.
Hovig Etoyan, hairdresser and founder of the salon Le 14 in Paris
Because, in conclusion, it's not just a matter of age, but “it's partly the hair that also decides.
If you don't have the material to work with, you can't do much and you have to accept it,” insists Hovig Etoyan.
And to complete: “The idea is not to look like a teenager at 50, but to be aligned with yourself in the present moment, to be in tune with your age”.
22 women over 50 who have the right haircut
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow22 photos
See the slideshow22 photos
In video, what haircut to change your head?
