We all worry about keeping our skin looking young, but we can forget that the wrong hairstyle can age you more than wrinkles can.  Your hair is one of the first things people notice and if your style looks dated, or unflattering, you'll look older.  Simply getting the right style can knock years off in the time it takes to have a cut and blow-dry.

Know your face shape

The key to a good cut is that it should complement your face shape.  If you don't know your face shape, try this. Tie your hair back off your face and wear something with a low neckline.  Stand or sit in front of a mirror, a little less than an arm's distance away.  Grasp a lip-liner pencil in your writing hand close one eye and trace the outline of your face, round the hairline, jawline and back to the hairline, on the glass.  Now add in the ears, neck and the outline of your head around the top and sides. There you have it!

Round

• A sleek rather than full look at the sides.
• A fringe cut on an angle, blending in slightly longer at the temple to create shadows under the cheekbones.
• Hair feathered at the bottom onto neck to disguise a plump or short neck.
• PLUS - use make-up to elongate eyebrows and eyes, miss out on blusher, but try highlighter on the top of the cheek bones and under brows: try lighter brighter lips.

Square

• A slightly asymmetrical fringe.
• Short hair worn behind the ears feathered down on neck to give length.
• Longer hair with fullness at top to balance jawline, soften outline and edges of hair and avoid hard lines.
• PLUS - accentuate and lengthen brows and eyes and use earrings to take attention away from square jawline.

Oblong

• A soft top of head
• A slightly asymmetrical fringe, which graduates, blending and continuing the line into the body of the hair.
• Fullness behind the ears to widen the face.
• A medium length layered bob.

Inverted triangle (wider at top)

• Gentle curves on the top of the head.
• A fringe which is longer in the middle and shorter at the temples.
• A one length bob just below the ears.

Triangle

• Fullness at top on sides to balance head shape.
• A soft slightly asymmetrical fringe to disguise hairline and shorten face.
• PLUS - accentuate eyes, wear earrings to draw attention away from the jaw.

NB - one of the most common problems with older faces is that they tend to get thinner so make sure always to balance this with softness and fullness rather than hard lines.

If you have an oval shape, lucky you, as you can wear any shape and cut!

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