Advice on Staying in Step With Hair Fashion

Guest Author - Lynne Chapman

Hair fashion is an ever-changing world. Watching the style makers – celebrities and fashion designers – can cause us to want to change our personal look every three months or so, if not even more often. Keeping current in your hairstyle and hair color can be a daunting task. Yet, many of us don’t want to be caught wearing a dated looking ‘old-stand-by’ style. How does one keep an up-to-date look? Current fashion and celebrity magazines are a good place to start for a source of information on where the world of fashion is heading.

After browsing the fashion mags and finding several styles that catch our eye, how can we know which of these is the one that will flatter us, as well as fit into our busy lifestyle? Many hairstyle and color trends are meant to be just that – trends – not a definite style. Many of the styles that you see in magazines are not practical for everyday wear and not appropriate for everyone. Trends are meant to be followed as a general guideline, with the lines and proportions adapted to the individual.

Often, the worst thing a woman can do is copy an exact hairstyle from a magazine when that style does not complement her age, physical appearance or her lifestyle.

Big Changes

Unless you are a woman who is always very adventurous and who is very secure with her self-image, I advise against making huge changes in one salon visit. For example; the woman who goes from long hair that has a romantic feel, to very short hair with severe lines is often unhappy with the result. She has gone from a style with a feminine feel to one that is more masculine in comparison. When cutting off length, it is usually wiser to transition to a not quite so short style that has soft fringy lines to keep the feminine feeling. Shorter versions of this style can be adopted later.

Fashion is always changing

After finding the perfect trendy haircut and enjoying it for a time, how do we get to the next trend? Another pitfall of wearing an exact hairstyle trend is that it will become dated more quickly. People can say, “Yes, she is wearing the XXX style that was so popular two years ago.” It is safer to follow the feeling of the trend by making subtle changes rather than acquiring the exact cut. It is fun to make big changes but you can be caught having a long grow out period before you can catch up with the next trend.

When browsing the magazines to find your next hairstyle or hair color, ask yourself if that new hairstyle will flatter your individual features and will it relate to who you are? Does it flatter your face shape as well as your personality? Does the new hair color complement your complexion and bring out your prettiest features and will it be appropriate for all areas of your life?