At what age is it time to cut off your hair?  I hear this all the time from women: "Should I go shorter with my cut?" "Am I to old for this long hair?" and " I think I need to go blonde, since I'm so gray."

I say you can never be to old for long, luscious hair, and I don't believe in going blonde because you’re gray or over 50. The biggest mistake women make is chopping off their hair at a certain age. It's absolutely ridiculous—some women look great with shorter hair, and some women look great with longer hair. 

Then how do we know when it's time to finally grow up with our hair?

 We all start to change at points in our life—which means not only do our bodies change, but our hair changes too. I don't see anything wrong with being 50-plus and having long hair—provided that it looks healthy, has shine and isn’t gray. 

If you get to the point where your hair just flops downs or falls flat, the shine is gone, and your mid-shaft to your ends are looking dry, then I believe it's probably time to say goodbye to long hair and welcome in a sexy new shorter look.

If your hair is blown out, and from behind 21-year-old boys are whistling at you and thinking you're a 20-year-old firecracker, then the long hair is probably rocking, and I wouldn't dare cut it off.

But even if you have good hair, if you're over 40, long hair can sometimes make you look older. Use your discretion.

Take my favorite Hollywood celebrity Jennifer Aniston, who chopped her hair off and went blonder. Now she looks old, tired and has completely lost all of her sex appeal. In her case, all her beauty was in her great sexy hair and color.  With her new look, that's all gone. 

Say your gray is coming in faster and you really don't want to come see me or your favorite colorist every three or four  weeks, so you then decide you should go blonde.

Big, huge mistake!

As soon as that gray comes back in, your hot blonde turns a hot mess of brassy blonde—you've just added more maintenance to your hair. 

Then when will we know if we should go lighter?

The key is to go lighter, but just a little bit. Try adding some carmel highlights, or lighten up your base and add some blonde around your face. Yes, in some cases it'll blend the gray better, but not by that much. It may just give you a week or two between touch-ups. 

I always tell my girls if you were blonde as a child then going lighter will look great. When we grow older, we should go back to the tones we had as children. We’ll look better and it won't be as if you're trying too much.

There's nothing worse then looking age inappropriate.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions for a subject I should touch on, please leave it in the comments area.

White Plains resident Julius Michael is the author of this column and the trusted stylist to many high-end Westchester clients. See his website at www.JuliusMichael.com or reach him at Julius@JuliusMichael.com or 914.648.9866.

Check back with him every Friday at 3 p.m. for the latest style tips so you can make sure you're looking fabulous at Westchester's weekend hot spots. 

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