5 Easy Ways to Refresh Your Senior Style

There’s a huge difference between trying to look young and making an effort to keep your look current — and a good style is all about the latter.  

While you do want to keep up with the trends, you also have the wisdom to incorporate them into your own refresh. Still, we can all use a little help — and here are five tips from our favorite experts on styling older adults.

1. Add Lift to Senior Hairstyles

Imagine the exact same haircut, but one version droops while the other has lift. You can see the difference in this YouTube tutorial by hairstylist Justin Hickox. Hair that droops pulls the face down, while hair with a lift makes anyone’s face look magically refreshed.

The technique takes a bit of practice, but the basics include using plenty of mousse (and not just on the roots, which Hickox says is a classic mistake) to create lasting volume and lift. Once you get the hang of it, it’ll transform your look, making your style both more modern and youthful. 

2. Avoid These Senior Style Fashion Mistakes

Blogger Jo-Lynne Shane has an expert eye for pinpointing fashion choices that age us, including tunic-style shirts, cheap fabrics, outdated accessories, wearing the wrong bra, and carrying dark handbags in spring and summer.

But her biggest senior-style gripe is capri pants.

That certainly doesn’t mean all your pants have to be long. It’s just that there’s a way to do cropped pants the right way. Pants should end below the widest part of your calf. And instead of the traditional capri, choose more modern versions such as crop flares or wide-legged pants. Here’s a good example by Kut From the Kloth. Not only is the cut right, but the linen fabric is both timeless and current. 

3. Update Your Eyeglasses

Glasses are another area where it’s easy to get into a rut. But styles change — and so do we. Fashion blogger Cindy Hattersley offers the following tips for choosing new frames:

• Avoid glasses with a downward sweep.
• Consider hair, eye, and skin color.
• Pick glasses that suit your personality.
• Don’t over-accessorize when wearing glasses.
• Go for oversize frames that draw attention away from wrinkles.
• Avoid rimless styles that tend to wash people out.
• Consider current styles, such as clear frames.
• Don’t be afraid of making a statement if you love it and it works for you, such as red glasses and red lipstick. 

Finally, while it’s easy to pick out, say, new shoes or handbags, it can be really helpful to bring along a friend or family member whose style you admire when trying on new glasses. 

4. Get More Lift With Makeup for Seniors

YouTuber Hot & Flashy (who goes by just Angie) talks about fitness, fashion, hair, and skincare, but her makeup tutorials are especially helpful. “Eyeliner Do’s & Don’ts To “Lift” Mature Eyes” will change the way you’ve been doing your eyes for, possibly, decades. 

Less than 11 minutes long, the video is well worth watching, but the upshot is that you can “lift” eyes that naturally droop as we age by doing your eyeliner differently.

How? Angie illustrates this by doing her right eye the “old” way, which is lining both the top and the bottom of the eye with a dark liner all the way to the corner of the eye. On her left “young” eye, she lines the top of the eye about “three eyelashes away” from the corner so that the line does not curve downward. The lower lid is lined with a much lighter shade. It’s a simple hack, but the difference between the two eyes is dramatic. 

5. Keep Your Skin Supple

We earn our wrinkles; they’re not the problem. But what you don’t want is dry, dull skin. The good news is there are three products that dermatologists universally agree with that change your skin for the better.

• Retin-A has proven science behind it, delivering smoother and firmer skin. These days, there are more options than ever, including Retin-A custom-made for your skin by online retailers such as Agency by Curology. 
• Vitamin C is known for adding “glow” by reducing hyperpigmentation and thwarting sun damage. Well-respected brands range from SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic (pricey) to TruSkin Vitamin C Serum (much more affordable).
• While Retin-A and Vitamin C can take weeks to see results, hyaluronic acid instantly plumps the skin. Asterwood Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum ($17.99) is a top choice by many experts, as is The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 ($8.90).

Finding Your Senior Style at Stonebridge at Montgomery

We tend to think of personal style as how you look, but true style starts with who you are — and at Stonebridge at Montgomery the goal is to help you live your best life. How? By providing every opportunity possible to learn, grow, socialize, get fit, and have fun. Check out our activities to see the full range of activities available at our campus in Skillman, New Jersey, which includes an art studio, fitness center, greenhouse, walking trails, and more. Click through our online photo gallery to get a glimpse of the beauty of our campus. Or, contact our team today to schedule a personal tour and see for yourself. We’d love to show you around!