The Hollywood Way To Keep Hair Hot After 40

The Hollywood way to keep hair hot after 40: Jerry Hall’s favorite stylist Charles Worthington reveals his tricks of the trade

Charles Worthington, wields his brush, curling iron and talent on celebs attending the Baftas (British Academy of Film and Television Arts). From Goldie to Sally to Jerry Hall, Mr Worthington dispenses solid advice regarding length, color, dimension and volume. His Essential Hair Kit suggestions will have you styling like a pro.

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Middle age is a tricky time of life even for the most gorgeous of women, as waistlines spread and wrinkles accumulate.

But wearing our hair in a style and colour that flatters can work wonders, no matter which side of 40 a woman is on.

Here, Charles Worthington, who styled 47-year-old Sarah Jessica Parker’s hair for the Baftas and whose salon was responsible for 55-year-old TV presenter Fern Britton’s funky new cut, shares his hottest tips — whatever your age. . .

Fringe benefits: Mary Quant shows how to wear the style well, left, while Jerry Hall proves long locks can still work on older women

GET A FAB FRINGE LIKE MARY

A fringe can be great for covering wrinkles or furrows in the forehead or brow area. If you want to see how you’d look with a fringe, create a false one from another section of your hair and leave it in place for a minute or two to let your eye adjust.

A crisp, sharp fringe can look very stylish in your fifties, sixties and seventies, but the short fringe you had in your twenties can look wrong when you’re older, so it often works to wear it a little longer and softer as you age. Depending on face shape and the texture of the hair, a gentler, sweeping, less definite fringe may be more flattering.

The celeb who gets it right: At 79, Mary Quant still has the sharp look and it’s amazing on her. She wears her fringe slightly longer than she used to, but it’s still bold and beautiful.

PLAY IT STRAIGHT  LIKE SJP

When you’re older, you have to be careful not to wear hair too flat and close to your head — it’s very unforgiving. Try not to use too many products on your hair to flatten it. Straightened hair looks fabulous if it still has a little softness and fluffiness to it, rather than if it’s poker straight.

The celeb who gets it right: I straightened Sarah Jessica Parker’s hair for the Baftas, but I blow-dried in volume first so it had lift all the way round. I applied oil to Sarah’s hair when it was wet, then dried it on a big barrel brush using a nozzle to blast the hair flat against the brush. I ran straightening irons over it from mid-length to the ends, but not at the roots because I wanted it to look full rather than flat.

Long and short of it: Sarah Jessica Parker works a straight look, left, while Judi Dench looks pretty with a pixie crop

TRY JUDI’S SOFT CROP

If closely cropped hair sits too flat, it can look masculine. The key is to create texture using layers and the right products. Sharp, hard lines can look harsh, so keep the shape soft in the nape of the neck. An inch to one-and-a-half inches is short enough and allows enough hair for you to play with it. Use a volumising mousse to give lift.

The celeb who gets it right: Judi Dench, 78, looks so pretty, and she’s not afraid to wear her crop incredibly short sometimes.

PICK NATURAL COLOURS LIKE SALLY

The key thing with hair colour is whether your skin tone is cool or warm. You stylist can advise on which colours you should use to work with your skin.

Proceed with caution, though: a warm hair colour on someone with cool skin tone looks fake and block colours can be severe. It’s better to break up your colour with highlights or lowlights. This gives a softer, more natural look.

Grey hair isn’t youthful, but not everyone wants to look younger. Grey can look good if it’s a clean, fresh grey, but not many people are blessed with that beautiful silvery hue, and nothing is worse than grey hair that looks dirty.

Grey hair can look pretty when it’s broken up and enhanced with lighter or darker shades.

The celeb who gets it right: I love the chestnut shade worn by Sally Field, 66 – it’s flattering because it’s exactly the right shade for her skin tone.

Still got it: Sally Field’s chestnut shades are flattering, left, while Goldie Hawn has hair with volume

GO LONGER LIKE GOLDIE

Long, straight hair can look severe and unforgiving when it frames an older face — you can get away with it when you’re younger when your skin is fresher and there are no lines, but long, one-length hair isn’t flattering in your fifties.

That doesn’t mean to have to lose the length, it’s about re-styling the hair by having some face-framing, choppy layers cut in, creating softer tendrils of hair around the face. It’s all about creating body and volume.

There used to be hard and fast rules for how to wear your hair over a certain age, but many of these have gone out of the window. One of them was that more mature women shouldn’t wear their hair long. But look at Jerry Hall — she’s 56 and couldn’t look more glamorous.

I think of hair as a frame for the face: a well-framed picture looks incredible, but the same picture framed badly looks awful.

The celeb who gets it right: Goldie Hawn, 67, has long hair with volume, bounce and vitality, which perfectly matches her personality. She looks fun, flirty, sexy and feminine.

The Charles Worthington Salon at Home Secrets Collection is available now exclusively at Boots nationwide or www.boots.com

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