Color Care Maintenance Recommendations For Age 60+ Clients

No matter what the age, a client's hair style and color should flatter their face and their figure. According to MORE, there are a number of hair mistakes that can make your client look older, avoid these!

#1: Very Dark Color: “Very deep color may have looked good in your twenties or thirties, but skin [of all tones] starts to lose pigment after 40, and the contrast between hair and skin becomes stark,” says Celebrity Colorist Rita Hazan. "Women with very dark complexions may be able to pull off deep color longer than the fair of face, but eventually everyone benefits from lightening a little."

 #2: Going White Blonde: If your client has been a brunette their entire life, a few highlighted blonde peices may be beneficial to camouflage gray, but going too light can be just as unflattering as goign too dark. Keep the color multidimensional, or weave in warmer lowlights to fight the washed-out look.

#3: Dry and Dull Strands: “Nothing looks more vital than healthy, shiny hair,” says Julien Farel, owner of two salons in Manhattan and one in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. But as you age, your hair loses moisture and pigment, making this trait tougher to maintain. Make sure to recommend proper deep conditioning treatments, masks or Keratin treatments.

MODERN also asked Michael Ian Black, Aveda Global Artistic Director to offer his advice on color care maintenance for 60+ clients, plus, we asked: Should the colorist consider changing their formula?

“As we age, a hair color that suited us at 20 may not be the best shade most suited to our coloring anymore,” says Ian Michael Black, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Hair Color. “Our hair tends to lose its pigment and our skin tends to lighten and lose its glow. Hair color formulations should be designed to soften the complexion and add an element of softening warmth. Regularly re-asses your guests’ skin tone, and work with a hair color tone that flatters their natural coloring. Also, if your guest has a higher percentage of white hair, think about a service that will grow out gently and will look good until their next appointment.

“For home maintenance, always work with what is on the hair as well as the hair itself. For whiter haired guests that are colored, I like to recommend a shampoo and conditioner to help preserve the color, like Aveda's Color Conserve line. Then as a weekly treatment, I like Aveda's Dry Remedy Treatment to infuse hair with moisture.”