30 Gray Hair Styles

As women age, our hair goes through changes along with the rest of our bodies. It may lose lustre, become thinner, or completely transform in texture, and at some point it will almost certainly go gray. While many women choose to fight gray hair for as long as possible, recent changes in our beliefs about feminine beauty being explicitly linked to youth have led many more middle-aged and senior women to embrace the natural shades of their aging hair.  Allowing yourself to go gray saves time and money, while projecting an air of confidence that beauty is not age dependent. We’ve compiled 30 examples of gray hair styles to give middle-aged and senior women the motivation they need go au naturel.

For many women, hair becomes more coarse as it turns gray, and this in turn affects how easy it is to style. Long natural curls may become less responsive to smoothing products, and more likely to appear frizzed out instead of luscious. This hairstyle brings natural curls into a chin length style that’s more manageable, but still long enough to show them off.

A trendy style amongst women of all ages, this shoulder length cut with long layers proves that grey hair can be playful and sexy. If you’ve got thinner hair, a cut like this without any bangs or short layers will do a good job at maximizing your hair’s volume.

One of the pioneers of the movement to embrace grey hair, Jamie Lee Curtis has been wearing salt and pepper locks for nearly a decade. Her short cut is a great style to emulate if you’re an active woman, but short hair isn’t necessarily lower maintenance, as it often needs to be wet and re-styled in the morning.  

Many older women cut their hair shorter to better manage hair that is finer and drier than it used to be, while even more feel pressured to cut their grey hair short because of social conventions. Maintaining long, grey hair might take more work, but tricks like applying hair oils, UV protectants, and investing in a keratin smoothing treatment can help you keep your hair as long as possible.

If you’d like to grow your gray hair long, this simple three strand braid is a quick and easy way to keep it secure and stylish throughout the day.

These natural curls are cropped fairly close to the head, showing off their texture while making styling quick and easy. Cutting hair shorter around the ears will help to lengthen the appearance of almost any face shape, and keeps your short style looking sophisticated and clean.

Popular among professional women, the stacked bob is cut with a series of layers in the back that eliminate bulk from the nape of the neck, and left longer in the front. This stylish gray hair cut is especially recommended for women with naturally thick hair that becomes unmanageable without a well structured hairstyle.

Embracing grey certainly does not mean accepting flat toned hair color. This fabulous mid length blunt cut is steel grey at the roots with some brunette hues throughout the ends.

A bona fide sex symbol at seventy years old, Helen Mirren is an inspiration to women who don’t want to pretend they’re 25 forever. These bangs, cut with texture at the ends and parted similarly to the rest of the bob, frame the face without heavily overshadowing it.

If your hair has thinned with age, leaving it longer can accentuate this thinness, as hair weighs itself down and leaves areas of scalp exposed. This short pixie keeps hair closely cropped and doesn’t leave any thin wispy tendrils behind.

Making a power statement, this bob is cut with long pieces in the front that are swept back to create a chic statement cut.

Lots of layers give this mid length cut bounce and movement, while layered bangs are left longer at the sides in a face framing style that is especially flattering to long or square faces.

For painters, sculptors, and other creatives, this curled bob is the free-spirited cousin of a sleek bob style. Adding bangs is an easy way to make thick hair more manageable, although women with very curly hair may find them too difficult to style on a regular basis.

Just a quick browse online will reveal the pervasive popularity of braided hairstyles. From athletes to brides to little girls on their first day of school, braided styles are as trendy as they are versatile. This chunky side braid is easy to pull off, and shows off the various tones in anyone’s hair.