While aging is inevitable, beautiful and something to be proud of, some haircuts can make us look older than we are, and not frame our features as well as others can. For this reason, we checked in with professional hair stylists and hair experts for three haircut suggestions to avoid if your goal is to maintain a youthful look, or just a trendy one for fall! Read on for tips and insight from Ghanima Abdullah, hair expert and cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles, Gina Rivera, celebrity hair stylist and founder of Phenix Salon Suites.

Shutterstock

Thick, Blunt Bangs

While this fringe ‘do can be seen as edgy and bold, Abdullah warns that it can add years to your look by drawing attention to wrinkles, rather than framing your face or emphasizing your cheekbones like another haircut can. “Thick, blunt bangs that come past the eyebrows on a blunt lob” should be avoided, she explains, as “these emphasize every sign of age in the face, and they don’t frame the face well.” Rather, she stresses, “they push all the attention to the eyes, with all their lines.”

Shutterstock

Instead, Try Curtain Bangs

An alternative to this “popular, yet unflattering look” would be curtain bangs, she recommends. “These flatter just about any face at any age and neatly frame the face while drawing attention away from serious aging signs,” she continues. Curtain bangs, Abdullah notes, are a type of fringe cut that creates a soft, natural looking wave at the top of the head, as seen here on Kirsten Dunst. “They are often used to frame the face and specifically, to give it a youthful appearance,” she adds, which “look great on mature women” as they make your face appear “smaller and slimmer when they come down to cheek level.”

Shutterstock

Spiky Pixie

While a Halle Berry-esque cut can really draw eyes to your beautiful features, Abdullah recommends not making it look too spiky when styling, as this could highlight any hair thinning or bring attention to your scalp. “This is a great way to show everyone just how much you’re missing up top,” she warns, adding, “the spikes create equal areas of empty scalp.”

Shutterstock

Try A Pixie With Side-Swept Bangs Instead

Going for a short look is still a tried-and-true way to highlight your eyes and cheekbones, and Abdullah says that another way to do this is by adding side-swept bangs to your cut. “Ever seen a pixie cut where the bangs steal all the attention? This is what you’re after:…