Article by Paul Jones

How should a professional woman style her hair? There is no single accurate answer for this question. Beyond individual preferences, the appropriate hairstyle depends on many factors, most importantly, the nature of her job. The job description of her chosen profession has a great influence on the way a woman should style her hair. But other factors also come into play, such as her other social roles and her personal goals. Sometimes, these factors have conflicting demands on her. For example, a woman might be an event planner who may need a glamorous long hairstyle, but she is also a new mom whose baby likes to grab her hair.

Choosing the right hairstyle is achieving a compromise for all conflicting factors and still having a confident-boosting outward appearance. The following tips will be useful in helping you choose the appropriate professional hairstyle.

Tip #1: Redefine your job description

To be successful in her career and still be fashion-savvy, a woman must examine her job description from the point of view of hairstylists. Regardless of a woman’s profession, her hairstyle should help her appear more attractive. Unfortunately, some women may not see the need for styling her hair or that her job forces her to be stuck in an unattractive hairstyle.

For example, a woman who works in a laboratory will be wearing a bulky lab coat, along with gloves and goggles, and sometimes, with earmuffs and a gas mask. Her job description demands that she keeps her hair out of the way. Thus, she has her hair pulled back in a severe bun. What if her laboratory research finally yields results that are worthy of media attention? She couldn’t emerge from her laboratory looking like an overworked scientist who talked to beakers. Instead, her hairstylist would suggest a short stylish hairstyle, perhaps a chic bob. Her hair will still be out of the way while she pours slimy sludge into a flask, but when she removes the coat, the goggles, and the mask, she would look like a confident celebrity stepping out of a fashion magazine. Simply put, you may think like Einstein, but you don’t have to look like him.

Tip #2: Don’t forget the basics

Now that you know that you need not be trapped by the stereotypes and preconceptions that are linked to your profession, you will find a wide a variety of hairstyles that you are tempted to try. This is when your Einstein-like thinking is needed. Not all these hairstyles will look good on you. You need to remember all laws, both scientific and aesthetic.

When it comes to hairstyles, the ones that will show off your best features will be those that are appropriate for the shape of your face. For example, an oblong shape face could not get away with extremely long hair, and the square shape face could not benefit from a cropped bob. The aesthetics law that hairstylists faithfully adhere to is to have hairstyles that create illusions. For example, a medium-length layered hairstyle will create an illusion of length and narrowness for women who have round face shapes.

Tip #3: Strive for an ageless style

Another factor to weigh in choosing hairstyles is your age. This does not mean that you need a hairstyle that reflects the fad of the year you were born. It means that your hairstyle must accede, to some degree, to the social expectations of your age. For example, when you are in your forties, do not be tempted to have green highlights or asymmetrical cuts. If you really wanted highlights, choose the more subtle colors. And if you really wanted to copy Victoria Beckham’s chic bob, compromise with a longer length or a less radical angle. Does this mean that older women have a more limited of selection of hairstyle? On the contrary, older women have more freedom with hairstyles. When you’re in your forties, you can actually get away with a lot of things. But you must remember to appear more elegant rather than stylish, and to appear shrewd rather than obtuse.

If you are in your twenties, you can still copy a lot of the trendier hairstyles, even those that are considered extremes. But you must still consider the nature of your job. For example, if you are in the insurance business, you want your hairstyle to encourage your clients to have confidence in your professional abilities. That is, you don’t want your clients to think that you are too young for your job.

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