3. NO HAIR EXTENSIONS

So, look. I get it. Long hair is the desired look. Men, for the most part, respond more to long hair than they do to short hair. I've recently let my hair grow and it's the longest it's been since I was a teenager. I know I'm on borrowed time until I reach "that age" and then I'll be on my own list if I don't cut it into that sort of sassy appropriate length, and I don't mean the 90s Meg Ryan cut. I mean the quiet, not-calling-attention-to-myself cut; the cut that speaks in hushed tones and offends no one.

But, extensions...sigh. No. Let me say that again: No. In particular, the extensions that all the Housewives of Orange County had a couple of seasons back, and the same worn by Daryl Hannah to the left. It just reeks of impostor hair, there's not a smidgen of subtlety and it doesn't add youth, in fact quite the opposite. It screams of desperate need to hang onto what once was.

I will say that extensions have come a long way. Some time ago my friend took me to a salon on my birthday and ordered up the long, wavy blonde extensions for me. Extensions were in their rookie season, and I was newly drafted. I was excited by my new flowing locks, and later that night at dinner on a first date, I habitually played with my hair as I modestly flirted, and the next thing I knew, I'd taken an entire chunk of hair from my head. I don't mean a strand, but rather a handful. I don't remember how my date reacted or how things ended. It's highly likely I went home with him to assuage my embarrassment. But the point is, the hair world has come a long way and yours can be made to look very natural and even quite pretty. 

But the ironed out blonde pasted to the face and hanging to mid-breast? Please. Give it up. See what you've got under those extensions, take that leap and perhaps, if not fully jumping in, at least putting your toe into the realm of your age.