Beachy waves like Amanda Seyfried's are the perfect way to pair the carefree 'tude of your 20s with the new-found dignity of your 30s. "Glowy skin and loose waves make you look young and fresh," Fowler says. "It's a great style for your 30s."
The best part? You can dress these sexy, tousled waves up or down when you need to. Just add a texturizing salt spray like Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray, $27, when you want to look more casual, or polish your waves with a curling iron for a more formal event. But try to work with your natural texture when you can so you don't commit the next "don't."
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Don't: Damage your hair
Much like rocker hair color looks cheap, damaged hair makes you look way less put-together than you should be in your 30s. Britney Spears has such fried ends, it looks like she hasn't seen a salon since their 20s; not good.
Fowler suggests working with your natural hair texture, especially if you have curly hair. "You don't want to be blow drying it every day," she adds. When you do heat style, protect your hair with a product like Kiehl's Heat-Protective Silk-Straightening Cream, $17. You can also keep the damage down by using a UV spray when you know you'll be in the sun, wearing a hat outdoors, and using deep conditioning treatments regularly.
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Do: Amp up your shine
"Shiny, healthy hair is the best style ever," says Fowler. "It makes you look younger and is always in style." Jessica Alba shows how pretty and sexy shiny hair can be. No matter your cut or style, this is a goal worth striving for.
Here are a few tips than can help boost your shine: Avoid anything that dries out your hair, like too much coloring and heat styling, and shampooing too frequently. When you do wash your hair, rinse your conditioner with cool water to seal your hair cuticle (this will make your hair lay flatter, which also helps more light bounce off it for extra shine). If you do blow dry, finish with a blast of cool air, which also seals the hair's cuticle. You can also try a clear hair glaze like Paul Mitchell Gloss Drops, $20, for extra sheen.
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Your 30s can be weird. You've grown out of those wild, try anything, up all night times of your 20s (you have, right?), but you're not quite ready to sit at home with a PBS special and a mug of chamomile tea. What you're really after is something in the middle — a fun evening with friends with a dash of adventure, but without the mysterious "bar bruises" and a wicked hangover.
It's the same thing with your hair. In your 30s you need a hairstyle you can still have some fun with, but you can't get away with some of the, uh, experimental styles you had in your 20s.
Rest assured that you don't need to chop off all your hair into a "sensible" cut the moment the clock strikes midnight on your 30th birthday. Instead, try one of the fun, chic, and easy-to-wear hairstyles in this roundup and follow the advice we got from Mika Fowler, a stylist at the Gavert Atelier Salon in Beverly Hills, Calif. As long as you also steer clear of the major hair mistakes Fowler filled us in on as well, it'll be smooth sailing until your next milestone birthday. And don't worry, we have hair dos and don'ts for your 40s too.
