At 56, Catherine Zeta-Jones is one of those lucky women who always looks agelessly gorgeous. She didn’t need any help to begin with, so when we spotted how her latest hair update made her look even more youthful, we immediately added it to our the ‘age-defying style’ moodboard
The Wednesday actress is the latest in a long line of timeless beauties to show the soft power of the fine curtain fringe. Catherine has adopted the flattering style for her upcoming Prime Video show Kill Jackie, and shared a sneak peek at her glam look via her Instagram.
Her long brunette hair has been enhanced with a whisper-soft curtain fringe which blends beautiful into her lengths, adding a face-framing draped shape that instantly emphasises her cheekbones and eyes. It’s the ultimate ‘10 years younger’ sweep that adds softness and jaw-sharpening lift all at once.
‘It’s a very flattering look, especially when combined with a centre parting,’ says celebrity hairdresser and mdLondon founder Michael Douglas. He thinks this pairing is a great face-balancing option for many mature women, especially compared to a side parting ‘where you end up seeing a lot of forehead, which can be a bit ageing’.
Add in a curtain fringe in your 50s, and you’re ‘hiding a lot more skin’, which instantly puts crow’s feet into soft focus. Plus this sort of ultra-fine, long curtain fringe creates softness around the face when you’re pulling your hair back into a ponytail.
Cutting in a soft curtain fringe is also a good way to deal with the front area of the hair, which bears the brunt of heat styling and can look tatty and tired. ‘I think it makes hair look thicker and fuller, so it generally looks more healthy and youthful,’ says Michael, who proved the point in a recent GH fringe makeover.
Catherine’s new style may be down to an on-set wig, but either way, Michael thinks we can take some good pointers from it in real life. ‘What I like is that the style is kept quite flat. When there’s too much bounce and body, it goes a bit glamour model, a bit much. Having it flatter and less flicky is what makes it very modern,’ he says.
He also likes the way it’s paired with soft modern texture throughout. ‘You have some curls coming forwards and then some going backwards. I always do two sections at the front coming forwards, and the rest going backwards. The trick is also to curl it with a very big barrel curling iron, like the MDLondon Curl which has a 32mm barrel, then brush it with a vent brush to soften the curl shape.’ It goes without saying that heat protection is vital.
mdlondon CURL Multi Curling Wand
To shape the fringe itself, he advises pulling the hair downward, then using the same tong to wrap and direct it away from the face. ‘As it folds back you get that really nice face-opening shape.’
Book us in for the facelift fringe!
