What do I think about hair for women as they get older?

Your hair is your crown and glory. It's such a part of who you are and what you are all about. Your hairstyle is a part of your personality. Taking time with your hairstyle will enhance your self-esteem and reflect the way you feel toward others.

It should always be sexy and move. Have style but not look done, i.e. "a first lady helmet head. " Look a little messy and be touchable. This will give you confidence to walk into a room and feel good about the way you look.

Of course, there are always different approaches to this. Many of you who are starting families, running kids to school or teenagers to events or practice need to keep it practical. So you keep it on the long side so you can tie it in a pony-tail every day, that's fine, just don't forget about you! Take a few more minutes sometimes, or seconds even, to smooth out those ends and make them move for you so you can wear your hair down and feel pretty. Now's the time to give yourself the time.

My favorite product at the moment and for a long time is Magic Move by Supremo; it comes in hard, soft and light. I like the soft personally. Just take a dab, rub it in your hands, and rake it through your ends; it helps to give you body, piece-y-ness and definition.

Those of you with curls who think that the grass is greener on the other side and are always ironing those curls out of your tresses and taking too much time to achieve the straighter look, why not learn to accept your hair? Let it have the life it wants. You could simply run a little mousse through your wet hair and let it dry naturally sometimes. Or scrunch in some Dream Curl by John Frieda as it's drying to get a more defined curl effect. Don't get me wrong, if you love your hair straight and that helps to define you, a great little pointer is to use another John Frieda product called 5-Minute Manager Blow-Dry Lotion to refresh your already straightened locks. (It says on the package to spray through wet hair, but I have found that if you give a light spritz to sections of your hair a couple of days after the initial blow out, and reblow dry your dry hair, it gives you a wonderfully refreshed look).

Of course I do think it's great to be willing to take risks and go for that shorter choppy style such as the Katie Holmes bob or that Victoria Beckam sassy number. Let's face it, you only live once and what's wrong with now being the time? After all it will grow on you.

Matthew Shields was attending Fashion College in England when at 16 he realized that hair styling was the natural extension of his creativity. At 21 he moved to the United States and has found great success. Fifteen years ago, he was discovered by international stylist Sally Hershberger, who developed his eye and honed his talents. His career includes working on movies and with actors such as Meg Ryan, Jane Fonda, Greg Kinnear, Ellen DeGeneres, Lisa Rinna among others. Send your questions to matthew@smartnow.com.