hair

Here’s an all too familiar scene: you’re stood staring for far too long in front of a mirror questioning whether today is the day you finally hack your hair into a bob. We’ve all been there, right? By the looks of things, there’s no better time than now—as many hair salons are preparing to re-open and hairstylists have told us that this year they have seen an increased demand for shorter, choppier chops. While the popular long bob (“lob”) has dominated over the past few years, a bob-and-bangs pairing elevates the shape one step further. The fashionable cut teeters on the line between edgy and classic, and seems to suit so many face shapes. Whether you opt for a blunt cut or a more textured style, full fringe or sweeping side parting, there are many ways to pull off this cut....

We’ve encountered enough badass women in their 40s, 50, 60s, and beyond to know that there are tons of outdated clichés about aging. Gone are the days where women are pressured to dress a certain way the second we hit age 40 or stop wearing our favorite makeup. (Although, there are formulas that work better for mature skin.) The general attitude around aging has seen a major shift for the better in recent years, and there’s a sense of liberation that’s come along with it that we absolutely love. While the number of years we’ve been on this earth doesn’t have to control our lives, there are, indeed, some unavoidable shifts that come up the further along we get, including changes to our hair. For this reason, many women start t...

There are so many classic hairstyles that stand the test of time—from pixie cuts and bobs to layered lengths and French-girl fringes—but few come so universally appealing as the wave. Whether it’s a laidback beach wave created with your hair straighteners or a more defined kink that you might be lucky enough to have naturally, wavy hairstyles are totally timeless, work on all hair lengths and always look chic. To prove it, I’ve been busy looking through my saved folder on Instagram to pick out some of my favourite fashion girls and celebrities who make wavy hair look so damn good. Ahead, see 35 wavy hairstyles with the biggest curve appeal. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dat...

I’m rubbish at doing my hair. There; I said it. I remember, as the girls in my class at school nimbly crafted French plaits in one another’s hair, there I was, struggling to get my pigtails to sit symmetrically. Fast-forward a few – okay, twenty – years, and I’m still just as inept at doing anything remotely interesting with my hair. That said, there is one style I’ve come to master, particularly over the last few months: The ponytail. I always wear my hair down or, at a push, in a low messy bun, reserving ponytails for my infrequent trips to the gym. However, I’ve realised that the ponytail, while undoubtedly practical, can also be wholly chic and is, in fact, the perfect party hairstyle for 2020 that anyone can do—myself included. Everywhere I look...

Fringe-lovers, listen up. There’s no doubt that 2020 has been a turbulent year for the trusty fringe. From at-home cuts to lash-skimming growth, our fringes have been through it over the past 12 months. However, that’s not to say it’s time to give up on them just yet. As with most areas of our lives right now, our fringe styles might just have to adapt slightly going forward. Whereas blunt, full fringes were all we could talk about at the start of the year, it might be time to adopt an easier, lower-maintenance approach for 2021. What if we told you there’s a new fringe on the block and it allows you to reap the face-framing benefits of a classic fringe, without the upkeep? Taking inspiration from the iconic Bardot fringe, the curtain fringe is set to be big...

“When it comes to colour, you don’t want something that requires too much precision,” reveals hairstylist to the stars George Northwood. “Something that has become a bit of a signature of ours is a softer, natural balayage. With the disturbance of COVID and salons shutting for months on end, people are stepping away from that fresh, highlighted look that is quite high-maintenance and is tricky to maintain well at home without your colourist.” “Over the first lockdown, a lot of my clients saw their natural colour growing through and have actually gotten used to it,” Northwood continues. “So we are now seeing a lot more clients who are now experimenting with keeping their hair closer to their natural colour, which is far more easily m...

Here we are; on the cusp of a new year, and boy do we plan on making the most of 2021. We’ve already (albeit tentatively) started mentally assembling fancy outfits for backdated weddings, and have even begun predicting the nail colours, new boot styles, and jean types that will be big news over the next few months. But with so much uncertainty still swirling around, there’s one question that lingers at the back of our minds: What will the defining hair trends of 2021 actually be? Admittedly, they don’t have much to live up to. Back in March, when hairdressers across the country were forced to close their doors, no one could foresee the impact it would have on our tresses. Those who couldn’t bear the thought of grown-out roots had little option but to reacquaint them...

It’s easy to forget, but trust us when we say that hair trends have come on leaps and bounds in the last 15 or so years. Nowadays, more often than not, we know exactly what we want when we sit down in the salon chair. Whether it be hand-painted balayage, rogue blonde, or a glass bob, we’re more clued up on the intricacies of hair techniques than ever before. But let us not forget where this all started. Cast your minds back to when every salon appointment started with you handing over a picture of a celeb torn out of a magazine. Soon enough, we picked up on new terms—things like “inverted bob” (VB, you owe us for the cold necks we suffered), “babylights,” and, perhaps the most frequently uttered words in salons throughout the ’90s and early noughties, “feather...

1. Temperature is important. “People assume, ‘If I do the highest heat setting, it will last,’ which is 100% not the case,” Polko says. “When you crank it up all the way, you’re actually zapping your hair too much, and it doesn’t know what to do. It’s like putting it in a microwave versus an oven. You’re letting the heat get into it, and it’s more of a gentle heat, so that actually will help the style last longer if you have it on a lower heat setting.” In general, the thicker the hair, the higher the heat setting, and the finer the hair, the lower the heat setting you should use. You should also keep things like colour and chemical treatments in mind when choosing your heat level. Polko recommends the T3 Singlepass&nbs...

It’s an odd thing to say, we know, given that there are so many cult beauty buys out there, but really, it takes quite a lot for a beauty launch to hit the big time. With hundreds, if not thousands, of new products hitting the virtual shelves every year, it’s tough for one single product to make a name for itself. Although it might seem as though beauty insiders are recommending every new product that comes their way, trust us when we say that cementing a place in the beauty product Hall of Fame is no mean feat. Having said that, there is one particular product that has managed to make quite the impression on beauty buffs in recent years. In fact, it’s made an impression on just about everyone—so much so that when we recently rounded up the best-selling products o...

So how do we proceed? Well, most experts we have spoken to advise that 2021 could be time to embrace a hair change. However, unlike big hair trends of yesteryear (blunt bob, we’re looking at you), the It style for 2021 is set to be a whole lot easier to deal with. At a time when we’re all looking for a hairstyle that’s fuss-free, easy to manage, and versatile, it’s no surprise that the iconic ’70s shag is making a comeback. Revlon Professional global artistic ambassador Mark Leeson says, “The shag is the ultimate undone statement haircut. It’s choppy and full of texture and makes for a refreshing change to long, one-length hair. On a daily basis, you don’t need to do much to a well-cut shag style, as the texture and shape are already cut into it.” “The feathered texture works fo...

Probably one of the most overlooked hairstyles out there is mid-length hair. Between short pixies and chin-grazing cuts and long, lustrous tresses, we often forget just how chic mid-length hairstyles can be. But right now, that seems to be changing. Chances are, if you’re anything like us, you’re looking for a way to freshen up your look, and we all know the easiest way to do so is with a new hairstyle. And it seems the look fashion girls are backing is the long bob, otherwise known as the “lob.” The long bob’s sudden rise through the hair ranks is likely a combination of two things: It’s being sported by those who had shorter hairstyles before lockdown which have subsequently grown out due to the lack of salon appointments, and those with longer ha...