4 Hair Trends That Will Make You Stand Out

As we approach the end of the year, it's only fitting that we take a moment to reflect on where we've been and where we're going... in terms of our hair, that is.

After a year of DIY haircuts and box dye, we saw a return to salon-fresh style last year, as experts predicted. There was a return to ombre, mermaid waves, wolf cuts, and shaved heads.

Read on to learn more about the top hair trends this year!

1. Ombre

The word 'ombre' originally refers to a type of painting where the colours seem to shade from one hue into another. The term has been adopted by hair enthusiasts as a way to describe fading shades of colour that creates depth and dimension.

Ombre hair is characterised by various shades of colour, which transition gradually from lighter to darker hues. Ombre is sometimes referred to as 'multi-dimensional'. It is also called gradient because it gradually fades in tone like in a gradient.

This technique can be done with a number of different hair colours and looks best with dark hair tones or blonde tones (from dark blonde through platinum blond). While some people mistakenly believe that ombre is achieved through dyeing the strands in various hues, this technique actually involves cutting sections away and dying them separately using ombre techniques or highlights.

2. Mermaid waves

Mermaid waves are also known as spiral curls. These are curls that are created with a curling iron and look like the shape of a mermaid's tail.

Here is a short tutorial on how to create mermaid waves:

-pick up your favourite curling iron and curl a section of hair all the way around the barrel

-place your fingers on top of it to secure the ringlet, then slide it off the barrel. Keep repeating this step until you have curly ringlets all over your head

-secure them with bobby pins or another type of clip so that they stay in place and give them a quick spritz with hairspray or dry shampoo if needed to keep them looking clean and fresh!

This is actually very easy to do. Why not try it and see if it works for you?

3. Wolf cuts

Wolf cuts, which combine a choppy shag with the shape of a mullet, were seen on celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish this summer and make for a great transitional cut in the fall.

This is a style that suits all hair types. Straight hair will look wispy, whereas textured hair can be enhanced with curl defining products to create a beautiful cascade of natural curls.

4. Shaved

The message is clear. In both fiction and real life, a buzzed head represents a fearless, done-hiding movement. Under hashtags that embrace the look, a community of women with buzz cuts and shaved heads is growing, uniting people in rejecting societal standards and celebrating those who do what they want.

According to Vogue: “Those shaving their heads in 2020 have a plethora of reasons: boredom, power, creativity, or the fact that long hair just doesn’t seem as important during a pandemic. The point is, having the autonomy to do whatever they want with their hair — in the face of societal pressures and in the wake of a global health crisis — is the real trend we’re into right now."

Considering the beauty ideals that are pushed on women from birth (thank you, shampoo commercials), bald women's outright refusal to exist for anyone but themselves is quite revolutionary.

To end…

Hair trends vary across cultures and fashion as well. The hair trends that dominate the industry this year are shaved heads, mermaid waves, wolf cuts, and ombre.

Hair trends have always changed, but in the past few years, hair has gone in a more stylized direction. Modern day hair styles are edgier and more refined than before.

Which of these is your favourite style? You might want to go to your local salon to get a fresh new look!