Don’t get stuck with the same half head of highlights and gloss. We reveal the latest trending hairstyles that could transform your look today.
It’s brilliant when you find the one hairdresser who just ‘gets’ your perfect style. But the flip side of this familiarity is settling into a comfort zone and missing new hair trends and ideas that could take your hair from nice to next-level fabulous. We’ve researched the most exciting new hair trends in the top salons to inspire your next colour, style or blow-dry.
We’ve researched some of the most exciting trending hairstyles in the top salons to inspire your next colour, style or blow-dry:
Add secret volume with hair fillers
These are extensions for people who thought they would never get extensions, and are strategically placed for volume, not length.
‘Extensions don’t have to look over the top,’ says hair stylist Hadley Yates. The ethically sourced strands are dyed to match your hair and then fitted below your parting with keratin bonds and cut into shape, all of which takes up to three hours.
The result is three months of plumped-up, bouncier hair that you’ll just adore, and no one will guess it isn’t yours. Wear it up or down and style it as usual, aside from using oils near the bonds.
If you have fine or thinning hair and don’t ‘do’ high maintenance, this subtle, life-friendly spin could convert you. From R1 240 for 25 strands, at Strands of Love.
Hair extensions is a quick and easy way to update your hairstyle regularly:
Ditch the highlighting foils for Ombre extensions
Convincing anyone to ditch their usual foils is a big ask, but speak to any top colourist and they’ll tell you the same thing……ombré extensions are the way to go. They’re weaved into the hair, then coloured, and can be worn in multiple styles.
If you’re highlighting your natural hair, freehand painting techniques like balayage offer twice the polish in half the time with low-maintenance regrowth and upkeep.
It’s an increasingly popular technique where tiny, subtle highlights and darker colours are freely painted on (no foils!) from roots to ends to create a gradual sun-kissed look throughout.
From R1 250 for the colour and cut of the extensions; and from R1 100 for balayage, both at Jeauval Fusion Hair Salon in Bryanston, Johannesburg or try Mirrors Hair Lab in Cape Town.
Contour with colour
If you colour your hair regularly, it’s likely to be an exercise in troubleshooting as much as style.
But what if the colour could elevate your cut and facial features simultaneously? Inspired by the popular make-up trend of facial contouring, colour contouring for hair is now a thing.
The flamboyage technique uses light and dark highlights to show off your best features. Sharpen up a wispy bob with a subtle darker panel along the edge, contour cheekbones and make eyes pop with lighter pieces around the hairline, or enhance waves with contrasting highlights through lengths and ends.
Clever, cost-effective, cool. From R1 065, Carlton Hair
Find out what is the perfect hair colour for you.
Go for a ‘natural’ blow-dry look
Picture this: you have a big occasion in your diary, fancy a blow-dry, but are terrified of stiff, structured styles.
Allow us to introduce the Sorbet Dry Bar Amaretto Blowout. It’s all about soft, natural waves and not a bouffant in sight. The secret? Keeping it sleek and wavy, not overdone.
When blow-drying, the hair is curled using medium-sized barrel brushes that are left in the hair while it’s hot, and set with either a mousse, gel or serum to create loose curls. The brushes are removed and, if necessary, the mid-lengths are tonged to finish it off.
It’s fast, and you’ll leave the salon with a confident ‘my hair looks great’ feeling, not an ‘I look like a walking blow-dry’ one. From R170 at Sorbet Dry Bars nationwide.
Super-condition with a ‘hacial’
If you’ve had treatments in the past, you know the drill: a salon visit, extra softness for a few days, then… business as usual. Not so with a hair facial, or ‘hacial’, as these new results-driven rituals can last up to a month. Try a Kérastase Fusio-Dose treatment.
It’s a personalised hair service where your stylist will perform a hair diagnosis, and then pick the best combination of concentrated active ingredients for your hair concerns (dry, damaged, dull).
We love the Fusio-Dose Concentré Vita Ciment – a potent concentrate that works on strengthening and reconstructing the hair from the inside out – mixed with the Fusio-Dose Booster Brilliance for intense radiance. They’re massaged in, then rinsed out.
From R600 per 30-minute treatment, Jeauval Hair salons nationwide.
