Hair can make or break a look, but lucky for us, there’s plenty to experiment with this year. Think mod bobs, heaven-may-care braids and nutty or natural color. But no matter what you go with, it’s important to get it right. Makeup and hair-pro Sandhya Shekar has wrangled with unruly hair, harsh climates and crazy beauty briefs on the regular to achieve the perfect coifs for her models. No better than her then, to give us our hairdo to-dos as well as the latest hairstyles for the season.
Here’s the latest haircuts, hair color & hairstyle to try this season:
1. SHORT HAIR, DON’T CARE
“On runways and at shoots, stylists are ditching length for choppy or angular bobs, straight cuts and bold bangs. Summer is the perfect time to shed that excess baggage, and go for a lighter, breezier head of hair, especially if yours is on the thicker side. If you’re really brave, go all out and give your scalp some breathing room with an edgy undercut.
In a few months, your chic bob will have grown out, just in time for the return of lengthier styles that better suit the season.”
Bob Boredom, Be Gone: Four ways to style your bob.
For a retro, flapper-esque look, side-part your hair, create soft curls at the ends with a hair roller or curling roller, and finish with a spritz of fixing spray. Heading to the beach? Use a texturizing spray from the best hair spray collection to scrunch up the bottoms and give you that ‘sorry, not sorry’ surfer girl ease. Save yourself the hair hassles and fake your fringe by taking a portion from one side over your forehead, and pinning it onto the other side with a cute barrette or bobby pins. Love rock ‘n roll? Look like a bad girl from the ’80s with a sleek, straight fall with razored edges, or a dyed undercut. For the after hours, you can go even sleeker by gelling it all back using a straightener.
2. HUE, WHAT, WHERE
“There are two distinct schools of coloring trends doing the rounds right now. The first involves fun, quirky pops of color in unusual places – a colored undercut, red bangs, or flashes of unicorn-inspired hues. Too OTT for you? Another subtle way to introduce color is using the flash color technique, where you highlight your hair with thick bands of color beneath the top layer. It only shows when the sun hits your hair, almost like your hair has its own mood-lighting settings.
Balayage is seeing itself out, replaced by subtle global coloring. If you’re bent on highlights, make sure you select complementing hair colors for your skin tone. Blond highlights are too harsh and age Indian skin, while chocolates, caramels and auburns are usually sure-fire hits. Whether you’re going for an all-over overhaul or highlights, stay safe with any hair color style by coloring no more than two-three shades lighter than your natural hair.”
Color Care Checklist
Deep condition your hair by using a leave-in cream or hair mask at least once a week. Use a protein formula like Revlon Flex Body Building Protein Conditioner -Extra Body because it balances post-coloring hair damage. Styling sources swear that a quick shock of cold water post shampoo and conditioner help with texture and shine. Trim, trim, trim! Hair damage overpowers color, so keep your hair bouncy and healthy with regular snips. Use sulfate-free shampoos like Schwarzkopf Bonacure Color Freeze Sulfate-Free Shampoo pack on a nourishing oil like Dabur Amla Hair Oil overnight.
3. THE BRAIDY BUNCH
“Easy to ape and perfect for the season, braids are an easy way to avoid a sweaty nape and still fit right into the trend en vogue. If you don’t want to tuck it all away, introduce little boho braids into untied hair, or let it all hang loose by working beachy waves into your natural texture.”
