Can TikTok’s ‘Hair Theory’ Help You Look Decades Younger?

Posted on 09/11/2024 by Boris Clair

There really might be some truth to the expression “New hair, new you.” Search “hair theory” on TikTok, and you’ll find hundreds of videos of users transforming their whole vibe by simply changing how they style their hair:

One minute, they’re a business professional with a tightly pulled-back bun. The next, they’re an easygoing flower child with loose, bouncy curls, then a fun, edgy rocker chick with a flip of the hair. Even subtle changes like the positioning of someone’s part can completely transform how they are perceived.

But how you style your hair can also dramatically alter how people perceive another thing about you — your age.

A refreshed hairstyle instantly transforms the Golden Girls from America’s favorite retirees into contenders for a “Sex and the City” reboot. Likewise, short, stiff styles can make actors like Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts look like they’re ready to embark on their fifth Viking River Cruise.

Often, people trying to shave a few years off their appearance might focus on staying on top of the latest makeup and clothing trends. But changing your hairstyle could be the missing piece of the puzzle to look decades younger.

“It’s always the hair!” said Nicky Clarke, a hairstylist who was honored with the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2008 for his contributions to the British hairdressing industry.

“You can change your clothes, you change your makeup… but it’s always the hair. You can instantly make somebody look younger or older [with their hair],” said Clarke.

Jalia Pettis, a Phoenix-based hairstylist, has also seen the transformative nature of hairstyles firsthand.

“A hairstyle can change your whole vibe. I’ve seen it happen countless times as a session stylist who works on set,” Pettis said.

If you’re ready to undergo your hairstyle transformation (and maybe wind back the clock on your appearance a few years), these are the key areas our experts say to focus on.

Color

Unsurprisingly, gray hair is one of the most obvious hints of aging, and many women visit their local salon for regular color touch-ups.

However, our experts stress that the key to looking younger isn’t just about covering up the grays. It’s essential to pick the right color.

“When a hair color is too flat or doesn’t complement the skin tone, it can make fine lines or dullness more noticeable, which can unintentionally age you,” Pettis said.

Rather than a flat color, try adding highlights or lowlights to keep your style looking youthful and fresh, recommends Joseph Maine, celebrity hairstylist and co-founder of Trademark Beauty.

Mary Steenburgen at age 71 in March 2024.

“Adding warm tones to your hair can really brighten up your complexion and bring a more youthful glow to aging skin by giving it that extra bit of warmth and color,” Maine said.

According to Clarke, the key to appearing more youthful is creating softness. Clarke recommends a slightly softer color around the face to create a smoother, more youthful look.

“If you’re a blonde, having those slightly lighter pieces within your honey tones tends to make things pop. If you’re a brunette, you can have those slightly dark honey tones around the face,” Clarke said.

But if you’re done with the constant upkeep of maintaining colored hair, you can still rock your silver locks while keeping your look fresh. A salt-and-pepper mix tends to age people, according to Clarke, but pure colors tend to be more flattering.

“We can see women who have got that wonderful Silver Fox thing going on,” Clarke said. “And that works because it’s almost not gray; it’s a pure color, whether it be a silver gray or a white.”

Andie MacDowell at age 66 on May 24, 2024.

Texture

When you look at pictures of yourself in your 20s, you might notice something different about your hair that you can’t quite put your finger on. The cut and color are the same, so why does your hair look so different now?

“As we age, the texture and density of our hair changes,” Pettis said. “But there are things you can do to keep it healthy and looking youthful. It’s all about moisture, protection, and retention.”

To keep your hair in tip-top shape, Pettis recommends investing in deep conditioning products and products that strengthen your hair.

Ingredients like keratin, collagen and hydrating oils can also help maintain your hair’s youthful shine and elasticity, Maine said.

Our expert stylists also stress that as you age, protecting your delicate strands becomes even more important, particularly when styling your hair. Opt for low-heat styling options or use heat-protectant products to protect your locks and prevent breakage.

Cut and style

With trends constantly shifting and changing, the hottest hairstyles of the past can now instantly reveal your age. Even millennials have had to face the music as their beloved side parts were declared “old” by Gen Z.

If you can’t seem to embrace the Gen Z middle part, fret not. When choosing a new, fresh look, our stylists encourage picking styles that flatter your unique features, rather than pursuing whatever is currently trendy.

“It’s all about keeping things soft and touchable to avoid anything that feels too rigid or stuck in time,” Maine said. “Personally, I think it’s important to pay attention to your features, texture, and lifestyle when choosing an appropriate style more so than age.”

Short hair

Due to its easier upkeep, many older women tend to adopt shorter hair, causing some people to associate shorter locks with maturity. But according to our experts, that doesn’t mean a shorter style will necessarily age you.

“There are times when shorter hair works much better than longer hair because you can make short hair with a kind of a sporty feel to it,” Clarke said.

Jamie Lee Curtis at age 65 on Sept. 6, 2024.

“A short pixie cut can lift the face and emphasize cheekbones,” Maine said. “Long hair can sometimes drag the face down.”

If you go for the big chop, our experts recommend that you avoid overly structured styles (like the infamous “Karen” haircut) and stick to softer, looser styles.

“I always say that to create a younger look, the objective is to try and get hair that has movement in it,” Clarke said.

Long hair

While longer hair tends to be associated with youth, Maine cautions that as your hair ages and its color and texture change, longer hair can potentially make you look older.

“Very often, long hair is dragging you down if it’s not cut and styled right,” Clarke said.

That said, it doesn’t mean long hair is completely out of the cards for you in your golden years.

“If someone has a silky hair texture or can rock a voluminous blowout to balance out their proportions, longer hair can absolutely work!” Maine said. “This is why it’s so important to consider all factors instead of just saying ‘older women should avoid short hair if they want to look youthful.’”

Sarah Jessica Parker at age 59 on Oct. 9, 2024.

For longer hairstyles, Maine recommends soft layers around the face to create shape and make your hair look touchable.

Not ready to let go of the old ’do?

Even if you feel like it’s time for a change, struggling with letting go of your old hairstyle is not unusual. When changing your style, our experts recommend going at your own pace to find a look you absolutely love.

“My advice to anyone looking to step outside their comfort zone is to trust your gut,” Pettis said. “The moment you start second-guessing and letting other people’s opinions sway you, that’s when you step into dangerous territory.”

Fortunately, with a smartphone and a selfie, you see whether a new style works for you without ever setting foot in a salon.

“Using technology is a fantastic way to try out a new hairstyle before fully committing,” Maine said. “There are tons of apps that let you see different cuts and colors on your face, making it easy to quickly figure out if a style might suit you.”

And once you get your hair cut, bear in mind that it may take time to adjust to your new look — and that’s OK.

“No matter your age, it can be tough to see yourself differently, especially if you’ve had the same look for a while,” Maine said. “Hair frames your face and is closely tied to your identity, so it’s completely normal to need an adjustment period when making a big change.”

This January Movement Challenges Women To Rethink Their Body Hair

Posted on 20/01/2024 by Boris Clair

Many people use the month of January to try out lifestyle changes, like going alcohol-free for “Dry January” or abstaining from animal products for “Veganuary.” But one January movement you might be less familiar with is “Januhairy.”

A portmanteau of “January” and “hairy,” Januhairy is a movement that encourages people to put their razors down and let their body hair grow out for the month ― and then perhaps year-round if they enjoy the experience. While Movember and No Shave November aim to raise awareness around men’s health and cancer, Januhairy is about challenging societal beauty norms, especially for women and femme-presenting people.

“It’s a way for us to question body hair standards and why we follow these societal norms that make us feel like body hair isn’t beautiful or feminine or acceptable on a woman’s body — despite being acceptable on a man’s body — and it challenges the feeling that our body hair is innately gross when it’s just hair,” Esther Calixte-Bea, a body hair activist and visual artist, told HuffPost.

Indeed, Januhairy founder Laura Jackson launched the movement just before January 2019 to raise money for a body-image-focused organisation called Body Gossip, and to empower women to stop shaving, waxing and lasering ― or at least question why they might feel they have to.

“I think it’s an interesting way for women to try to grow out their hair in a collective way, as a form of resistance, as a form of self-experimentation, and as a playful and fun form of rebellion,” said Breanne Fahs, a professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University and author of “Unshaved: Resistance and Revolution in Women’s Body Hair Politics.”

In many ways, Januhairy serves as a reminder that women removing their body hair is a relatively recent phenomenon.

“It came about in the early 1920s as a result of several different factors: the advent of fashion photography, the end of WWI and men coming home with their (mandatory) razor kits, the 1918 pandemic moved bathing from communal settings to individual household bathrooms for middle-class households, and the Gillette razor company making a conscious decision to market razors to women and sell them on the ‘grossness’ of body hair in order to make money,” Fahs explained. “Prior to the 1920s, women mostly did not remove their body hair voluntarily. This occurred only in the context of colonial conquest, etc.”

As fashion trends evolved toward sleeveless tops that showed women’s underarms and skirts that revealed a little more leg, Gillette released its “Milady Decoletté” razor for women in 1915 and marketed it as a product that “solves an embarrassing personal problem.” Although there is evidence of ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians removing body hair, women around the early 20th century were not so focused on hairlessness.

Women shaving their legs with mechanical razors in New York City in 1927.

“As a Black woman, I was interested to read an article that shared how it was mostly white women who propagated the idea of a woman being hairless as the ideal,” Calixte-Bea said. “I’ve also heard from women from African countries that they didn’t feel obligated to shave their legs until they arrived in America or Canada. My hairiness mostly comes from my Ivorian side, and I’ve learned that in my ancestors’ time, body hair was seen as something beautiful. So i think my body hair tells the story of my family and my ancestors.”

While marketers might have made women see body hair as “an embarrassing personal problem,” the practice of removing it generally has no basis in medical or hygiene concerns.

“In reality, hair is normal, and having hair or choosing not to shave your hair is actually embracing what is normal,” said Dr. Susan Massick, a board-certified dermatologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Not shaving and leaving hair to grow in places like the armpits, bikini area and legs is not unhygienic. Believe it or not, pubic hair, for example, serves a protective purpose, particularly for women’s vaginal health. If people choose or prefer to shave, that is fine to do. Keep in mind that for some people, shaving can actually be irritating to the skin, causing bumpy, painful breakouts and rashes.”

In recent years, there have been some shifts toward body hair acceptance in Western culture, but for the most part, the changes haven’t been as significant as many would hope.

“We’re seeing some more body hair on-screen, and some companies have even figured out how to sell razors with body-hair-positive marketing,” Conger said. “But I don’t think that’s translated into full-blown norm shifting since the vast majority of cisgender women regularly shave our legs and pits.”

She pointed to the moment when Julia Roberts revealed her unshaved armpit hair at the 1999 premiere of “Notting Hill” and the subsequent media frenzy (though the actor later admitted that it was not intended as any sort of statement).

Julia Roberts at the premiere of "Notting Hill" in London in April 1999. — Julia Roberts at the premiere of “Notting Hill” in London in April 1999.

“She forgot to shave once, and pop culture will never un-remember it,” Conger said. “Almost 25 years later, if say, Taylor Swift hit a red carpet with visible pit hair, the internet would probably cave in on itself. I think body hair removal is still so persistent partly because the hair-free pressure starts young, and it often comes from peers and parents alike. As long as we expect girls to start shaving, women won’t be ‘allowed’ to stop.”

Fahs agreed that notions of the norm shifting have been overstated, with some estimates saying that over 95-99% of women in the U.S., Australia and England still remove their body hair. She finds it encouraging, however, to see women use opportunities like Januhairy to try to grow out their body hair and see how it feels.

“It’s always better to see the power of a norm by breaking it, and it’s a great way to understand your body better!” Fahs said, sharing what she would say to someone considering taking part in Januhairy. “Go for it! It can teach you many things about who thinks they have a say in your body and how you present your body in the world. It can also teach you about your own biases about grooming and femininity related to body hair. Body hair is a powerful site of gender and power!”

Conger echoed this sentiment, applauding the movement’s impact in making folks reconsider this “this time-consuming, sometimes painful and expensive femininity maintenance.”

“Januhairy is an opportunity to opt out of a beauty norm, but more importantly, it’s a chance to check our own reactions to women’s body hair and understand how it’s different for people with polycystic ovarian syndrome, for instance, or Sikh women who keep kesh,” she added.

January is also a particularly good time of year for people to experiment with their body hair if they’re hesitant.

“If you live somewhere with a cold winter like I do in Canada, you get to grow out your body hair while covering it outside and not feeling like anyone is going to judge you,” Calixte-Bea said.

Conger believes that “Januhairy” is a catchier way to describe what many women and femme people already do during cold weather months.

“That’s the thing about body hair, right?” she said. “It’s only ‘taboo’ when other people can see it.”

Growing out your body hair for yourself in a cold season provides a type of safe space to push back against the norms and discourse that make us see ourselves in a negative light.

“Once you get home, you can see yourself as you are,” Calixte-Bea added. “It’s a very liberating experience to see your body as it naturally is and not once you’ve changed it. Working in retail, I’ve seen women of all ages talk about the things they hate about their bodies, but that’s not something I want for myself and other women.”

Of course, everyone is welcome to try growing out their body hair at any time of year. And if you don’t enjoy how it feels, you aren’t obligated to continue.

“I think it is important to normalise hair and having body hair in much the same way society should embrace all body types,” Massick said. “My philosophy is ‘you do you’ ― do what feels right.”

So THAT’s Why We Lose More Hair In Winter

Posted on 11/01/2024 by Boris Clair

The temperatures are plummeting, we’re trying to keep nice and cozy and for some reason… we seem to be losing more hair than normal?

While we sometime notice changes to our hair growth and thickness at certain points in the year (hello summer shine amirite?), it can be alarming and distressing when unexplained.

So what the heck is going on with this winter hair loss? We spoke to Dr Sara Perkins, Advisor of Dermatology for Hims – the digital health platform connecting patients to licensed healthcare professionals in the UK – to get the lowdown on seasonal hair loss.

The good news? Although it’s incompletely understood, there is some data to support the notion of seasonal hair loss.

Changing levels of ultraviolet radiation or temperature may shift follicles from the growth phase into the resting, and subsequent shedding, phase.

One study found the highest number of follicles in the telogen (resting) phase in July, with another smaller peak in April. Hairs are typically shed at the end of the telogen phase, roughly 100 days after it begins, corresponding to the shedding in autumn that many people anecdotally notice.

According to Dr Perkins, seasonal hair shedding, and most cases of telogen effluvium, are self-limited and new hair re-grows.

However, if you’re noticing prolonged shedding, or start to see thinned hair density across the scalp, it’s important to seek an evaluation to consider other potential explanations, including genetic and hormonal factors, as in androgenetic alopecia.

Androgenetic alopecia can progress slowly and subtly at first, but may become more noticeable after a shedding event occurs.

Is there anything I can do?

If you want to be an active part of solving the problem, there are treatments available.

Topical minoxidil helps to shift follicles from the resting phase back into the growth phase, and also stimulates increased blood flow or circulation to the follicles themselves to support healthy growth.

Dihydrotestosteron (DHT) can damage hair follicles by shrinking them down, resulting in thinner, finer hairs. Finasteride blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT, preventing further damage and stimulating healthy hair growth.

Because they work differently, combination products, like this topical finasteride and minoxidil formulation, allow people to benefit from both treatments at the same time.

Day-to-day hair care practices and exposures can also vary seasonally and impact the hair’s appearance. In summer, it’s all about protecting your hair from the sun’s harmful UV radiation.

Exposure can damage proteins like keratin and disulfide bonds, leading to increased fragility and frizz.

And sorry swimming lovers, but chlorine exposure from swimming can dissolve lipids within the hair shaft as well.

In the winter months, wearing hats and scarves may create friction, which can contribute to strand fragility and breakage. Finding the perfect balance between weather protection and a vibrant appearance is the key to conquering winter hair blues.

Understanding seasonal hair shedding provides valuable insights into the dynamic relationship between environmental factors and hair health. While some shedding is a natural and cyclical process, persistent or excessive shedding, or visible hair thinning, may require more attention and professional consultation.

Fans Just Had The Best Response To Jennifer Aniston’s Gray Hair

Posted on 06/06/2023 by Boris Clair

The Friends actor has been setting hair trends since her sitcom days in the ’90s, so people were thrilled when she rocked gray roots in an Instagram post promoting her new LolaVie haircare brand last week.

Aniston had her hair pulled back into a half-ponytail with silver strands framing her face while she vouched for LolaVie’s deep conditioner in the video.

People online praised the star of The Morning Show for embracing her grays.

“Well done for allowing gray to come through – refreshing,” one fan commented on Instagram.

“Jen your hair is just a masterpiece and everybody agrees,” another Instagrammer said.

“How beautiful is Jennifer Aniston and her gray natural streaks in her hair!!” someone tweeted. “I love people who embrace their aging.”

“Jennifer Aniston look[s] great in gray,” another concluded on Twitter.

While Aniston was clearly owning the natural look, she said she wasn’t ready for grays in a 2019 story with InStyle where she admitted: “I’m not gonna lie — I don’t want gray hair.”

Despite her initial hesitation to go natural, the Along Came Polly star has always had a thoughtful outlook on aging. In a 2019 interview with Glamour, she told the magazine: “Beauty at any age is beautiful.”

“I think the cliches of ’Oh my God, you look great for your age,” is kind of an old paradigm that doesn’t exist anymore,” she later added.

Try TikTok’s Viral Pillowcase If Your Skin, Hair And Sleep Routine Need TLC

Posted on 28/12/2022 by Boris Clair

We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

There are three areas many of us strive to perfect when it comes to health and beauty: our skin, hair and sleep. Often the secret to all round good health is a restful snooze, but there are a number of factors that can disrupt your slumber, and have a knock on effect on your physical and mental health.

But Silvi has become a bit of an internet sensation to combat all of the above, in the form of its anti-acne silk pillowcase.

Silk pillowcases have seen a surge in populariy in recent years, thanks to celeb advocates such as Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, but Silvi has gone one step further with a triple threat in the bedding and beauty game: a pillowcase that aims to prevent hair damage, achieve blemish-free skin, and act as a sleep aid.

Maybe it’s understandable that this pillowcase has gone viral on TikTok, racking up more than 20 million views after a video testing the product proved no nasties grow from, or on, this design, in over a week. Genius, right?

The science behind Silvi’s anti-acne silk pillowcases is that they are treated with silver ions, clinically proven to eliminate up to 99.7% bacteria that contribute to breakouts, within a week.

Not only is the gentle and lightweight fabric antibacterial, it’s hypoallergenic too, and free from any chemicals, making it a good bet if you’ve got sensitive skin, suffer from allergies, or are prone to breakouts – as well as shoppers on the lookout for anti-ageing solutions.

And then there’s the hair benefits. The mulberry silk fabric is soft to the touch, which is ideal for those wanting to prevent hair breakage when tossing and turning through the night. Plus, the gentle fabric means a comfortable surface to lay your head on, which inevitably encourages a better night’s sleep.

Silvi’s pillowcase is also temperature regulating, meaning no more night sweats, or sleepless slumbers leaving you tired and groggy come the morning. In fact, the brand says the fabric is “4.5 times more breathable and cooling than cotton”, making it popular with pre and perimenopausal women, too.

The Anti-Acne Silk Pillowcase comes in two sizes (standard and king size), as well as two colours (white and charcoal grey), to match your bedroom style. It also features a zip fastening so there’s no fear of your pillow slipping out.

Silvi’s pillowcase has been ethically certified cruelty free as it’s not tested on animals. And while the innovative design is machine washable – on a delicate setting with a neutral pH detergent – the silver treatment keeps it fresher for longer, so the pillowcase only needs washing every 10 to 14 days. Fewer washes means this purchase is more eco friendly, too. Every little helps.

Each pillowcase retails for £49, but fans say it’s an investment work making, considering the benefits to your hair, skin, sleep, and washing come laundry day. Buy for yourself, a friend, relative or loved one, and know that if you aren’t quite satisfied with your purchase, Silvi offers shoppers a 100-night guarantee, which means unsatisfied customers are eligible for a full refund.

But, with 100,000 pillowcases sold to happy customers in the first year alone, we don’t expect you’ll be using it any time soon. Sweet dreams!

From Aunties To IG Hairdressers, Black Women’s Hair Ideals Are Changing

Posted on 21/10/2022 by Boris Clair

You’re reading Gen:Blxck, a series exploring Black culture, history, family and identity through the generations.

My earliest memories of having my hair done are all at home. My mother would braid mine and my sister’s hair before it got too thick for her to manage. Then I met my first hairdresser, a family friend of a friend, called Akosi. I’d travel to her house with my mum and spend the next few hours sitting in between her legs, getting curly box braids (my absolute go-to back then).

But in recent years, there’s been a surge of young Black women getting into the hair industry and using Instagram as a way to find clients. They’re labelled IG hairdressers by the community, and fewer women my age are now going to traditional Black hair salons where ‘Aunties’ typically styled your hair.

Aunties once ruled the Black hair landscape here – we grew up with them and we didn’t have anyone else to compare them to. But now there is a growing ‘Aunties versus IG hairdressers’ debate in the community. And of course there are pros and cons to each.

If you’re looking for a cheap price point, you’d probably want to get your hair done by an auntie. The trouble is, you’re more likely to be waiting a few hours to get your hair finished in the salon as they switch – and chat – between clients.

IG hairdressers, on the other hand, are easier to find and book online and more likely to be able to do a hairstyle they haven’t done before, but they also tend to charge more and often get called out for unprofessional behaviour like cancelling last minute.

Whoever we trust with our hair, the styles Black women are favouring are changing – and fast. For centuries our hair has been policed by whiteness, but now, Black women are finding a new sense of pride. We’re finding our unique styles, whether that’s braving the big chop or saying ‘no’ to wigs altogether.

It’s been a long journey to get here and even the biggest fans of IG hairdressers will acknowledge we’ve got decades of salon owners to thank for it.

“In the 1960s, Black hair was often either stylishly styled in a natural African look or chemically treated to give it a washed-out colour,” co-founder and CEO of Curl Centric, Akirashanti Byrd tells HuffPost UK,

Byrd is 45 and she’s been styling Black hair for 15 years. Her customers are mainly Black women who want to keep their hair in its natural state.

“Often, these women are not familiar with the various styling techniques and products available to them, so I spend a lot of time educating them on the available options,” Byrd says. She has seen many trends in her time as a hairdresser. “By the 1980s, Black women were experimenting with naturally kinky curls and Afros, greatly expanding their style options,” she says.

“In the 1990s, we saw celebrities like Viola Davis rocking bold Black hairstyles that stood out from all other styles. This decade also saw the introduction of blonde hair dye, which helped make light-skinned people’s dark locks more visible. Since then, many variations of Black hairstyles have continued to be popular today, including relaxed curls, cornrows, dreadlocks and afro.”

The ways you can treat and style Black hair have also expanded in this time – especially with the help of the natural hair movement.

Akirashanti Byrd: 'I spend a lot of time educating [women] on the available options.' — Akirashanti Byrd: ‘I spend a lot of time educating [women] on the available options.’

The natural hair movement really kicked off in the 60s alongside the civil rights movement, and was spearheaded by political activist Angela Davis. Afros were worn to protest against white supremacy and champion Black liberation.

However, the early to mid 2000s saw a resurgence of this movement. More and more women in our community started to question why we relied so much on straight hair to make us feel worthy. So we put relaxers and the hot combs on pause and brought back the blue magic, afro combs and blow dryers.

Social media has played a big part in this. I learnt how to style my natural hair by watching YouTube. I watched to see how I could maintain a wash and go, slick down my 4C hair, and even attempted to learn how to cane roll (I’m still learning).

“The rise in popularity of natural hairstyles has led to an increase in demand for products and services that cater to this market and has resulted in more Black-owned businesses entering the industry,” Byrd says.

“The natural hair movement has positively influenced the Black hair industry. It has helped increase awareness of the need for products specifically designed for Black hair and has created a demand for these products. This has resulted in more companies developing Black hair care lines, helping to grow the industry.”

Brands like Ruka Hair, Cantu, Shea Moisture, KeraCare are Black girls’ go to for hair products. And women are investing their money into these brands. Black Women in the UK account for 10% of haircare spending, although they make up only 2% of the UK adult population, a survey by TreasureTress found.

“Today, I feel like hair trends seem to change with the season: seasonal colours, lengths and protective styles etc,” says hairstyilst Ayanda Soares. Soares has been a hairdresser for 14 years and describes her customers as those who want to embrace their natural hair and often opt for protective styling.

She began learning when she was a teenager. “I had always done my own hair, as my mum was terrible at doing mine and my sister’s hair – she had dreadlocks for most of our childhood,” she shared. “In secondary school, I would braid friends’ hair and I learned to do braided weaves around the same time.”

Soares tells HuffPost that in her time as a hairdresser, she’s seen a surge in demand for experimental methods such as tape-ins and keratin fusion. These options weren’t accessible in the UK in the same way they were in the US due to a lack of hair suppliers offering extensions for women with Black hair.

“These have been around for many years, but have not been seen at this level in the afro/Black hair space,” she adds.

Ayanda Soares (left) and a model with tape-ins styled by her (right).

Soares agrees that social media has played its part in changing the landscape of Black hair styling. “It has also has allowed us to showcase our work globally,” she says.

She is big on educating women about how to care for their hair, running training programmes that highlight how to clean and prolong your hair extensions, for example.

“Content creators also help sell the message for us business owners, in terms of education, so we tend to work with influencers often,” she adds.

The pandemic also affected the way Black women do their hair – 64.7% said the way the did their hair changed as a result of lockdowns, according to the TreasureTress research.

More of us made the decision to transition “back to natural”, where women grow out their chemically treated hair. Additionally, they actively sought out resources to educate themselves on how to take care of their hair because they were no longer able to visit professionals due to lockdowns.

And with a younger demographic booking clients, the hair styles Black women are choosing is shifting.

Marlene Gatrude Twinomugisha: 'I just kind of fell into it' — Marlene Gatrude Twinomugisha: ‘I just kind of fell into it’

The most popular hairstyles today tend to be the more natural ones, like knotless braids, free-style feed in cane rolls or locs, Marlene Gatrude Twinomugisha, a 20-year-old hairdresser from London tells me.

She started doing hair by “accident”. Similar to Soares, she didn’t like the way her mum did her hair, so took it upon herself to learn how to style it. “I then moved on to to doing hair for my cousins, then my friends and more people were asking me to do their hair at school, so I just kind of fell into it,” she says.

“My experiences getting my hair done by aunties when I was younger was me showing them a hairstyle, them saying they can do it but whenever the style was done, it didn’t look the same at all,” says Twinomugisha, who posts her styles on Instagram under the name Crowned By Her UK.

She believes younger girls have moved to sourcing stylists from Instagram because IG hairdressers are able to jump on hair trends quicker. “Aunties can’t really keep up,” she adds.

However, IG hairdressers also have their issues. Writing for Refinery29 earlier this summer, Yolanthe Fawehinmi detailed how the convoluted booking process and poor customer service is causing young women to return to their roots.

“As more and more horror stories pile in about the last-minute cancellations, excessive fees, where you’ll need to pay a deposit via a booking system to secure an appointment and can be charged for being late, wanting extra length or colour, and of recent, even parting your hair — sometimes bad customer service, young people on social media are boycotting Instagram hairstylists, particularly those on TikTok, who are going back to Britain’s African braiders,” she reported.

Sade Idem, a 25-year-old hairstylist from Kent, says younger black stylists have more of a business mindset.

“With many of us growing up in the UK, we’ve seen how much Caucasian stylists would charge for less challenging hair services, and we realise £60 for seven hours of braiding with no breaks is criminal!” she says.

Idem has a lot of respect for older stylists as they’ve paved the way for the younger ones. “However, many older stylists are focused on the final look, rather than the health of the client’s hair long term,” she comments. “Their customer service can also be affected as they’re trying to fit in as many clients as possible to make up for the low prices they charge.”

Sade Idem: 'We realise £60 for seven hours of braiding with no breaks is criminal.' — Sade Idem: ‘We realise £60 for seven hours of braiding with no breaks is criminal.’

So what does the future of Black hair and hairdressing look like from here? To me, it looks like versatility, growth and experimentation. As we move towards more protective and natural styles, I see us breaking away from the idea that we have to play it safe with our hair. Let’s enjoy it, and have fun.

I hope to see more young Black girls growing in the profession, but I do believe there’s a place for aunties in the Black hairdressing arena. They worked hard to build Black spaces for women to do hair in this country and paved the way for younger Black women to learn and grow as hairdressers.

As Byrd puts it: “There’s no doubt that Black hairdressing is a growing industry with immense potential. The future looks bright for those willing to put in the hard work and dedication required to succeed.”

What does it mean to be Black and British? Well, it depends which generation you ask. This Black History Month, HuffPost UK has teamed up with BuzzFeed’s Seasoned and Tasty UK to find out. Read more from Gen:Blxck here.

Black Women Are Getting Tired Of Wearing Wigs. Here’s Why

Posted on 02/06/2022 by Boris Clair

“Taking pictures, make sure you can’t see no lace, that wig secure like the money in a safe.” So goes the Chloe x Halle song, Do It. And those lyrics signify just how normalised wig-wearing is for Black women. Growing up it was normal to see your mum, aunts and even grandmas wearing one.

But the state of wigs have evolved a lot since they started wearing them.

I was 17 when I first ventured into the world of wigs and these were the days of closures. A closure is your bog-standard wig that usually features clips or an elastic band to ensure it stays in place all day. In fact, they’re perfect for everyday use, because they’re so easy to put on and take off.

Now we also have the frontal wig, which has really taken off in the past couple of years. When Chloe and Halle sing, “Make sure you can’t see no lace”, they are referring to the lace on a frontal wig. A frontal differs from a closure wig as it’s typically glued down to your hairline so it looks more like your own hair.

As Martha O explains on the Natural Girl Wigs blog: “One way to identify frontals is that they are used to recreate the hairline from ear to ear, while closures are used to recreate the natural parting of the hairline.”

Frontal wigs have grown in popularity, especially online. But head to TikTok and you’ll see more and more Black women who are tiring of their wigs, too.

This sentiment isn’t part of the natural hair movement per se – many Black women still enjoy wearing fake hair – but we want to explore different options. Options such as tape-ins, pony-tails and natural hair extensions. The kind of options that have been available to white women for much longer.

This is something that Tendai Moyo and Ugo Agbai, co-founders of Ruka Hair, have also observed. Ruka is a Black-owned hair business that aims to provide Black women with hair extensions in different textures and formats. As well as selling online, it now has a physical shop in Westfield Stratford City and also works with a network of “co-creators” (in its lingo) who test out products.

“What we’ve noticed is Black women having less attachment to a particular style. We’ve seen more people experimenting with their own hair in various formats like ponytails and clip-ins,” Moyo tells HuffPost UK.

She continues: “One of the things a co-creator said in our community interview last year is that, historically, white women can go to a salon and say, ‘I want longer hair that looks exactly like mine.’ But, historically speaking, Black women haven’t been able to do that.”

That more Black women are downing their wigs is due to two Cs, she says: compromise (or not wanting to) and choice (the availability of alternatives). “Three years ago, white women were using things like micro-links. This option wasn’t a thought for Black women then, because it didn’t exist in our texture.”

Agbai also sees the trend for wig-wearing waning. “I think with wigs, especially with frontals, it was something that you only saw in the theatre, or only saw celebrity stylists doing. Then it became extremely accessible and prominent. Now I feel like people are experimenting with other styles,” she tells me.

Wider choice is certainly a factor, but let’s not understate that the maintenance of frontals can be tedious. Wearing a frontal regularly requires a lot of time and effort. You have to glue the wig (which can take ages), then straighten it, apply a lace tint to make the wig look natural. Sure, you get used to it, but it’s not fun.

As the Ruka website highlights, Black women spend six times as much as their white counterparts on haircare products and service. But this could be beginning to change.

“I’ve seen Black women accept the fact that their hair doesn’t have to take a ridiculously long time,” Moyo says. “Especially since frontals are usually done by professionals, if you do it by yourself you’re not always doing it correctly, which causes more damage and time needed. I’ve seen more Black women finding styles that are less time consuming.”

Agbai agrees and suggests that it’s liberating many of us from some long-held habits, in some cases inherited. “All of the language we’ve been socialised to use around our hair has influenced this,” she says. “We think our hair should take a long time, that it can laborious to do our hair. I’m excited to see that shift and see Black women really look for quicker solutions.”

“I felt like I was forcing it… when I put a frontal on myself, I didn’t look like those other girls.”

– Akua Ntiamoah, 26, Essex

The phrase “where’s the lace?” is used all too often in reference to frontal wigs. There’s an obsession with making frontals look exactly like the hair on your head when a lot of the time, they just don’t. This pressure for wig perfection has made some Black women consider other options.

This is the case for Akua Ntiamoah, 26, a civil servant from Essex, who says she didn’t enjoy wearing wigs as her hair never looked like what she saw online.

“I felt like i was forcing it. Maybe it’s because I saw girls on Instagram wearing them, but when I put a frontal on myself I didn’t look like those other girls,” she says. “Black girls always say, ‘the lace is invisible’, but I can see it in real life.”

She stopped wearings wigs two years ago. “I was tired of my wigs not looking natural, so I cut my hair. I wore wigs from time to time, but I still didn’t look right so now I just wear my hair out in a pony.” She says she also enjoys braids.

Moyo and Agbai have received positive feedback about Roka’s ponytails that putting them on doesn’t require much work for the wearer. As they tell me: “We’d get women saying: ‘We don’t have to put much gel in our, we can just attach the ponytail and go.’ That is the best thing!”

While wigs are often seen as a great protective style, wearing them too often can also damage your hair. For Joy Olugboyega, 25, a photographer and director from London, wearing wigs ruined her hairline – so she doesn’t.

“I stopped wearing wigs in 2019. Haven’t worn a wig since,” she says. “My relationship with wigs was pretty much on and off. I hated what it was doing to my hairline but at the same time appreciated the convenience.”

And now she’s made the break, Olugboyega is reclaiming more than her hair. “I realised I looked way better with my natural hair and Afrocentric hairstyles like fulani braids, faux locs, feed-ins. Not only do I look better, but I feel better too, like a queen,” she says.

“I just feel more like I’m more myself when it comes to how I present. It’s the truest representation of me and where I come from.

‘Jaysus! ‘Jaysus!’ Jedward’s Famous Quiffs Are No More As Twin’s Shave Off Each Other’s Hair On Live TV

Posted on 27/03/2021 by Boris Clair

Jedward are as famous for their huge blond quiffs as they are for their dodgy choreo, but now the loveable twin brothers have a whole new look going on.

The 28-year-olds are now both sporting buzz cuts after shaving each other’s famous locks off live on Irish TV on Friday night.

The siblings, who shot to fame on the 2009 series of The X Factor, were in surprisingly good spirits considering they were about to ditch their trademark look on RTE’s The Late Late Show.

It was all in the name of charity as John and Edward were raising money for the Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day appeal.

STUNNING!

Fair play to @PlanetJedward for shaving off their famous quiffs for the Irish Cancer Society 👏👏👏

If you can donate, please visit https://t.co/W1RXTSWdWz or call 1850 60 60 60.#LateLate pic.twitter.com/ZpcYmzFLOH

— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) March 26, 2021

It’s a cause close to the brother’s heart after they lost their mum to cancer in 2019.

As John picked up the electric razor to free his brother of his quiff, Edward said: “We’ve had this hair for over 10 years. It’s part of our identity. I don’t think we’d be here today if we didn’t have the hair, but this is the first time we’re going to have our hair like this since the beginning of Jedward.”

The Eurovision star then joked that he’d be investing in hats and sunscreen – before hilariously catching his reflection and screaming “Jaysus! Jaysus!”

The Reaction to shaved Jedward pic.twitter.com/9IP3tr42Bc

— JEDWARD (@planetjedward) March 26, 2021

“Who am I? Who is this person?,” John exclaimed before joking that he was a doppelgänger for Sinead O’Connor.

The brothers then treated everyone to an impromptu rendition of their fellow Irish star’s biggest hit, Nothing Compares 2 U.

It was all just as brilliantly chaotic as you’d expect.

Before & After Shave

Fuck Cancer Donate now https://t.co/7kDTGUaTBU pic.twitter.com/T8nfi9xwaI

— JEDWARD (@planetjedward) March 27, 2021

Jedward’s efforts helped raise €2.5million (£2.1m) for the Irish Cancer Society.

Earlier in the show, Jedward performed an acoustic rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colours. They also shared that as well as their mum battling cancer, their grandad had previously been diagnosed with lung cancer and skin cancer.

To donate to Daffodil Day, visit the Irish Cancer Society.

Rules Against Racist Hair Discrimination ‘Must Be Toughened Up’

Posted on 11/10/2020 by Boris Clair

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Growing A Quarantine Beard? How To Avoid The Patchy Mess Look

Posted on 28/04/2020 by Boris Clair

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