Sunny With A Chance Of Bangs: Four Hair Experts Forecast Top Trends For 2022

FRENCH BOBS

Popularised by Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen's Gambit and Audrey Tautou in Amelie, multi-award-winning hairdresser and co-founder and creative director of D&M Hair Design Danny Pato says the iconic French bob will be one of the defining cuts of 2022.

“There's always a ‘bob-of-the-day' like the lob (long bob) and the wob (wavy bob) but for this year, we're going to 1920s Paris,” Danny says. Short, tousled and flirty, the style is characterised by a blunt, cheekbone-length cut, paired with a baby fringe.

The signature French-girl haircut suits a variety of face shapes and structures, and works particularly well at framing oval and heart-shaped faces, what with its ends that curve slightly in towards the chin.

Danny loves the French bob most for its versatility. “It can be modified for any natural hair texture straight, wavy or curly and styling is carefree: simply prep damp hair with your favourite leave-in texturising product and let air dry,” he says. Tres chic!

Styling Notes: Davines More Inside This Is A Sea Salt Spray, $48, lends a tousled, beachy effect to hair with a matte finish.

LIVED-IN COLOUR

According to Trish Bhikoo, director of M11 Studio, multiple lockdowns saw clients eager to embrace low maintenance hair. Cue lived-in, natural-looking colour, which she predicts will skyrocket in popularity this year.

"It can be created by working with the natural depth of the hair at the roots and breaking it up with sun-kissed highlights or balayage to create a low maintenance colour with a soft grow out,” she says.

In the chair, ask for multi-technique balayage, blended blonde and ‘expensive brunette’ for dimensional movement tailor-made to your hair.

Styling Notes: Protect colour and prevent fading with Aveda Color Conserve Shampoo, $48, and Conditioner, $49.

BOTTLENECK BANGS

Dubbed as the ‘baby sister’ to curtain bangs, bottleneck bangs are about to be everywhere, says freelance hairstylist Kelly Manu.

“Fringe moments like the curtain bang, wispy bangs and the newly coined bottleneck bang enable our friends with longer hair to feel like they’re changing their look without the commitment of a big chop,” Kelly says.

Infinitely chic, the phrase was coined by London-based hairstylist Tom Smith after he styled Margot Robbie for her British Vogue cover in August 2021.

Effectively, bottleneck bangs are a slightly more subtle version of curtain bangs, and imitate the silhouette of a bottleneck: narrower at the top, wider around the eyes and tapering back in to curve at the cheekbone, Kelly says.

Styling Notes: Add a little body to your bottleneck bangs with a spritz of Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray, $76. Its unique formula also helps to absorb oil at the roots, to help extend the life of your blow wave.

LAYERED CUTS

Long live layers! While blunt cuts will always be in vogue, prepare for an onslaught of fun, layered cuts like the shag, the wolf cut, the modern mullet and the mixie (a pixie and mullet lovechild) which help create plenty of texture and shape, Kelly says, calling the look an “effortlessly cool vibe”.

Wolf cuts are the latest TikTok craze, and Trish says this style hits the sweet spot between a shag cut and a mullet to really accentuate the texture and layers in hair.

“It is the perfect style for medium-length hair as it suits the much-loved beach waves look and is complemented nicely with any fringe style, especially 2021’s hit curtain bangs,” she says.

Styling Notes: Botaniq Mineral Sculpting Balm I Hair Shaper, $53, adds definition (but not weight) to textured hair, thanks to its blend of locally sourced and fair-trade ingredients that promise to create a natural, lived-in finish.

SASSOON CUTS

Sassoon cuts are also having a renaissance, says Adrian Deng, director at Anco Studio. Dreamed up in the early 60s by hair icon Vidal Sassoon, the Sasson (or five-point) cut is just as easily maintained as the aforementioned, albeit a little more polished.

The blunt cut bob was revolutionary at the time, and reflected in a shift in attitude where women’s fashion was concerned. The geometric style was quickly adopted by the likes of Mary Quant, Mia Farrow, Sharon Tate and Peggy Moffitt.

“They are a timeless classic and are super easy to maintain. The structure of the haircut will make the shape last really well,” he says.

Styling Notes: The key to making any short style appear polished is a spritz of shine spray, like the Kevin Murphy Shimmer Shine Finishing Mist, $55. This gilt formulation serves dual purpose to treat and repair damaged hair, all while creating sleek, non-oily shine.

NATURAL TEXTURE

If your New Year’s resolutions include reserving hot tools for special occasions only, then you’ll be glad to hear that texture and movement in all its forms will be major this year. “There is such beauty in learning to love and embrace our hair’s natural movement,” Kelly says.

“What you have doesn’t always need to be straightened by a flat iron or defined by a curling wand to be gorgeous it’s like the ‘no makeup makeup’ but the hair version.” Hear, hear!

Not sure which hair type your natural hair falls into? Pick up your copy of Viva Volume 6 for our comprehensive guide to caring for your unique hair type

Styling Notes: Consider Ouai Hair Curl Creme, $56, a silicone-free curl creme which defines natural curl patterns while reducing flyaways or frizz and lending healthy-looking shine.

COPPER TONES

It’s the colour trend that dominated Hollywood for a large part of 2021, and Trish says expect to see warm reds like copper crop up all over. “Whether it’s the copper of a 10-cent coin or a soft strawberry, red and bronze will be the colours of choice this year,” she says.

Pale strawberry works best over blonde hair or hair with existing red tones by lifting the base and adding subtle highlights. Copper balayage is also set to be highly sought after, when applied in subtle layers to blend seamlessly with a warm-toned colour palette. As we shift through the seasons, expect to see more vibrant reds stealing the show during winter, before softening in vibrancy as we move through to spring and beyond.

Styling Notes: Care for your copper with Evo Fabuloso Copper Colour Boosting Treatment, $45, is best suited to dull or dry colour-treated hair to revive copper or red tones.

ACCESSORIES ABOUND

Regardless of which cut and colour you choose in 2022, one hair trend is set to rule them all accessories.

Approach headbands, clips, scrunchies, scarves, barrettes and bows with reckless abandon for a ‘more is more’ look popularised on the runway at Fashion Weeks across the globe, as well as on the red carpet by the accessories queen herself, Lizzo. Inject a little sparkle with 90s favourites butterfly clips, headband combs or colourful clip-in hair extensions to reflect your mood, outfit or occasion.

Try The Trend: With this Crinkle Tie Dye Scrunchie from Mita, $5. A playful addition to the brand’s Colours of the Clouds collection, this satin scrunchie is sure to add a pop of colour to any ponytail or plait.