In honor of this month’s performance of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, Encore Atlanta spoke with stylists from local salons to find out the latest trends for cuts and color this season.
Najah Aziz, owner of Like the River Salon in Inman Park, says that the warm weather is inspiring clients to make drastic changes. “A lot of people are coming in now wanting to go short.”
“What Not to Wear” stylist Nick Arrojo, whose flagship Intrigue Salon & Spa is in Marietta, agrees. “Short, textured styles that take out weight and give freedom from blow-drying are fashionable right now, and we love this look.”
If you decide to cut it all off, Arrojo suggests you look to the past for inspiration. “For example, Twiggy’s original cropped bob, Eva Cedric’s cropped bowl, or Mia Farrow’s classic crop — three stunning, wearable and cool, short styles.”
Going short also lets women participate in one of the biggest hair-styling trends for spring and summer. “Women are leaving their hair a lot more natural,” observes Van Michael Creative Director Daniel Holzberger. “Women [with] straighter hair are not using a curling iron or curling sets. If they have natural curl, they’re not straightening or flat-ironing.”
“Give me a head with … shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen hair …” — “Hair” by James Rado and Gerome Ragni
Although red hair is still a hot trend, more and more people are going blond right now. And, Aziz says, they aren’t interested in being subtle. “We’re getting a lot of requests for platinum — real high highlights.”
Intrigue Salon’s owner, Jeff South, says that women going blond want to look like they’ve been at the beach for a week with all-over highlights. It’s a look that Holzberger describes as being “very loose, very light, not real structured.”
“…I want long, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty…”
Women also want to look as if they’ve been swimming in the ocean. “We’re going to see lots of textures and big curls and waves this spring and summer,” Aziz says. South adds, “There’s a looser, tousled curl that’s really big right now. … bangs come down kind of wavy in the front, bringing back the looks of the 1920s and ’30s a little bit.”
The demand for curl means that perms are back in a big way. And — great news for people affected by Atlanta’s humidity — kinky and frizzy hair is what high fashion is celebrating this season. “Taking yarn, wrapping it around the hair, tying it up and letting it dry like that or wearing it big and frizzy, like brushed out natural curls, is what they’re showing on the runways,” South says.
“… Oh say, can you see my eyes? If you can, then my hair’s too short …”
The biggest trend for straight hair, South reports, is a retro bang with long, layered hair. “We’re doing strong bangs straight across … to get that urban New York feeling. The bangs are hitting between the brows and eyelashes — they’re pretty long.”
Holzberger says the most-requested look right now is for Keira Knightly’s long bob, which grazes the collarbone. “It’s very pretty, probably the prettiest hair has been in a long time.”
And keeping hair long may be good for the fall. “A lot of women [will be] doing chignon ponytails,” Aziz says. “It’s like a messier pin-up, or a centered, low ponytail, that’s a little tousled.”
For those who have gone with long bobs and bangs, Holzberger has a special prediction. “Every woman cut a fringe when Heidi Klum was on the cover of Elle with bangs, and they’ve had them for five, six years,” he says. “So in the fall, we’ll see a lot of women growing out their bangs and bringing their hair up in length, because it makes them easier to grow out.”
“… There ain’t no words for the beauty, the splendor, the wonder of my hair!”
One very current hair color trend, Arrojo says, is ombre: “color that takes hair from dark at the top to lighter toward the ends, with a stunning melting effect.” Because the root area is darker, it allows clients to stretch time between color appointments.
“It’s basically grown-out hair color,” Holzberger explains. “You see it on celebrities like E! News host Guiliana Rancic, Drew Barrymore and Jessica Alba.”
Aziz predicts that hair colors will warm up as the temperature cools down. “We’ll see darker hair — chocolate brown with caramel highlights and cinnamon,” she says.
Holzberger expects to see women rebelling against the pretty (but what he calls “boring”) hair they’ve been wearing and choosing fierce colors like dark reds this fall.
” … She asks me why, I’m just a hairy guy …”
And let us not forget the men. What are they asking for? “Faux hawk/mohawk cuts that are tapered on the side,” Aziz says.
They are cleaning up a little bit, South adds, by going close-cropped. But they tend to leave an area, like the top or over-ear portion, a little shaggy. “Like the way Robert Pattinson looks now, with a scruffy beard and hair shorter than it was, but still long and pushed back on top,” Holzberger explains.
And, Aziz says, men are getting more adventurous with hair color. “They’re lightening up as well. Some want to shave all their hair down and [get] red tones.”
For men who color to cover gray hair, Holzberger has noticed an interesting trend. “Having a little grey over the temple area is sort of in,” he says. Rather than color their whole head of hair, they’re combing color through lightly, keeping enough gray hair to make them look distinctive.
” … Flow it, show it, long as God can grow it, my hair!”
But no matter the trend, the most important thing is that you feel good about yourself afterwards. “As long as you leave smiling, that’s what we’re all about,” South says.
