The Only It-girl Haircut You Should Try This Year
By Trisha Chawla
The beauty trends for this year are leaning towards all things nostalgic. While gloss and brown lipstick from ’90s music videos reign over your lips, there’s a hairstyle that’s taking the world by storm.
You may remember this style as a perennial icon for music's coolest rulebreakers like David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Cher and Prince amongst many others—and this year it has arrived in a contemporary avatar.
Enter: the shullet. As the moniker suggests, the shullet is a blend between two popular haircut styles: a shag and a mullet. It’s overgrown in the back and has short to mid-length bangs in the front.
THE ‘IT GIRL’ FACTOR
So why is everyone from Zendaya to Miley Cyrus rocking this look now, you ask? “This modern-day version is softer and less extreme than the rock ‘n’ roll-influenced, dramatic style of the ’80s,” says Rod Anker, hairstylist and creative director at Rod Anker Salons.
The variance in length between the bangs and the lower layers of your hair isn’t as stark as its counterparts from the past; meaning you don’t have to make any extreme changes to your length that you might regret the minute you walk out of the salon.
Plus, it suits everything from poker straight to curly hair and is super low maintenance.
YOUR SALON BRIEF
If we’ve convinced you to get the cut, Anker has some top tips to give your stylist. “Any type of hair can be adapted to create this haircut, but adding a little texture, curls or waves by creating different lengths of layers within the cut will create perfect movement,” he says.
YOUR MAINTENANCE RITUAL
“Modern-day haircuts are all about the ease of styling instead of achieving perfect, glossy blowouts. We all want strategic cuts that structure and shape your hair, and maintain themselves,” says Anker.
And the ‘shullet’ is just that. It’s a low maintenance hairstyle that requires no major change to your haircare routine. Nor does it require any extra heat or styling (your bonds say thanks). Anker only recommends you visit the salon every 8 weeks for a trim—depending on how fast your hair grows out—to keep this style at its optimum shape. You can also work in a texturizing spray or paste at home to accentuate the layers.