Spring is the season of new beginnings, and what better way to reset than a new hairstyle? No look has to be permanent, and with 2025’s most popular looks leaning into avant-garde classics, taking your hair to a new height is this season’s most palpable trends.
The beauty looks we saw back in the late 80s to the early 2000s are back. But, this time around, they’re updated and modernized. Meanwhile, short cuts and braiding trends require an expert’s eye, pulling precise execution into the beauty chair.
From asymmetric hair pieces and textured pixie cuts, to braided sculptures and bald cuts, below are 7 expert-approved hair trends expected to be big this season.
Hair pieces
“I would love to see more asymmetric cuts and bangs make a comeback in a chic way,” celebrity hairstylist Tym Wallace tells ESSENCE. Hair pieces were a statement throughout the late 20th century, and now seen on the front row and at awards shows, from Cardi B at Mugler and Rick Owens, to Doechii’s GRAMMY’s swirls. While hairstylist Sandrine Diah liked to use Got2b Glued Freeze Blasting Spray for Cardi B’s asymmetrical bang, Malcolm Marquez’s hair piece on Doechii was inspired by finger waves, using TGIN’s Setting Foam and Curl Elongating Gel.
Textured pixie cut
In an ESSENCE exclusive, Cost Of Doing Business (CODB) and Topicals founder Olamide Olowe says 2025 is the year of the pixie. Using products like the Bread Beauty Supply hair-foam and hair-gel, adding texture to the crop cut can add more dimension. “Textured hair trends are so unique because texture changes the outcome of a cut,” says Wallace. “We have to take texture into consideration when following trends.”
Braided sculptures
“Hair trends are often influenced by fashion trends, and lately we’ve seen a lot of late ’80s, ’90s, and even early 2000s-inspired looks—so the hair has definitely reflected,” he says. Back then, hair war sculptures and hairspray-stiffened sculpted ‘dos were the style, and now they’re back as braids. This season, trying new, reference-heavy braids can give you a gravity-defying look, bringing unreplicated creativity into your beauty.
Fox color
“One major color trend is the reverse ombré, also known as ‘fox color,’ where the roots are lighter and fade into darker ends,” he says. “In cosmetology school, we used to call that ‘hot roots,’ and I never thought I’d be into it—but it’s actually such a cool trend now.” Doing a sunrise version on Mary J. Blige, he says fox color is one of this season’s most unexpected trends.
Bald cut
From FKA Twigs to Anok Yai and Cynthia Erivo, shaved heads have been popular this season. While FKA Twigs put a pair of electric clippers to her head, balding her sides for a look coined the “skullet”, Anok Yai and Cynthia Erivo take all the guesswork out of their hair with a clean shave. For many Black women, the impulse to shave your head may come and go, but bald cuts are an easy solution—and quick to grow back.
Brushed blowout
Brushed blowouts grew in popularity during Kamala Harris’s campaign, and this season, Wallace says they’re still in. “The brushed-out blowout can be created using a round brush or hot tools, then set with Velcro rollers—or even a full roller set—before brushing it out to loosen the curls,” Wallace says. We’ve seen the look on Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and other celebrities, with a bouffant bob cut being one of the most popular for volume and length.
Wolf cut
“The wolf cut is a combination of a shag and mullet, featuring shorter, face-framing layers in the front that gradually get longer in the back,” Wallace says. “It’s all about blending the layers smoothly without any lines of demarcation.” Although he says the cut may not work on textured hair, using the shape to style your wig or extensions can offer an avant-garde edge to your look.
