As a new year creeps in with virtually no activities available, I’ve begun to take my boredom out on my hair. From hardly brushing my hair with online school to mastering the perfect blowout with my new drying brushes and working the perfect beachy curl, I’ve decided to explore the new hair trends.

Will 2021 impress or disappoint from the hair standpoint? Let’s find out. 

To start off, I’d like to address the shaggy hair look. Recently, in an Instagram post I saw this look on American actress, Debby Ryan. Miley Cyrus (American singer-songwriter) also has her hair cut in a mullet right now. This just doesn’t do it for me; stylists spend hours drying and straightening hair to silky perfection, and now we’ve decided to give our hair the dead ends look? I don’t see the shaggy, mullet look lasting long, and this cut is going to be a pain to grow back out. 

Bangs, a trend I thought would rest for eternity, and rightfully so, has made its re-entry. I don’t want to bash the bang look off the bat; I mean, curtain bangs are cute—I’ll exempt those. Curtain bangs became trendy a few months back; they frame the face nicely and don’t eliminate the forehead like classic bangs. The thing with these is that so many hairdressers do not know how to cut them. I’ve seen copious females desiring the curtain bang look leave the hair salon with merely botched face framing.

There’s also something to be said about the difficulty styling these; of course, it’s never easy replicating a professional’s styling, but many girls don’t even realize they have to try. Even those with naturally straight hair have to style their curtain bangs. There is no way to achieve a soft, sweeping bang look without using a round brush and moving the hair up and back. I’ve seen girls cut curtain bangs and end up hating them for the way they air dry. Constant upkeep is just not my forte. 

Curtain bangs didn’t come alone; ‘60s bangs are here as well. I saw Canadian fashion model, Winnie Harlow, rocking this look on Instagram just last month. The ‘60s bangs cut straight across, and come down close to the eyelashes. They’re fringey and fun, and allegedly draw attention to the wearers eye gaze. For anyone who missed their bang cut opportunity in the early 2000s, here’s another chance.

While new hair cuts may be tried and tampered with this year, one thing remains certain: medium-long, lightly layered hair is timeless. It’s not going anywhere; with that, let’s check out some top-trending hairstyles for 2021.

First, bubble ponytails and bubble braids; I love these. Basically, for those who don’t know, the bubble ponytail is achieved by doing a normal ponytail, high or low, and then adding elastic bands evenly spaced out throughout the tail of the pony. This technique adds drama in a simple way to an otherwise rather basic hairdo. Bubble braids work in a similar way, using elastic bands; by adding little ponytails throughout the hair and weaving over them by splitting the previous ponytail, the allusion of a thick dutch braid is achieved—but no braiding is actually involved. Though these braids may be more time-consuming than the traditional dutch or french braid, they definitely allow for more volume and end up looking super messy and fun. 

I’ve seen the two, high braided-pigtails on mainly influencers such as Sienna Gomez, Madison Beer, and Nessa Barrett. This look, at first, seemed childish to me; to be fair, it’s literally braided pigtails. But, after seeing this style on many celebrity figures and influencers, it’s grown on me. Depending on the outfit and the occasion, I surely think this style is cute and serves as a unique way to keep hair out of the face.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I’d like to hear a round of applause for the deep side parted, high ponytail, as seen on Bella Hadid, Kylie Jenner, and many others. This ponytail is achieved by parting the hair deeply on one side and leaving that section out. After that, you sweep the hair into a high ponytail and pin the section left out back, too. This look is elegant and classy. The parting of the ponytail frames the face nicely—in other words, this updo looks good on everyone.

From tousled to super sleek, there’s something for everyone, and thank goodness—just in time to experiment and maybe elevate the winter doldrums.