Kim Kardashian’s doing it. Zendaya’s doing it. Dua Lipa’s doing it, and loads of our favorite influencers are doing it too…
Ultra-smooth, shiny, fluid-looking hair is dominating our Instagram Explore pages, serving up inspiration for when we want to feel a little glossier and more pulled together. It’s just as well because we have big plans for this winter. Our social calendars are booked and busy and, alongside catching up with friends we haven’t seen since 2019, we’re looking forward to getting glammed up.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen the trend take off. “Glass hair” went stratospheric in 2018 with slick bobs taking over for beachy, textured waves. But unlike the sharp, sheet-like straightness that characterized the style, a new rendition – liquid hair – has come forward to take its place. The difference? It’s silky and straight, only a little softer. The look favors fluid movement with plenty of sheen as it catches the light.
We asked hairstylist Hollie Rose Clarke how to achieve the look ourselves. For long-lasting silkiness, she recommends an in-salon keratin treatment. “The smoothing treatment eliminates frizz, locks in color, and reduces blow-drying time for up to 12 weeks,” she explains.
Clarke is a fan of the 72Hair treatment, an in-salon treatment that is designed to penetrate all hair types to actively condition and revitalize, for her clients. “The treatment can be tailored to give you your desired results,” she explains. “If you’d like a smoother finish, then we blow-dry the treatment into the hair and you do not wash your hair for 72 hours. If you have curls and love them but want to remove the frizz, then we blow-dry the treatment into the hair and you wash after 24 hours, which leaves you with beautiful curls minus the frizz.”
“It has a trace amount of formaldehyde,” she confirms, “purely to stop bacteria rather than to straighten. The reason other brands use a lot of this ingredient is to create poker-straight hair, whereas this one restores your hair to its virgin state while smoothing and improving the condition, creating manageable, beautiful, glossy hair.”
In terms of the process, “Step one: hair is washed with a clarifying shampoo to open the cuticles,” says Clarke. “Step two: the treatment is applied and left to process for 35 to 45 minutes. Step three: the treatment is blow-dried into the hair. And step four: very small sections of hair are taken and straightened with a flat iron, seven to 10 times each.” After, you’ll need to stick to gentle sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners.
But if you want to try the trend at home, tactical products and your straighteners can do a great job. “If you want to recreate the liquid hair trend yourself, use IGK’s Good Behaviour Smoothing Spray ($32) or ColorWOW’s Dream Coat ($28) and straighten with your flatiron,” says Clarke. “Finish with the ColorWOW Extra Mist-ical Shine Spray ($29) or Kevin Murphy’s Shimmer Shine Spray ($37) for that glossy finish,” she says.
This story originally appeared on glamour.co.uk.
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