Hair salons, barbershops prepare for 2023 trends

Jan. 4—Tahlequah barbers and hair salons have already begun seeing customers who want an updated look for 2023.

Tiffany Walling, a stylist at Wild Roots Salon-Tahlequah, said she believes people like to get new hairstyles at the first of the year, to make an instantaneous change.

"I think it's an instant good feeling, unlike being at the gym and having to lose weight and work out," said Walling.

She said a medium-length hairdo for women that has been making its way into her salon is the "wolf cut," which is a squared, layered, and textured haircut with fringe around the face.

"I think people are getting tired of just having one-length styles and that at-home COVID-19 hair," said Walling. "People are getting back into the salon and are wanting a little bit of change."

The bob or lob cut is what Walling calls a "classic haircut" for women, especially at the start of the new year.

"People do that a lot of times when it becomes late winter because there's hair that has the dry, mismatched layers from summer and heat and they are tired of pulling their hair back all the time," said Walling.

She has noticed they are fading out of the platinum-blonde era, as more people are wanting to switch to the color red. She said halo highlights are also popular, which she believes is due to people being tired of "lived-in" hair colors.

Aleah Brown, stylist and co-owner of Nine One Eight Salon and Boutique, has observed an increase in subtle copper tones, and contrasting to Walling, other lived-in colors at her business.

"That for some reason is becoming a trend [that] I can tell even from social media, like seeing it on other people and getting it done not just in our salon," said Brown. "Everyone's just wanting to get some kind of a red tone."

Brown said the lived-in colors tend to be darker at the roots and lighter toward the ends of the client's hair. She said a lot of women seem to want the low-maintenance side of these tones, as these appointments need to be made every 10 to 12 weeks, while average colors normally touchups every six to eight weeks.

Emily Hullinger, owner of The Straight Edge Barbershop, said it seems like short hair has been a big staple this time of year for some males in general, due to influencers on apps — such as TikTok and YouTube — having these cuts.

While fades have always been in demand since the Tahlequah barbershop opened in 2014, some aspects of the cut have slowly tapered.

"Honestly, the designs have slowed down. They're not as popular as they used to be," said Hullinger.

The once-popular designs range from stars to geometric lines created in the fade. While the want for designs have started to decrease, Hullinger said burst fades have increased.

"A burst fade is actually where you just fade around the side of your ear, and then it bursts into a fade on the side. It's not necessarily your faded Mohawk, because it doesn't go down to a point in the back, but it kind of just fades in a circle around the ear. It looks almost like a faded mullet Mohawk in a sense," said Hullinger.

She said the standard mullet and another style wherein the client's long hair is flipped upward has been popular for men. Texturizing powder for men with long hair has been the new hairstyling product for the end of 2022 and start of 2023.

"It adds volume without the product feel, so it has no gel or no pomade or anything in it," said Hullinger. "It's just strictly a volumizing, texturizing powder that gives them the messy, put-together look."

While short hair has been popular among men, it seems to be similar for women.

For example, Brown said some women's hairstyle trends are curtain bangs and a short blunt cut with no layers. This short hairstyle has been a common change women seek when New Year's Day rolls around, said Brown.

She believes she had seen so many of these short cuts is due to people wanting a major change to start off 2023 on a different note.