It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that 2022 will be a truly interesting year for hair. Over the last two years, we’ve seen hair in the age of COVID-19 turn very experimental with many opting for TikTok-approved shaggy cuts, colorful dye jobs, and the latest Y2K-inspired hairstyle. And, while we’re no psychics, we’re almost certain that this year will carry on with that same type of energy.
Thankfully, we no longer have to guess about the hair trends that are set to dominate the new year. Pinterest has just released its annual trend report — Pinterest Predicts — and they’re forecasting all of the emerging hair trends that are poised to take 2022 by storm. And, when it comes to their trend predictions, they rarely, if ever, get it wrong. According to Pinterest, last year the social media platform accurately forecasted eight out of ten trends for 2021.
“To predict these trends, we analyzed what our 400 million plus monthly users around the world have been searching for,” said Pinterest, in an official statement, explaining how they built the report. So, just what does 2022 have in store for our hair? Get ready for lots of maximalism and self expression, as everything from pearlcore, crystal embellishment, and statement hair are set to rule the year.
Ahead, a closer look at the trends that Pinterest predicts will shape the way we style our hair in 2022.
Be Jeweled
Call it the Euphoria effect, but jeweled embellishments are going to be everywhere in 2022 — and on everything. Pinterest indicates that Gen Z is getting very creative and adorning their whole body with the bling-y accents, leading to a rise in searches for tooth gem (+85%) and crystal eye makeup searches (+110%). And, while this trend seems to cater more to beauty, we can expect to see it trickle over to hair as everyone becomes more inspired to step up their sparkle game and find new ways to accessorize their hair with gemstones, sparkles, full-on crystals, and jewels.
Puff Love
Curly girls, consider this your sign to start serving major “puff goals” this year. According to Pinterest, our love affair with natural hair will still be going strong and many people will look towards celebrating their natural hair texture with big hair styling techniques. High puff hairstyles and space buns are set to dominate the space — thanks to Gen Z and Pinterest’s new “Search by Hair Pattern” feature, with both trends already exceeding a 100 percent increase in searches.
Rebel Cuts
Blame it on the pop-punk renaissance that’s currently happening (or Travis Barker), but rebellious hair will be all the rage this year. Dubbed “pandemic breakup hair” by Pinterest, these bold cuts — think mullets, bobs, shags, and yes, “octopus hair” — are forecasted to be the most-requested hairstyles at salons by Gen Z. According to the platform, searches for “shaved head designs” have already risen by three times, while searches for “mullet hairstyles” have increased by a massive 190 percent. So, expect to see a whole lot more experimental hair taking over your Instagram feed as the year progresses.
Pearlcore
They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend but this year, it’s all about pearls, according to Pinterest. Sparked by an increase in searches for pearl gowns (+3x), pearl necklaces for men ( +7x) and simple pearl rings (+2x), the platform predicts that the iridescent accent will be trending amongst people of all ages in 2022. We’ve already seen major stars take part in the trend when it comes to fashion — you might recall that gorgeous pearl-encrusted gown that Barbie Ferreira wore to last year’s Met Gala. When it comes to all things hair, we can expect to see more creativity happening with pearls as a hair accessory — whether it be embellishing a hairstyle with stick-on pearls or wrapping a string of pearls through your hair like Tia Mowry.
Will you be trying out any of these hair trends this year? Let us know in the comments below!
