See a haircut you love? Now you can try it on.
Collecting hairstyle inspiration is the easy part, especially when you’re scrolling through salon portfolios, saving Instagram posts, or screenshotting that one celebrity at a red-carpet event.
The hard part is figuring out whether a cut will work on your face, with your hair texture, before you commit in the chair. That gap between “I love this on her” and “Will it suit me?” is where most salon hesitation lives.
The latest update to TheRightHairstyles virtual try-on and the HairHunt app closes that gap. You can now upload any hairstyle reference image, a stylist’s portfolio shot, a Pinterest save, a photo of your friend’s new cut, even a side or back view, and the system will generate a preview of that exact look on your selfie. The feature is already live on both web and app, sitting right alongside the existing hairstyle library in the single hairstyle try-on list. Try it now!
The process takes about the same time as picking a style from the existing library: a few seconds to upload, roughly ten seconds for the AI to generate your preview. The difference is that you’re no longer limited to the pre-loaded catalog. Any haircut photo becomes a try-on option.
Here’s how to try on your dream look online:
Each upload uses one credit, the same as any other single try-on in the Virtual Styler.
Here’s where it gets practical. Your reference photo doesn’t need to be a perfectly centered, front-facing headshot. The system accepts side views, three-quarter angles, and back-of-head shots, the kinds of photos that actually show up in stylist portfolios and salon hashtags. It detects the hairstyle regardless of the angle and orientation of the source image, then adjusts and applies it to your front-facing selfie.
That means if you saved a photo of a stacked pixie cut taken from the side because that’s the angle that showed the graduated layers best, you can upload it directly – no need to hunt for a front-facing version of the same cut.
The feature works with a wide range of source material, as long as the hairstyle is clearly visible in the image. Here’s what the system handles well:
Stylist portfolio photos. These are often the highest-quality reference images available, with good lighting, clear detail, taken specifically to showcase the cut. They tend to produce the most accurate try-on results because the hairstyle is the focal point of the image.
Instagram and Pinterest saves. The photos you’ve been collecting in your “hair inspo” folder finally have a practical use beyond mood-boarding. Upload them directly and see the style on your own face rather than on someone else’s.
Celebrity looks. Spotted Zoë Kravitz’s tousled micro pixie at a movie premiere? Or maybe you’ve been eyeing Sabrina Carpenter’s butter-beige curtain bangs from her latest tour? Save the photo and upload it. The system reads the cut and the color, so you get a preview that reflects both the shape and the shade. It’s one of the fastest ways to test whether a celebrity-inspired look translates to your features and coloring.
Photos from your own life. A friend got a cut you love? Your stylist posted a client result that caught your eye? A throwback photo of your own hair from a few years ago that you’ve been thinking about revisiting? All fair game.
Side and back views. Particularly useful for cuts where the front view doesn’t tell the whole story: stacked bobs, undercut pixies, layered shags with visible graduation at the nape. Upload the angle that best captures the cut’s defining feature.
The reference image needs a visible hairstyle as its primary subject. Photos where the hair is partially hidden by a hat, heavily obscured by accessories, or cropped too tightly may not produce reliable results. Group photos can work if the hairstyle in question is clearly identifiable, but a solo shot with good lighting will always deliver the cleanest output.
Color accuracy depends on the lighting in your reference image. A photo taken under warm tungsten light will read differently than one shot in daylight, and the AI interprets the color it sees. For the most true-to-life color preview, choose reference photos with neutral or natural lighting.
Pre-loaded hairstyle libraries, including ours, cover a broad range: bobs, pixies, shags, layers, curls, fades, and more across multiple lengths and textures. But a library is a curated collection, and no collection covers every possible variation of every cut. The reference upload removes that limitation.
Bringing a reference photo to the salon is standard advice; stylists consistently say it’s the single most effective communication tool during a consultation. The upload feature adds a step between collecting that reference and sitting in the chair: you can preview the cut on yourself first, which gives you more confidence in your choice and helps you have a more focused conversation with your stylist.
If you’re considering a pixie cut for the first time, for instance, the difference between seeing one on a model and seeing one on your own face is significant. The model’s bone structure, forehead height, and jawline are different from yours. A try-on built from your selfie gives you information that a saved photo alone can’t provide.
You can also use it to narrow down options before your appointment. If you’ve saved six different variations of a layered cut, uploading all six and comparing the previews side by side helps you arrive at the salon with one or two strong favorites rather than a folder of maybes.
Stylists and salon professionals can use this during client consultations. If a client brings in a photo, or several, the stylist can upload each one, generate previews on the client’s face, and walk through the options together.
The quality of the output tracks closely with the quality of the input. A few guidelines help you get previews that are accurate enough to base a salon decision on.
Choose well-lit reference photos. Natural daylight or professional studio lighting shows the cut’s shape and color most accurately. Dim indoor shots or heavily filtered images lose detail that the AI needs to render the hairstyle convincingly.
Make sure the hair is the focus. The system needs to see the full hairstyle, crown to ends, without major obstructions. If a photo crops off the top of the head or shows the hair pulled back, the AI has less to work with.
Use a clear, front-facing selfie. Your selfie is the canvas. Good lighting, a neutral expression, hair pulled away from your face (or your current style visible if you want to compare), and a straight-on angle give the system the cleanest foundation for applying the reference style.
Try the same cut in different colors. Once you upload a reference image and see the result, use the color editing feature to test the same cut in different shades. A shag haircut that looks one way in brunette might surprise you in copper or ash blonde.
Compare multiple references. If you’re torn between two cuts, say a choppy bob and a layered bixie, upload both and view the results side by side. The comparison often makes the choice clearer than any amount of scrolling through gallery photos.
The reference image upload is available now on both platforms:
On the web: Go to the Virtual Styler and open the single hairstyle try-on. The upload option appears alongside the existing style library.
On the HairHunt app: Same location, open the try-on section, and you’ll see the upload button in the hairstyle selection list. Available on both iOS and Android.
Each upload costs one credit, the same as any individual try-on. If you haven’t tried the tool yet, the free trial gives you a full-quality try-on to test with any hairstyle, including a reference upload.
Here are the most common questions about uploading hairstyle reference photos in HairHunt.
Yes. You can upload almost any hairstyle reference image as long as the hair is clearly visible. That includes stylist portfolio photos, Pinterest saves, Instagram screenshots, celebrity hair photos, side or back views, and even older photos of your own hair. The AI reads the hairstyle from the image and applies it to your selfie within seconds.
No. The upload feature works with side profiles, three-quarter angles, and back-of-head shots, too. HairHunt detects the hairstyle regardless of the angle of the source image, then adjusts and maps it onto your front-facing selfie for a realistic preview. This is especially useful for cuts like stacked bobs, pixies, and layered shags where shape matters most from the side or back.
Accuracy depends on how clear your reference image and selfie are. Photos with good lighting, visible hair detail, and minimal obstructions usually create the most realistic previews. The AI analyzes the cut shape, length, texture, and color from your upload and builds a visualization based on your face, but final salon results may still vary depending on your natural hair type and condition.
Yes. Celebrity photos work especially well because they’re usually high quality and clearly show both the haircut and color. If you’ve saved a red carpet look or a hairstyle from social media, you can upload it directly and see how that exact style looks on your own features before deciding whether to recreate it.
Each uploaded hairstyle photo uses one credit, the same as any single hairstyle try-on in HairHunt. There’s no additional charge for using your own reference image instead of choosing from the built-in hairstyle library.
Yes. The hairstyle reference upload feature is live on both the HairHunt website and inside the app. You’ll find it in the same single hairstyle try-on section where the existing hairstyle library appears. It’s available on both iOS and Android.
A clear front-facing selfie with good lighting tends to deliver the best result. A neutral expression and a straight-on angle help the system map the hairstyle more precisely. If your hair is away from your face or clearly visible, the preview usually looks even more accurate and easier to compare.
Trying on a hairstyle used to mean imagining how someone else’s haircut might look on your own features. With reference image upload, that guesswork gets replaced by a visual preview built around your selfie. It’s one of the fastest ways to move from inspiration to a confident decision, and the feature is already live in HairHunt on web and app (iOS, Android) whenever you’re ready to try your next look! Test it now!
Disclaimer: The reference image feature generates AI-powered visualizations based on the uploaded hairstyle photo. Actual salon results depend on your hair type, texture, density, and condition, and may differ from the digital preview. Always consult with a licensed hairstylist before making significant changes.
