Did you catch these viral hair reels this year?
Who’s in for a small check-in with your own scrolling habits? Viral hair reels came and went at full speed, and some clips practically lived in our feeds. Count how many you spotted and note the ones that never appeared on your For You Page.
What do you get when you mix a side braid with a waterfall braid? A stunning sculptural accent with movement and definition. Indian beauty influencer Shreya Jha created a viral video (1.8 million likes) demonstrating how to do it.
Separate a wide face-framing section of your hair and pinch a thin strand of hair on the side to create a small loop around the main section. Repeat several more times, placing the next loop below. The creator held the loose ends of the future waterfall braid between her lips. To fully replicate the trick, ensure you do your hair before applying your makeup. We love this hack because it’s quick, has an interesting finish, and only requires a bobby pin to fix the braid over your ear.
“The first tutorial to ever tutorialed.” This single comment collected almost 280 thousand likes, and we couldn’t agree more. Creator Mo Styles is famed for her detailed, step-by-step tutorials that embrace the uncertainty and mistakes of first-time-triers.
One of her most liked reels (4.1 million likes) features a travel-friendly hairstyle that requires just a stretchy hair tie to recreate. The video is framed as a friend patiently teaching a friend how to create the hairstyle. She clearly demonstrates every step, gives simple instructions, warns about tricky parts, and never gets testy when her trainee gets something wrong. Don’t we all wish for a hair-savvy friend like her?
It seems that clear, self-explanatory tutorials were the most favored this year. This one (3.9 million likes) isn’t even in English, but speakers of different languages shared in the comment section that even though the language was foreign to them, they understood how to master this variety of heatless curls. “I dunno why but the way you showed and explained it just clicked for me,” commented one user.
The creator used a plushy headband to wrap her hair around for soft, natural-looking waves. She instructed to spray her hair slightly and demonstrated how to wrap every section of hair, paying special attention to the frontal piece, which is the focal point of this tutorial. And even though some users were flustered at not seeing the final result (it’s a two-part video), the demo was practical and worth seeing.
If your half-up pony lacks volume and you keep eyeing its bouncy counterparts, you might want to take notes from this reel. Boston-based hair influencer Audrey Victoria shows how to create one in her most liked tutorial (1.3 million likes) of the year.
Interlock two hair ties to create something like an infinity sign. Use each loop to hold frontal sections of hair you typically bring to the back of your head for a half-up. Now flip this dual pony through its base and enjoy cascading volume. Audrey’s demo features a long bob, but longer hair can work with this style too.
Super messy, with soft volume and flowy locks sticking out, this bun is the epitome of easy chic. Australian creator Bella dubs the style in her video (928,000 likes) as an “easy messy bun,” although some users beg to differ. “How is this easy?” wonders one in the comments. Let’s see for ourselves.
Bella starts with a high pony, leaving wide frontal sections out. To get that airy feel, she doesn’t pull the pony all the way through and lightly twists the remaining hair around its base, fixing everything with another hair tie. She then proceeds to curl the face-framing sections and pinning them back so that they form delicate tendrils. And although it’s not a five-second endavour, the steps involved in the creation of this hairstyle are pretty basic. Would you call it “easy”?
This one sparked the most controversy. The reel (1.7 million likes) by Germany-based creator Thanya Wong gives a quick explainer on how to pair your hairstyle with your top’s neckline. She suggests wearing your hair in a high ponytail with a turtleneck, lettting your hair down with an off-shoulder top, or opting for an updo with a hoodie, for instance.
And although these tips make sense in terms of overall visual balance and comfort when wearing certain tops (do you also hate it when your hair rubs against a hood?), the somewhat prescriptive tone of the video got a lot of users worked up. “Remember: if it’s clean it’s down. If it’s dirty it’s up,” says one of the most popular comments, reminding us that the neckline is only one thing we factor in when choosing a hairstyle for the day. “Girls just do whatever floats your boat. Life is too short to add more pointless rules,” concludes another comment.
So, this is the lineup that shaped our feeds and kept the conversations around hair going. Some clips felt instantly familiar, and others might have surprised you. Let these final picks capture the year in a time capsule and inspire a few experiments the next time you feel like trying something new.
Images via @_mo__styles_, @thanya.
