Grab your passport and prep your carry-on, because we're going on an international hair excursion, folks. Okay, fine, that was a little cheesy, but what's ahead is far from it. We've scouted the top salons around the world — including London, Tokyo, Melbourne, São Paulo, and many other destinations — to find the hair trends that are in the highest demand from the chicest women around the globe.
Instead of just looking to Hollywood celebs or the styles your friends are loving, why not check out what hasn't even hit the United States yet? These styles are cool, timeless, and far, far ahead of the curve. We'll spare you another passport joke and get right to it: Click through our slideshow for the raddest haircuts sweeping nine international cities.
Paris, France
The Cut: A classic bob with light layering
Hairstylist David Mallett's Parisian salon is one of the most talked about in the City of Lights, both among locals and celebs. Think: Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux, and more.
The textbook bob — slightly longer in the front and hitting just below the chin — has gained a noticeable uptick here, thanks in part to stylist Luciano de Medeiros, who has been doling out variations of it to everyone who swings by his chair.
Ask For: An A-line bob with light layering suited for your texture.
Photo: Via @lucianolemagnifique.
Rocking curly locks? This option from de Medeiros is perfection, thanks to the long-bob length and on-trend fringe. Again, ask for layering that isn't noticeable, but is suited for your texture; this will allow for easier air-drying and heat-styling.
Photo: Via @lucianolemagnifique.
Here, we see another version done by de Medeiros, this one slightly longer, but with similar piecey-ness through the ends.
Photo: Via @lucianolemagnifique.
Melbourne, Australia
The Cut: Longer lengths with soft, graduated layers
When it comes to the Melbourne salon scene, it's Salon XVI that we're watching the closest. The Aussie mainstay cranks out shiny, enviable looks in all colors of the rainbow — from blond to blue — but it's the cuts that prove it's all in the tiny details.
Owner Benjamin Martin walked us through many of the looks we love the most from the salon's Instagram — and it turns out, they all have one common quality: soft, graduated layers that are shorter in the front and longer in the back. "Graduating the front, and not layering the entire hairstyle, works well on fine hair; it maintains length and hair density through the back of the hair, but creates height, texture, and body in the front," he says.
Ask For: Soft layers through the front and minimal to no layering in the back, depending on what your texture requires for easy styling.
Photo: Courtesy of Salon XVI.
Styling layers is easy: Mist a volumizing spray through damp hair and either rough-dry or air-dry, then create or define curls, waves, or bends with a large-barrel curling iron, Martin says. "Then, use a flat brush to smooth and polish the hair."
Photo: Via @salonxvi.
Tip: Ask for more layers in the front to create this bouncy blowout look.
Photo: Via @salonxvi.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The Cut: A long lob with bangs
For help navigating the trends sweeping Denmark, we turned to Nicci Welsh, the U.K.-born, Copenhagen-based hairstylist behind the cult Scandi wave. Welsh tells us that many women in Scandinavian countries opt out of big chops — longer lengths are very popular right now, with the second biggest trend being bobs with bangs.
We scouted her top salon picks and, as expected, she was right on the money: There are droves of chic women sporting thick, blunt bangs and long bobs. Our favorite styles from Copenhagen's Gun-Britt Coiffure Hair Salon look a bit like grown-out lobs — a chic and refreshing place between a lob and a mid-length cut.
Ask For: A bob, lob, or a "grown-out lob" with heavy, chipped-into bangs.
Photo: Via @gunbrittcoiffure.
Add longer pieces in front and you have a nearly identical chop as in the previous slide — done at the same salon — but with a slight A-line. Vi elsker det! (We love it!)
Photo: Via @mariejedig.
For a more avant-garde approach to the trend, look to Moreteasir Salon in Copenhagen. This chop boasts an edgy secret — a baby undercut — and ends that are wonderfully precise.
Photo: Via @moreteasircph.
London, England
The Cut: Rounded, face-framing layers on shorter cuts
To discuss the U.K. and not touch on The Hair Lounge would be criminal. Owner Charlotte Mensah is the stylist for curly and textured hair in London — and her voluminous crops are both perfectly layered and flattering to each individual. They do, however, have commonalities.
Want to score a cut inspired by the ones walking out of Mensah's Notting Hill salon? It's all about asking for rounded layers that frame the face and allow for maximum volume and bounce. ( Tip: Her products help, too.) These layers should be tailored to your texture, and make way for easy air-drying.
Ask For: Lots of layers that deliver a rounded finish and frame the face.
Photo: Via @hairlounge1999
Tip: Once chopped, your cut should be trimmed while dry, which will ensure you're maintaining the shape.
Photo: Via @hairlounge1999
Prefer to stay on the shorter side of the spectrum? This chop is wildly versatile.
Photo: Via @hairlounge1999
São Paulo, Brazil
The Cut: The Gisele
Laces and Hair is one of the top high-end salons in São Paulo — thanks in part to its natural-is-better approach to products and treatments that keep long hair healthy. The salon has a few different locations throughout the city, and has reached international acclaim thanks to attention from the VS Angel set.
The salon cranks out looks that are more Gisele than anything: long, layered, bouncy, and healthy. This kind of style is easy to get, once you have the length to work with — and it works on any texture that can hold a curl or be coiffed into one.
Ask For: A cut that is long, but slightly shorter in the front with light layering — a.k.a. built for waves and curls.
Photo: Via @lacesandhair.
Olá, Gisele-like waves! Ask for long layers that disappear into the lengths. (Obviously, some expertly placed balayage highlights go a long way here, too.)
Photo: Via @lacesandhair.
You're going to need a solid masking routine to maintain this look. (Here are our favorites.)
Photo: Via @lacesandhair.
Lagos, Nigeria
The Cut: Long on top, short on the sides
Looking for something shorter? This cut comes in a few different versions, but each has the following characteristics: longer on top, with short (sometimes even buzzed) sides that allow the hair to swoop over, resulting in a cool juxtaposition of texture and length. Keep clicking for our favorite takes.
Ask For: A cut that's long on top, which gives it a lot of versatility, with short, close-cut sides.
Photo: Via @pammacb.
Make Me Beauty Place in Lagos is a salon that churns out short on the sides, long on the top (along with a bunch of other amazing looks) like nobody's business. This pic is definitive proof that this chop works well on any texture — including curly locks. Meow.
Photo: Via @makemesalon.
The choppiest of the lot. Keep the sides very short and the layers on top chunky to cop this look.
Photo: Via @makemesalon.
Tokyo, Japan
The Cut: Blunt bangs
Pells Hair is everything you might think of when you envision a Tokyo salon: an artistically driven aesthetic, a unique concept (it's also a coffee shop and a retail store), and trend-forward looks.
The salon turns out a bouquet of unexpected styles — and each is worth a second look — but it's the uptick in fringe that we're noticing the most. The bangs are blunt, dramatic, and take center stage. No faux fringe here.
Ask For: Blunt bangs that are somewhere between medium-weight and thick, shorter in the middle than on the sides, and have a sharp finish at the corners.
Photo: Via @pellshair.
Blunt and noticeably longer on the sides, these bangs are as cool as it gets.
Photo: Via @pellshair.
Fun fact: They just get radder as they grow out.
Photo: Via @pellshair.
New South Wales, Australia
The Cut: Razor-sharp ends
For another look at the styles coming from Down Under, we take a quick jump over to Wollongong, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales. The Fox & the Hair is the salon that brought us "the vertical pull-down" — a method to add soft waves to hair that lacks layers.
While blunt cuts are also popular in Melbourne, The Fox & the Hair cranks out these chops daily, each with polish and can't-look-away sharpness.
Ask For: Blunt ends that are so sharp, they likely need to be cut dry or with a razor.
Photo: Via @thefoxandthehair.
Proof that free-flowing waves and blunt ends are not mutually exclusive.
Photo: Via @thefoxandthehair.
To score this look, ask for a blunt, one-length bob with razor-sharp ends.
Photo: Via @thefoxandthehair.
Oslo, Norway
The Cut: The mid-length cut
Welsh also turned us on to one of Oslo's raddest salons: Gevir, which dictates the country's biggest trends, she says. The mid-length cut popular there has the versatility of a long cut, but looks a bit more edgy.
If you've been rocking really long hair for a while — like many Scandinavian women, says Welsh — this is a great update. It's a stone's throw from a lob and can make the longest of lengths look fresh and far healthier than before.
Ask For: A cut that is longer than a lob, but not more than a few inches past the collarbone. Few bangs were spotted in Oslo on our digital scout, but feel free to add layers suited to your texture.
Photo: Via @Gevir.
Light layering in front allows this cut to fall effortlessly.
Photo: Via @Gevir.
Want to forgo chops for a while? Opt for a cut on the shorter end of the mid-length spectrum, and it will grow out perfectly.
Photo: Via @Gevir.
London, England
The Cut: The nontraditional bob
Finally, we pop over to London one last time to report on an uptick in bobs — but this isn't your mom's cut. In the trendy neighborhood of Shoreditch, you'll find Kaizo, a salon that locals haunt for rainbow color, edgy bangs, and — our favorite! — a fresh take on the traditional bob.
The cuts coming out of Kaizo aren't classic: "Ask for a softly layered bob, and remember this look is achieved by long, soft layers on a choppy-bob base, it's not a graduation," Yuka Ito, the hairstylist who created this look, tells us. Keep clicking for more.
Ask For: An artsy bob with strategic layering — not for body or fullness, but for a cool finish.
Photo: Via @kaizoshoreditch.
Meanwhile, hairstylist Matteo Collalti created this look using a classic bob shape. He calls it a "geometric bob" because there is zero layering for a full, blunt finish.
Photo: Via @kaizoshoreditch.
It doesn't stop there: The bob gets a third makeover with an asymmetrical finish in the back.
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