Fashions change almost imperceptibly when it comes to hair. Most of us don’t register every shift in styles until we look at an image from a decade or so ago and think, goodness, it really was different then. And like everything else in fashion, trends are circular; we return to variants of a bob, say, but the new iteration takes on our current tastes – nowadays, the look is tailored the individual rather than the other way round.
All of which is a long way of saying that the Nineties are back with us, and so to is its hair. There are the Gallaghers’ pudding bowl cuts and heavy fringes for the boys – but if you don’t have the eyebrows, you’re only halfway there. For the girls, there’s the All Saints look, which was laid back, effortless, with a layered bob and cool tones or block colour. It seems now very much of its time but this was Girl Power in hair. Besides, effortless and laid back still sounds like a good way to go.
So, in pursuit of the Nineties (I remember it well), I made for Neville Hair and Beauty, to get a modern take on the look: the All Saints Sliced Lights. Sam the stylist took on the cut and it turns out that there’s more than one version of the Nineties layered bob: she was thinking more Meg Ryan flick. And given that my hair is quite thick and curly, she didn’t want too many layers… “no round ball”, she said sternly. “We’ll go more one length, taking it up at the back.” So that’s the way we went, layering the cut into the jawline and flicking it up at the ends, a la Meg.
It was shorter than my normal cut but the upward flick was very pretty. And to avoid frizz – bad at any length but worse when it’s short – she used L'Oréal Professionnel Techni.ART Flex Pli Styling Spray, (£19, amazon.co.uk) for the blow-dry, which is light and easy, and finished off with Kerastase Genesis Serum, (£49.50, boots.com). You need a medium to large bristle brush like the Neville 1405 Bristle Brush, (£40, nevillehairandbeauty.net) for this blow dry. And at the end, I did look different, but not in a scary way. No one actually hailed me with “All Saints!” or indeed “Spice Girl!”, but it was an easygoing and effortless cut.
After that, I returned for the cool tones with a bit of blonde, with Jack, a young colourist, and although I’m all for giving things a go, I draw the line at block blonde; I’m brown haired … end of.
I needn’t have worried. Nowadays we don’t have to do block anything. “It’s quite a strong look, the Nineties”, reflected James. “But we can go a lot softer, and emphasise what’s already there. We can have lightness round the face but soft at the roots. You want to see the lights but not see them. This is a softer version of a slice.”
So, instead of a scary wedge of blonde at the front of the hair, you get interleaved layers of blondness inside the hair, so when you swish it – and James does a very swishable blow-dry – you catch the light, but it’s subtle. More to the point, it’s a more “modern, polished” look than the original All Saints hair. Modern, polished, and easy. Let me confess: I’m not sure I did look like this in the Nineties but it’s never too late to start. (nevillehairandbeauty.net)
