Get Gorgeous Curls

Whether you have gentle waves or tight ringlets, now is the time to let them flow.

- Anne-Marie Guarnieri

Curly hair is having a moment. “It is very on-trend to wear your hair au naturel—it’s contemporary and chic,” says Eugene Souleiman, global creative director for Wella Professionals, who crafted the texture-driven styles at Chloé and Stella McCartney. Here, experts weigh in on what you need to know about cutting, styling, and caring for your coils.

THE BEST CUTS If your hairstylist said, ‘Maybe we should try bangs?’ your instinct as a curly-haired woman might be to bolt from the chair and never look back. But curly hair and curly bangs are the hot new duo. Think edgy Argentine model Mica Arganaraz’s rock ‘n’ roll shag. “It’s the coolest look, and you can’t get it with straight hair,” says stylist Tommy Buckett of New York’s Serge Normant at John Frieda salon. “This style is not about the perfect curl. Before, curls were so contrived and defined, and now they’re just loose and super sexy.” But bangs or no bangs, getting the right cut is critical. A tousled, chin-length bob or lob that hits at the collarbone and is cut slightly shorter in the back feels totally modern, Souleiman says. “You want the curls to feel constant but with layers throughout to add dimension.” A good rule of thumb? The tighter the curls, the longer, the layers should be. And a word of warning: Do not let anyone come anywhere near your spirals with a razor or thinning shears, says stylist Nunzio Saviano. “Cutting with a razor makes it look like you have split ends, because it shreds the ends of the hair.”