The youth’s move towards genderless trends is both timely and essential. Makeup is no longer an exclusive girls-only club, androgynous fashion is anything but niche and inclusivity in beauty demands everybody’s due – no matter the gender identity of the individual. It is indeed exciting when trends are fluid; it gives people more room to experiment. One risqué yet incredibly cool beauty trend that has taken many hostages is the wolf cut. From celebrities like Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus to popular TV characters like Kang Sae-byeok from Netflix’s Squid Game, the wolf cut has slowly been seeping into our consciousness. The result has been a trail of foxy looking eye candies walking around and we sure ain’t complaining about it!
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What Is The Wolf Cut?
Characterised as a cocktail of the street style-fave Shag haircut and the classic American Mullet, the wolf cut features short, sliced and choppy layers on the top and slimmer texture on the bottom. The heavy volume on top is usually created with long, choppy layers near the temple, ears and the back. The heavily tousled, untamed, wild and animalistic look is what gives it its name – it resembles a wolf’s furry mane, after all. Casually sliced and cut to create the unkempt, streamlined look, the cut originated in South Korea. The gorgeous men of K-pop have long been sporting the style adding edge to their glam. The cut technique suits all hair types, textures, shapes and densities. Created on longer hair, at least shoulder length, the wolf is an undeniable genderless trend that has given adventurous beauty lovers their fill of adrenaline.
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Why Is The Wolf Cut Popular?
The wolf cut’s claim to fame is easy to trace. Firstly, the onus of the look working out lies on the hairstylist. The layers are uneven, and the shaggier your wolf cut looks, the better. Hairstylists will often take texturising shears to your tresses to achieve the desired movement, making the cut a feat that only experienced hands should attempt. Yep, the layers, which have to sit right at the correct lengths based on your face shape, are pretty tricky to achieve and need an experienced hairstylist. But once you leave the salon, the job’s pretty much done. There’s hardly any upkeep or styling needed to wear it every day; all you need to do is keep your tresses moisturized and nourished so that they don’t frizz up and ruin the shape.
Secondly, the wolf happens to be one of the rare trends that embrace curls and texture. Yes, curly hair is the best canvas to create the spaced-out, piece-y layers. Curly and wavy hair offers tremendous opportunity for hairstylists to develop the required separation in the layers, making them look disjointed, unblinded and ultimately frazzled. The wolf cut also lets curly-haired girls enjoy bangs without styling them every day. This also makes the wolf cut NOT everybody’s cup of tea. Yep, if you like our haircut to look sleek, uniform and clean, this is not for you. Even straighter hair with wolf cuts has to purposefully add messy texture to hair during styling, or else they look just flat (yikes!).
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How To Speak To Your Hairstylist About Wolf Cuts
Since the trend lives beyond gender norms, there has been a steep rise in its demand. This, in turn, has given rise to alterations and customisations in how your wolf cut will look. Ask your stylist a few critical questions before getting your own –
1. What about the bangs? Wolf cut bangs can be wispy, fringed, curtain, side-swept or even cropped baby bangs. So ask your stylist which bangs will better suit your face shape and hair texture before the cut.
2. How long will the layers be? This is where you can customise your look – either go for intense texture or stay subtle with a few softly stacked ones. A very experienced stylist can work with smaller sections to create a stake of layers that will put regular layered haircuts to shame.
3. What about the bottom half? The top half of people’s heads are pretty much the same – but depending on the length and texture of the bottom half of your hair, your wolf cut can be customised. Collarbone-grazing lengths are best at nailing the trend, but if you wish to keep your hair longer, you can always go for more blended and evenly stacked layers to avoid your layers looking scraggy.
In conclusion, if you have been looking to have fun with a fresh cut, this one might just get your, and everyone in your friend groups, heart racing!
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