upworthy

hair

Popular

The laughably worst haircuts that have perfectly defined 6 different generations

History is great. But sometimes hairstyles tell us everything.

Photo by Michael DeMoya on Unsplash

Each generation has a top and bottom cut. Let's see 'em.

When actress Sash Striga (@sashstriga on TikTok) went in for a "cool girl chic" tweak to a haircut she had gotten five days earlier, things did not go as planned. "Very flirty, very flowy," she told the stylist as they discussed making her already short hair a bit "shorter in the back" and "less wide on the sides."

"I can do that," he confidently answered. But after a long while of snipping (and then clipping!), Sash took to TikTok to describe the moment she saw him turn ghostly pale, possibly realizing he'd made a few mistakes.

In her video, she recounts the story while wearing a grey beanie. When she finally removes it, she reveals what can only be described as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl Manic Pixie Dream Girl gone horribly wrong. But her pure joy in the awfulness of it all is delightful to watch, and a good reminder that it will always grow back.

@sashstriga

I’m more mad at myself than anything tbh 🫠 #badhairday #badhaircut #toronto #torontolife #fyp #hairstyle #hair #badhaircutcheck

While all of these unfortunate trends have or will be recycled through different generations, take a look at what might arguably be the worst hair trends since the '40s!


The Silent Generation: The Bouffant

marge simpson pulling atbouffant her hairfrustrated marge simpson GIFGiphy

If you were born in the later part of this generation (say, 1943), you'd be just the right age to wear this wacky hairdo to a high school dance. There couldn’t possibly be enough hairspray or teasing combs for this up-do to reach the heavens. And yet, that never stopped anyone from trying.


Baby Boomers: The Shag

woman with shag haircutGIF by SliceGiphy

A Baby Boomer born smack-dab in the middle of their generation might have started caring about their hairstyle around 1970. This was the BEST time for hair and the Shag had it all: the bouncy middle part, the sexy curtain bangs—everything. Even the edgier cuts like The Shag were kinda hot. But even hot haircuts can turn cold with the wrong scissors.


Gen X: The Mullet

a man with a mullet fist pumping Happy Seann William Scott GIFGiphy

This "business in the front, party in the back" hairstyle is nothing new. In fact, it has been stated by historian Suetonius that "the Roman emperor Tiberius 'wore his hair rather long at the back, so much so as even to cover the nape of his neck,' and that this was a tradition of his family, the Claudians."

Technically, Boomers also bear responsibility for the mullet, but it was the Xers who really made it sing.

The '80s had so many outrageous hair choices that this category gets two entries:


Also Gen X: The Rattail

gif of men with rattails square pegs 80s GIF by absurdnoiseGiphy

Something strange emerged in the '80s. Well, a lot of strange things came about, but somewhere, some hairdresser woke up and said, "Yes, we will leave a piece of hair hanging, and sometimes, we might even braid it."


Millennials: The Bowl Cut

man shaking out his bowl cutHappy Haircut GIF by Australian Ninja WarriorGiphy

We saw the odd The Three Stooges"Moe" cut on Sash, who is technically a young millennial, just missing the cusp of a Gen Z-er by two years. At least it was a nice update to the traditionally awful "bowl cut." But it was the millennials who brought this unfortunate look back in the early '90s.


Gen Z: The Broccoli Cut (aka the Zoomer Perm)

The Broccoli Cut is..,something Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Imagine thinking this is a good idea: "We'll cut the sides real short, and leave it long on top. Sure, that works. But wait! Then we'll PERM the top and let it just sit there." For some reason, in the UK, this was renamed the "Meet me at McDonald's haircut," and it's so disturbing that some schools have even banned it. Many Zoomers disagree, though, and it's still quite a popular look on TikTok.

hair
Family

Single dad taught himself to braid his daughter's hair. Now he helps other dads do the same.

The Daddy Daughter Hair Factory helps dads everywhere learn how to braid hair.

Image via YouTube video.

Dad gets the high-five for being a Dad, and it's great.

Philippe Morgese is a single dad with a daughter named Emma. She, like many children, happens to have hair.

Like most parents, Morgese is really hoping to do his part to make sure Emma becomes a fully-functioning and responsible member of society. He wants to make sure she grows up confident and well-adjusted. He also wants her to have a good male role model in her life. Ya know, like most of us dads do.

And he wants to make sure her hair looks nice. He didn't have any people in his life who knew how to braid hair, so he taught himself.

SCIENCE FACT: Actively involved fathers can have a huge impact on their kids' school performance.

Morgese got so good at hair braiding that he decided to start a class to help other dads.

SCIENCE FACT: The more a dad is involved in their kid's life, the more the dad's self-esteem increases.

The class got pretty popular over time. So much so that he ended up starting a Facebook page called the Daddy Daughter Hair Factory to help dads everywhere learn how to braid hair. He got a kid's haircare company, SoCozy, to sponsor the class. He even built an incredibly handy website where dads like me, who get horrifically dirty looks from their daughters every time they try to do hair, can learn how to do it correctly.

The class is about more than braiding hair though.

The classes are really about dads and daughters bonding and connecting.

They turn off their screens. They focus on being together. And they just hang out.

SCIENCE FACT: Dads who play with their kids can have a positive impact in their kids ability to have stable relationships later in life.


It's a win for everyone. Dads and daughters get to spend time with each other and they both get something out of it: new skills for dad and awesome hairstyles for their daughters.

I seriously can't wait to learn how to do the three-strand braid and the braided elastic coverup.

NON-SCIENCE FACT: I'm looking forward to the day I can make my daughter's hair look this good while not getting a raging death stare from her.

Watch Morgese and Emma show other dads how to braid hair in this Upworthy Original Video:

And feel free to share this with a dad in need.


This article originally appeared on 04.18.16


From Your Site Articles
kids
Health

Healthy hair promotes confidence, and this serum promotes healthy hair

Monpure

It’s not vain to be concerned about thinning hair. Studies have shown that women, in particular, connect their confidence with the condition of their hair, and the recent Oscars fracas surrounding a cruel joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair loss reminds us that social judgement is both real and painful. And yet, for many of us, thinning hair is a fact of life - but it doesn’t have to be. Combining advances in the biological understanding of hair loss with progress in the scientific exploration of natural ingredients, Monpure London’s Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum offers a safe, cruelty-free, and natural option for people dealing with hair loss or thinning hair.

This pioneering formula stars a special pumpkin seed extract that’s scientifically proven to help block an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase, which produces the chemical that causes hair loss. The chemical is called DHT, and it decreases hair’s anagen (growth) phase, causing it to enter its telogen (shedding) phase prematurely.


Another key ingredient in the serum is lactic acid (which, despite the name, is not milk-based), an AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) commonly used to exfoliate and even out the skin. It can do the same to your scalp, helping to decongest hair follicles and promote healthy cell renewal, creating the perfect environment for healthy hair growth. These AHAs also lower the skin’s pH level from 5.5 to 3, which sends a message to the lower layers of the scalp (the dermis) to kickstart the production of healthy new cells. What’s more, lactic acid is gentle on the scalp skin.

Then there’s retinol, one of the most sought-after ingredients in skincare due to its ability to promote skin cell turnover. It promotes new hair growth and helps your scalp absorb other powerful ingredients - such as pumpkin seed extract - that reduce thinning.

The Monpure Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum is vegan and cruelty-free. That’s important to Monpure, a certified B-Corp, which means they are legally committed to high standards, transparency, and accountability regarding environmental impact, ethics, and employee treatment. Monpure’s core values ensure that their products, like the Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum, are safe for people and the Earth.

It’s also completely pregnancy and breastfeeding safe. The formula is designed to be effective for color-treated, chemically-treated, and relaxed hair. It is an effective solution for people with fine, straight, wavy, curly, and oily hair.

Best of all, it delivers results. In an independent user trial with 100 men and women with self-diagnosed hair loss testing the Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum for a four-week period, 76 percent of participants said their hair felt thicker, 75 percent agreed that it boosted growth, while84 percent said the serum would become an integral part of their hair care routine. These statistics show just how well the Monpure Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum worked for them.

The serum is a winner of the 2020 Natural Health Beauty Awards and is recommended by magazines like GQ and Grazia. Dermatologically tested and scientifically proven, with no parabens, sulfates, or silicones, Monpure’s Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum is a simple, daily treatment that can minimize the thinning of hair and can promote thicker, healthier hair growth.

Keep your confidence and keep your hair by making the Monpure Follicle Boost Hair Density Serum a part of your daily hair care regime.

From Your Site Articles
affiliate
Most Shared

A magazine edited Lupita Nyong'o's hair on its cover, and she's really not having it.

#dtmh, all right?

Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o isn't happy with her latest magazine cover, and for good reason.

Appearing on the cover of Grazia, a U.K.-based fashion magazine, Nyong'o couldn't help but notice that something was missing from the original photoshoot: namely, her hair. The image as it appears in the magazine erases an entire section of Nyong'o's hair and smooths the rest of it.

Nyong'o took to her social media accounts to vent her frustration with the decision to take such creative liberties, writing on Instagram that she was "disappointed" in the outlet for trying to box her into their ideal of beautiful hair.

"Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture," she wrote.

In 2016, Vogue incorrectly attributed the inspiration for Nyong'o's hairstyle at that year's Met Gala to Audrey Hepburn. She was quick to correct them, as well.

N'yongo put together a video compilation of her real hair inspirations — Nina Simone as well as a number of traditional East and West African styles — for the event:

Hair Inspiration. Check. @vernonfrancois @voguemagazine #metball2016

A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on

So it shouldn't come as any surprise that when Grazia literally erased an important part of her look, she spoke up.

Again, writing on Instagram, she explains that growing up, she was conditioned to believe that "light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty." Magazine covers didn't often show women with hair like hers — and the Grazia cover demonstrates this is still the case.

"I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too," she wrote. "Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are."

[rebelmouse-image 19530038 dam="1" original_size="750x480" caption="Nyong'o accepting an Oscar for her performance in "12 Years a Slave" in 2014. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images." expand=1]Nyong'o accepting an Oscar for her performance in "12 Years a Slave" in 2014. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Responding to the backlash, Grazia offered an apology, noting that the photographer made the alteration without their notice.

Whether that changes anything in the mind of Nyong'o or anyone else...  ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. After all, she hoped that her cover could help inspire girls growing up in a world of Euro-centric beauty standards, which apology aside, won't happen with this cover.

If there's one thing to take away from this moving forward, in her words, it's #dtmh — don't touch my hair.

From Your Site Articles
Trending Stories