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Elle
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Victoria Beckham's New 'Uncut' Bob Is The Ultimate Short Summer Haircut - This Is How To Recreate It
2025 has seen all manner of chic, bouncy bobs dominating our algorithms, from Italian bobs to the 'old money' style and the newly upgraded graduated bob. But it seems that for summer - and what is expected to be a short-lived heatwave in the UK - a softer, shorter shape is cropping up as the warmer weather takes hold, as proven by Victoria Beckham's latest cut. Eschewing her lob haircut and the old school graduated bob for which she became synonymous during her Spice Girls era, Beckham just debuted her shortest hairstyle for years – a chin-grazing 'uncut' bob. The business founder and beauty mogul debuted her soft, new cut in an Instagram video while getting her and make-up and hair done, which revealed soft layers with a choppier style, and a much shorter finish – a haircut stylists are predicting will dominate this summer. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE 'The undone messy bob is definitely gaining popularity right now,' agrees Mitchell Ladbrook, a Senior Stylist at Nicola Clarke x John Frieda salons. It speaks to growing demand both for shorter hairstyles (see: the rise of the pixie cut) but also a move towards less uniformity and perfected hair. The chicer blunt bobs feel more like a nod to 'quiet luxury', while these messier, more textured cuts feel cooler and fresher. A style such as Victoria's does require a specific cutting technique, in which a hairdresser usually cuts choppy layers into the hair, and regular salon visits. 'Make sure you are in for regular appointments to keep it fresh and in shape,' adds Ladbrook. When it comes to styling, less really is more – you want it to look lived in and with plenty of movement. You can either use a round brush to create texture or simply rely on a few styling products and leave your hair to dry naturally. For a textured, uncut bob I would use Sam McKnight Sundaze Sea Salt Spray for a natural beachy style texture and Sam McKnight's Cool Girl Spray on dry hair. It's ideal if you don't like too much product in your hair, as it's super light but still achieves that textured look,' he shares. Haircare is paramount too. 'Start with a good shampoo and conditioner to keep the hair nourished, a heat protector spray and generally I would always use a volume spray or mousse in the roots,' adds Charlie Williams, Gielly Green Signature Stylist. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Amelia Bell is the Senior Site Beauty Editor at ELLE UK, developing beauty strategy, writing, editing, and commissioning, and overseeing all beauty content for the site. Amelia has a particular interest in sustainable beauty practices, exploring the skin-mind connection, and decoding the latest treatments, tweakments and runway trends. She also has bylines for Women's Health, Refinery29, British Vogue, Harrods Magazine, and more.
Telegraph
30-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
How to go grey and still look like you've made an effort
My dad had shoe polish-black hair with silver at his temples. I remember being fascinated by his streaks when I was a kid, wondering how they got there. To me, his greys were both dramatic and distinguished, and entirely him. Maybe that's why I didn't mind when grey strands began to appear around my temples in my mid-20s. There was something comforting in this hereditary legacy, an aesthetic nod from generation to generation. It helped that I liked how they looked: a slash of silver added an appealing sense of drama to my brown curly hair. That only increased as they grew more prominent. Which was lucky, because I couldn't be bothered to take action against them. I hesitated to embark on a futile campaign against signs of ageing or commit to yet another expensive, high-maintenance beauty regime. Over time, they became part of my look. So much so that when my kids asked why I had grey streaks, they knew I'd answer, 'That's where I keep my memories.' Lately though, the greys have sent out scouts, claimed territory. They're still clustered around my temples, but when I pull my hair back into a ponytail, I see more grey than brown. It's less Bride of Frankenstein, more granny. And the texture! My greys are somehow frizzier and more wiry than the rest of my hair. It's enough to make a gal feel unkempt. 'Grey hair by nature is coarse due to the lack of melanin,' says Jessie Renyard, senior colourist at Nicola Clarke at John Frieda. 'Imagine that the hair shaft is a clear drinking straw filled up with little balls of pigment, representing your natural colour. When that pigment goes, you're left with just a hollow straw, which is a lot drier and coarser.' Integrating the greys doesn't have to mean covering them completely, she says. Her suggestion is to emphasise the contrast by adding in more of my base colour. This would only take a few foils and would last four to six weeks. 'If you've got that lovely white streak there and we can get a bit of depth back next to it – chef's kiss.' But what if I don't want to commit to colouring my hair? After all, my main complaint isn't the colour, or lack thereof – it's the textural difference between the flyaway greys and the hair on the rest of my head. 'Once hair grows through white, the texture changes completely. A lot of clients come to me because although they actually love their white hair, they don't like its texture, or the frizz that comes with it,' says Ondine Cowley, artistic director at Gielly Green. 'They'll say, 'Hang on, my hair has been smooth my whole life, but it's not smooth anymore. What am I meant to do?'' She prescribes Hyrolox, a smoothing treatment (free from formaldehyde or keratin) that conditions and straightens hair for three to six months. 'But all smoothing treatments will relax the curl,' she warns. For someone with straight hair, Hyrolox and similar treatments can be godsends. I'm not interested in straightening my hair or even risking change to the naturally curly texture, so it isn't right for me. 'The most important thing is understanding that grey hair is porous. Hydration has to be your number one priority,' says Charlotte Mensah (when it comes to curly and Afro hair textures, she's a UK expert). She recommends exfoliating the scalp with her Manketti Oil Salt Scrub ('it loosens product-build-up on the scalp and helps bring the moisture and hydration to a much higher level'), steaming and drenching the hair with hydration-boosting products. A few days later at the Hair Lounge, Mensah's warm, lively salon on London's Portobello Road, a stylist sprays my hair with diluted conditioner to detangle it before the salt scrub, a high-friction head massage over the backwash. My scalp tingles as she slathers on a hair mask and tucks me under a steamer, a slice of Mensah's signature pound cake and a cup of ginger tea within reach. Twenty minutes later, my hair feels softer than ever. Scrubbing and steaming are effective but temporary. Ultimately Renyard's idea – emphasising the grey by heightening the contrast with a touch of colour – proves too intriguing to resist. So on no less auspicious a day than my 41st birthday, I sit in her salon chair and watch as she paints small sections from the front of my hair with colour before folding them into foils. 'I'm just putting some of your natural depth back in, but in a way that looks natural rather than like I've taken a Sharpie to your hair,' she says. 'There will still be greys, but let's knock it back a couple years.' How did it look? Natural, but better. The greys appeared brighter against the darker brown strands (she also used a toner to take down the brassiness of the sun-damaged ends of my hair, which made a difference), but the overall effect was subtle enough that no one's asked if I've changed my hair. And it's a minimal enough intervention that even if I don't go back for another session, the colour Renyard added will fade in an undetectable way. It's ideal given that I didn't set out to dramatically alter or repudiate the way I look – all I wanted was to make the greys look like a more deliberate choice, a little sleeker, a little less random. In fact, I'm not thinking of this intervention as a makeover. Let's call it an upgrade instead.
