Want To Go Viral On Insta? These 4 Styling Trends Could Make It Happen

Hair trends are constantly evolving, and thanks to social media, what’s popular in styling is changing quickly from year to year. That’s why BTC Founder and Creative Director Mary Rector-Gable spoke on the evolution of upstyling—where it’s been and where it’s going—at Matrix Destination 2018. She’s predicting softly-structured updos, knots, high ponytails and flowers to hit the styling scene, and below, we’re breaking it all down—the trends, the tips and the inspiration for getting big numbers on your upstyles when posting to Instagram. Check it out!

Know This First: The Evolution Of Updos

• Martin Parsons—the father of the fundamentals—started it. He taught the basics, and stylists have been building upon them ever since.
• @hairandmakeupbysteph—one of the first social media hairdressers—totally changed the game with her perfectly imperfect updos. She used Martin’s structural techniques first, then broke them apart to create her own style.
• Instagram—the platform that’s changed it all—has leveled the playing field and given new artists the chance to take over the upstyling space. Here’s what’s on our trend radar.

Softly-Structured Updos

• What to know: Soft upstyles with firm techniques and dimensional color are moving in on the perfectly imperfect updos from 2017. 
• What to try: When working on single dimensional color with no highlights or lowlights, lift up little strands of hair throughout the updo—this creates added dimension as soon as light hits it, plus, it adds a softness to any structured style.
• Who to watch: @lenabogucharskaya, a stylist from Russia. She blends techniques from Martin Parsons and @hairandmakeupbysteph, and has created a softly-structured updo trend in the process—and Mary believes it’s here to stay. Take a look at some inspiration below.

@lenabogucharskaya

@lenabogucharskaya

@lenabogucharskaya

@lenabogucharskaya

@lenabogucharskaya

@sabrinadijkman

@antonina_romanova

@tonyastylist

@milabeautykim

Knots

• What to know: Knots were big at the end of 2017 and the trend is here to stay.
• What to try: Knot styles look great on super dimensional color (Check out this article on trending balayage for more pointers). And, Mary says to always tag @behindthechair_com on Instagram when creating these looks because we want to post them!

@hellobalayage

@beccawith_the_goodhair

@catchies

@marco.gilento

High Ponytails

• What to know: “Don’t ever think that you’re not creating the trends,” says Mary. Here’s why: “We saw this with the high pony, it got huge numbers on our Instagram, which tells a celebrity hairdresser that a trend is happening and then they want to get in front of it,” says Mary.  We’re speculating that this is why celebs like Kim, Khole, Ariana Grande and JLo have all been recently rocking the high pony!
• What to try: Just keep working with high ponytails—try adding detail to them with braids, color or knots.

@sarahlaidlaw

@antonina_romanova

@jbraidsandbows

@milabeautykim

@annette_updo_artist

@hairbyrjm

@maggiemh

@anhcotran

@michaelgrayhair

@ulyana.aster

@chrisappleton1

@dvir_tvik

@chrisappleton1

Want more inspo? Check out our Dramatic Ponytails gallery!

Flowers In The Hair:

• What to know: Flowers are coming for your brides this year.
• What to try: Watch the runways, because we’re seeing this trend trickle down and it’s going to start popping up on your Insta feeds soon.

@roxiejanehunt

@roxiejanehunt

@sammcknight1

@antonioccalero