When a gentle wave won’t work, and a blunt cut leaves you begging for more bite, there is another alternative. At Glasshouse, we’ve recently become enamoured by hair which totally bypasses the rulebook: we’re talking about hacked-into fringes, almost-mullets and deliberately varying lengths. We’re talking about ‘bad hair.’

The sort of looks which might otherwise be achieved by an experimental teenager with a pair of blunt scissors on a school night are now in high demand. Bad hair is being championed throughout the fashion industry (including British Vogue, who recently reported on the “thick maroon perms” and “overgrown pixies” at London Men’s Fashion Week), and we’re very much on board.

For example, our love-love relationship with the mullet is well-documented (we’re huge fans of Edie Campbell, who wears the style with aplomb), so we’re excited to see it becoming so popular in the name of bad hair. It fits in perfectly with bad hair’s aesthetic of choppiness and different lengths, and its tongue-in-cheek sense of humour is well paired with a look that is aware of its own cringe factor.

Other bad cuts we love riff on established styles like the bowl cut and baby bangs, with some messiness thrown in.

Emerging from various runways over the last few seasons (Marques Almeida notably used badly chopped, clipped-in fringes recently), bad hair might seem like only something couture models with perfect bone structure can pull off. However, we actually think it’s quite versatile, and each ‘bad’ cut can be uniquely crafted with different face shapes and styles in mind. These are rebellious styles which go against the grain, so it makes sense that it shouldn’t just be fashion’s elite who get to rock them.

In terms of styling, we love the greasy look often sported by purveyors of bad hair, where hair is pasted to scalps in waves (if you’re also a fan, this can be achieved with a wet look styling product like Organic Colour Systems Sculpt). Again, it’s a middle finger up to the established rules of what hair ought to look like, and in general this is a mood we’re finding really inspirational as we look for new, innovative ways of working.

Or for a slightly more wearable look, encouraging lots of dry texture into the hair will be sure to emphasise the so-bad-it’s-good nature of your new chopped up style. Try a good dollop of Original Mineral’s K-Gravel Texture Clay (a gritty paste-like formula) or Organic Colour Systems’ Control Texture for a light-hold matte look. Take a look at our pick of the best texture products here.

And whilst we acknowledge that bad hair might not be for everyone, we are really excited by the message it sends. It seems that the fashion and hair worlds are embracing inventiveness and humour over same-old-same-old looks, and for Glasshouse, where we’re all about every person finding the right hair for them, we think this can only be a positive step.

Words: Lauren O’Neill

Cover Image: Julia Campbell-Gillies by David Ralph