Hair Trends Everyone Ditched In 2019

When it comes to hair trends, a woman will try out an average of 150 — no, that's not a typo — different hairstyles throughout her lifetime, one survey found (via Express). Of the survey's participants, 64 percent said they cut or color their hair when they're feeling bored with their current look. With so many fun hair trends out there, it's easier than ever to change things up. In 2019 alone, we saw the return of the perm, blunt bobs paired with edgy bangs, and even the fresh-out-of-the-shower wet-hair look à la Kim Kardashian. The influx of new trends put many our once-beloved styles on the back burner and, before long, they were headed toward extinction. Out with the old and in with the new, right? 

The List spoke with hairstylists and hair care experts throughout the country and across the pond and discovered which trends lost their staying power in 2019. Without further ado, here's what the esteemed hair gurus had to say.

When you first saw the rainbow or "unicorn" hair trend, you may have been totally impressed. Perhaps you even joined in on the trend yourself. After all, those vivid other-worldly colors were hard to resist. Nevertheless, 2019 saw the end of this mythical trend — at least on adult women.

"Bleaching your hair and then dyeing in all shades of the rainbow is a phase many teen girls go through and that's fine," hairstylist Joey Furlan of Hair by Joey told The List. "The thing is, this trend managed to shift its way up onto people in their 20s, 40s and even 60s in recent years and now people are starting to realize it's maybe better left to the teeny boppers."

Many people also came to realize that the upkeep of rainbow hair was far from magical. "High-impact purple may feel exciting for a couple of weeks, but it's hard on your hair and always fades quickly," Furlan explained. He noted that "the trend towards punky colors has thankfully packed up its bags and headed back to the '90s where it belongs."

"Bangs will be a big trend to kick off the start of 2019," Sharon Ramcharitar, senior stylist at Vu Hair at the Peninsula Hotel in New York City, predicted when speaking to The List in late 2018. The expert said to expect a variety of styles, from shaggy to short and tousled. Throughout 2019, bangs have continued to remain popular. However, one hair trend has gone out with a bang — pun totally intended.

Jana Rago, runway hairstylist and owner of her eponymous studios, said blunt bangs have been replaced. "Now we are seeing a softer fringe or wisp bang and even a micro bang," she revealed in an interview with The List. "The thick blunt bang is not the trend anymore — shorter pieces and styles are much softer around the face." This is, after all, what many people are after when opting for bangs in the first place. According to Holly Pistas, a hairstylist at Chicago-based Gordon Salons, many like how bangs frame their face and break up their hairstyle. For many, it seems, blunt bangs just didn't do the trick.

Getting platinum blonde hair is quite literally a process. In fact, it can often be a double process. "Bleach or enlightener is decolorizing the hair by breaking up the natural melanin in the hair," Spoke & Weal co-owner, hairstylist, and color director Christine Thompson explained to Byrdie. Because the roots usually lighten more than the ends, another round of bleach is used to get a single, cohesive color.  

Hairstylist Elizabeth Hiserodt at Cutler Salon explained to Teen Vogue that bleach is hard on your hair. "Removing color out of the hair can be very damaging, and often doesn't lift to light blonde tones without breaking," she cautioned. "Also, very fine textured hair can break easily with bleach applied, so also take your hair texture into consideration."

Although the platinum hair trend was fun while it lasted, our hair will be relieved to know that this trend is dying out. "The trend now is a less harsh looking color; it's more about the faded pastels and golden tones (especially for blondes)," Jana Rago, runway hair stylist and the owner of Boston-based salon Jana Rago Studios, told The List.

It's not just blondes with hints of gray that we used to love. Artificial gray hair "was a massive trend" in 2018, according to Ruby Hook, hairstylist and salon manager at Browns Hairdressers. In 2019, though? "Not so much," Hook confirmed to The List. If you tried the silvery gray hair trend, you know that it was, well, annoying to maintain. That said, you may be happy to hear that it's on it's way out.

Daniel Savant, hairstylist and owner of SaVant Salon in Peoria, Ariz., told Phoenix New Times that bleaching is just the first step in getting the desired color. Next, a bluing rinse is used to prevent the hair from looking yellow and adds some variation to the gray. After your hair is sufficiently colored, you need to avoid sulfate-based shampoos and have additional dye added "every couple of weeks" and visit the salon for a root touch-up monthly. Those visits add up, and, according to Savant, most people ended up hating how it looked and went back to their former color within six weeks.

Without ever having to take a straightener or curling iron to your hair, you could get the beachy wave look by simply securing your freshly washed hair into buns and going to sleep. Ah, this hair trend was just too good to last forever, wasn't it?

Celebrity hairstylist Patrice Vinci of Patrice Vinci Salon told The List that this beachy style is being "changed up in a glamorous nod to Hollywood." But it's not all bad news. For those who weren't able to get the desired wavy look without heat, beach waves may have actually been more time-consuming than their glamorous replacement.

Vinci said the updated style is "voluminous" and borrows inspiration from "Kate Middleton's signature look." She explained further, saying, "The direction of curling this style needs to be one way only, and often curling forward gives a face [a] flattering look [with] polished, well-defined waves." Don't worry if your hair isn't as long as Duchess Kate's. "This type of curl can be achieved with a bob look as well," the hair expert confirmed.

It's no longer just babylights that are out. Gabriella Goldring, hairstylist and co-founder of Eunice & May blow-bar, told The List that highlights — at least as we've always known them — "no longer really exist." Instead, everyone wants rooted or balayage for more natural looking hair," she explained. Those stripy, defined highlights have become a thing of the past — and it's not hard to understand why. Unlike traditional highlights, the balayage technique "gives a really blended natural look with no harsh or obvious regrowth lines," Richard Ward, royal and celebrity hairstylist, told Marie Claire.

"Stiff styles have been booted out in favor of more flowery natural hair," Goldring explained. And balayage most certainly fits the bill. Another natural-looking style dubbed "dirty brunette" has also taken the place of traditional highlights. The hair trend does actually call for a highlighting technique — but you'd hardly be able to tell. The key is to stick with very natural highlights, renowned hairstylist Riawna Capri of Nine Zero One Salon in Los Angeles, Calif. explained to Allure.

In fashion, blush is everywhere. When it comes to hair color, though, the love of this hue has died down. Throughout 2018, every shade of pink from "bright pink to rose gold to pastel" was everywhere. "We took a lot of bookings for summer, [vacations], and festivals," Ruby Hook, hairstylist and salon manager at Browns Hairdressers in Stony Stratford, England, confirmed to The List. As of 2019, that was no longer the case with this hair trend.

Years ago, you may not have imagined that pink hair would've actually become common, but, nevertheless, that's what happened. "A color explosion has happened and now is being molded to our lifestyle — as normal as they can be," celebrity colorist Daniel Moon told Teen Vogue back in 2015. And there was a reason so many took to the trend, according to Midge Wilson, a psychology professor at DePaul University. "If society is accepting of pink hair right now, it makes us more apt to dye our hair pink, therefore perpetuating the cycle," she told the publication. As cool as pink hair was, it did require a considerable amount of upkeep. Naturally, that prevents us from being too sad to say goodbye.

Although fades had women dumping their stylists for barbers in the years past, 2019 marked the beginning of the end for this trend. Jamie DiGrazia, award-winning hairstylist and owner of Chicago-based salon Logan Parlor, confirmed to The List that "bald fades" — or skin fades — have all but died out. Supercuts explained that fading is accomplished by using "clipper and blades to gradually work the length from long to super-short." Although the style originated as a men's cut, women later began to embrace the bold trend.

In 2017, back in the height of the hair trend, Tahira Wright of The Cut Life Instagram account revealed to StyleCaster how women could get themselves a less-masculine fade. "Tell the barber you want soft lines and a cleaned up look and not to give you harsh lines like a man," she outlined. "It's really that simple." Despite being a simple — and quick — hairstyle, the fade has, well, basically faded away.

Balayage is a style with staying power, and it's easy to see why. "It's a freehand hair colouring technique that gives a really blended natural look with no harsh or obvious regrowth lines," royal and celebrity hairstylist Richard Ward explained to Marie Claire.

Although Boston-based colorist and hairstylist Yasmeen Osman told The List that traditional foil highlights "will be around forever," the hair guru has noticed "more and more people ... breaking out and embracing the balayage." Why? She explained, "Balayage has come so far and the beauty of it is that you no longer need to rush back to the salon to deal with unsightly roots."

But how can balayage be both increasingly popular and a dead hair trend? It's all in the application. While subtle balayage is very much in, John Blue, hairstylist, owner, and creative director of Boss Hair Group in Chicago, Ill., told The List that "the chunky and piecey balayage," especially in conjunction with the ombré trend, is "out the door."