Thirty years.
When I actually stop and think about that, it sounds like a very long time!
I’ve spent more than 30 years standing behind a salon chair, watching the hair and beauty industry change, seeing fashions come and go, learning new techniques, trying new products and watching new treatments appear and, inevitably, disappear again.
And I’ve loved it.
I still do.
One of the reasons I’ve stayed in this industry for so long is because it never stands still. There is always something new coming along.
But after 30 years, you also start to notice something…
A lot of “new” things aren’t actually that new.
Hybrid cuts: new names, familiar ideas
One of the things that makes me smile about hair trends is watching something I’ve been doing for years suddenly appear with a brand-new name.
At the moment, we’re seeing a huge rise in what are being called hybrid cuts — taking two different haircut shapes or influences and combining them to create something new.
And there are some great examples.
You’ve got the Bixie, which sits somewhere between a bob and a pixie.
The Mixie, which combines a pixie with a mullet.
The Shixie, bringing together a shag and a pixie.
The Shullet, which is essentially a shag and a mullet combined.
Then there are things like the wolf cut, which blends the choppiness and movement of a shag with the length and shape of a mullet.
The butterfly cut combines shorter, face-framing layers with longer lengths, giving you that beautiful movement without completely losing the length.
We’ve got shaggy bobs, bob-shags, layered lobs and all sorts of combinations where one traditional shape meets another.
And I actually love the idea.
Hair doesn’t have to fit neatly into one category. Some of the best haircuts are created when you take elements from different techniques and tailor them to the person sitting in the chair.
But here’s the funny thing…
As someone who’s been cutting hair for more than 30 years, sometimes I’m looking at these “brand-new” hybrid cuts thinking:
“Hang on… I’ve definitely done this before!”
The name might be different.
The proportions might have been tweaked.
The styling might be more modern.
But the fundamental idea of combining shapes and techniques isn’t new at all.
We’ve been doing that for decades.
We just didn’t necessarily give every combination a catchy name and put it on Facebook, TikTok or Instagram.
And I think that’s an important thing to remember about trends.
They don’t always come completely out of nowhere.
Quite often, they take something that already exists, change the elements or dimensions, add a new technique, give it a new name and suddenly it’s the haircut everyone is talking about.
That’s fashion.
And honestly, I think it’s brilliant.
It keeps our industry moving.
It gives us new ways of looking at familiar techniques and, most importantly, it gives us an opportunity to keep developing our skills and use our creativity.
Because ultimately, whether you’re calling it a Bixie, a Shixie, a wolf cut or something nobody has invented a name for yet, it’s still about understanding shape, texture, balance, face shape, hair type and what works for the individual person sitting in the chair.
And that’s something that hasn’t changed in 30 years.
The biggest changes aren’t always the trends
When I think about how much the industry has changed during my career, it’s not actually the haircuts that stand out the most.
It’s the clients.
When I first started out, we had a lot more regular weekly clients coming into the salon.
There were clients who would come in every week for a shampoo and set or a blow-dry. It was simply part of their routine.
They’d come into the salon, we’d wash their hair, style it, have a chat and send them back out into their week looking and feeling great.
That type of regular weekly salon visit has almost completely disappeared now.
People’s lifestyles have changed.
There are more products and tools available to use at home. Hair dryers and styling tools have become much better. Social media has changed how people discover and recreate hairstyles. And generally, people have become much more comfortable doing more for themselves at home.
It’s quite amazing to think about how normal those weekly appointments once were compared with how unusual they are now.
And then there were the hairstyles themselves.
I remember the huge popularity of chunky highlights, heavily layered grunge cuts, curtain cuts and then there was the Victoria Beckham graduated bob. For a while, it seemed like everyone wanted that sharp, graduated shape.
And again, looking at some of the bobs and hybrid cuts around today, I sometimes think…
“We’ve definitely been here before!”
The names and styling might have changed, but the fundamentals haven’t.
How social media changed salon consultations
When I started, if a client wanted to show me a picture of a haircut, they usually brought in a magazine.
Now they can arrive with 20 screenshots on their phone, a Pinterest board and sometimes even an AI-generated image of what they want.
That’s a huge change.
And I actually think it’s a good thing that clients can be so inspired and informed.
But it also makes the consultation more important than ever.
A picture can show you what someone likes, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you whether that particular result is achievable on their hair.
That’s where experience comes in.
After 30 years, I’ve learnt to look at the picture, but I’ve also learnt to look at the person sitting in front of me.
What’s their hair texture?
How much hair do they have?
How does their hair naturally behave?
How much time do they realistically want to spend styling it?
And, perhaps most importantly, will they still be happy with it when they have to recreate it themselves at home?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes it needs adapting.
And sometimes you have to be honest and say, “I don’t think that’s going to work in the way you’re hoping.”
I think that’s part of being a good hairdresser too.
The salon trends that really were fads
I’ve been around long enough to have seen some great ones.
Remember fish pedicures?
For a while, everyone was talking about putting their feet into tanks of tiny fish.
And then there are the elaborate hair-washing experiences where clients lie on a bed while a halo of water washes their hair.
They looked amazing.
They were different.
And, let’s be honest, they were brilliant for social media.
And that’s where I think things have changed enormously during my career.
When I started hairdressing, you couldn’t put something on Instagram and have thousands of people see it within hours.
Now, something can go viral and suddenly everyone wants to know where they can get it.
But here’s the bit that doesn’t always get talked about…
Can it actually work as a sustainable salon service?
Because there is a big difference between something being a fantastic experience and something that makes financial sense for a salon and the clients.
The reality behind the Instagram picture
If I wanted to introduce some of these treatments into my salon, there would need to be a significant investment involved.
Equipment.
Training.
Space.
Products.
Time.
And all of those things have a cost.
Ultimately, that cost has to be covered somewhere.
So you might end up with a treatment that costs quite a lot for the client, but they probably will only want to experience it once or on a special occasion.
And that’s absolutely fine.
Sometimes people want a treat.
Sometimes they want to try something because it’s fun and different.
But if the majority of clients aren’t coming back for it regularly, it becomes difficult for a small salon to justify the investment.
That’s the side of the industry you don’t necessarily see on Instagram.
You see the beautiful finished picture.
You don’t see the equipment sitting in the corner that cost thousands of pounds.
You don’t see the training.
You don’t see the time.
You don’t see whether the service actually made commercial sense six months later.
And after 30 years in this business, I’ve learnt to look at both sides.
I want to know whether something is exciting.
But I also want to know whether it’s worthwhile.
What my clients actually tell me
This is probably the biggest thing 30 years has taught me.
When you strip everything else away, clients aren’t necessarily asking for the newest thing.
They want to know that they’re getting value for their money.
They want someone to be honest with them.
They want to know what will work on their hair — and sometimes, just as importantly, what won’t.
They want their stylist to tell them if the colour they’ve brought in from Pinterest or the AI image isn’t realistic for them.
They want someone who understands their hair.
They want someone who listens.
And they want to leave feeling that they’ve had good, skilled work done.
That’s actually quite simple.
Why I still believe in training
After 30 years, I could quite easily think, “I’ve been doing this long enough. I know what I’m doing.”
But I don’t.
Well, I do know what I’m doing — but I also know that there is always more to learn.
Hairdressing is one of those careers where you can never really stop developing.
New colour technology comes along.
New products come along.
New cutting techniques come along.
Hair types, textures and trends change.
And I think continuing to train and practise is incredibly important.
Because ultimately, skill is what gives the client value.
If I can give someone a beautiful colour that lasts, a haircut that grows out well, advice that prevents them spending money unnecessarily or a result that makes them feel fantastic, that’s worth far more to me than having the latest gimmick in the salon.
I’ve learnt to question the hype
That’s probably the biggest difference between me now and me 30 years ago.
I’m still curious.
I’m still interested in trends.
I’m still excited when something new comes along.
But I’m also much more likely to ask:
“Is this actually useful?”
“Will my clients want it more than once?”
“Does it genuinely improve what I’m offering?”
“Is it worth the cost to me and the cost to my clients?”
And sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes it’s absolutely brilliant and I want to learn everything about it.
And sometimes I look at something and think…
“That’s going to be fun while it lasts!”
And that’s okay too.
After 30 years, trust still matters most
Maybe that’s the real lesson.
You can put a fancy name on something.
You can make it look incredible on social media.
You can create the most beautiful salon experience.
But eventually, the client knows whether they got what they paid for.
They know whether their stylist listened.
They know whether their hair looks and feels good.
They know whether they trust you.
And if you’ve been lucky enough to build relationships with clients over many years, you realise that trust is worth more than any trend.
I’ve had clients come back to me for years and years.
I’ve seen fashions change around them.
I’ve seen their hair change.
I’ve seen their lives change.
And what keeps them coming back isn’t a gimmick.
It’s because they trust me.
They know I’ll tell them the truth, even when it’s not necessarily what they wanted to hear.
They know I won’t sell them something just because it’s trendy.
And they know that I’m continually working on my skills so that I can give them the best result I possibly can.
That’s what I mean when I say I like to keep it real.
I don’t want to pretend that every new trend is revolutionary.
I don’t want to sell a client something they don’t need just because it looks good on Instagram.
And I don’t think you need to constantly reinvent the wheel to be a good hairdresser.
Sometimes you just need to be really, really good at the fundamentals.
Because trends will come and go.
Names will change.
Old ideas will be reinvented.
There will always be another Bixie, another Shullet, another viral treatment and another must-have salon experience around the corner.
And I’ll still be here watching it all happen.
After all, I’ve already seen it once…
and I’m quite enjoying watching it come around again.
Thinking about a change? At Shape Hair & Beauty in Lewes, we’ll help you find a cut, colour or style that works for your hair, your lifestyle and you. Find out more about hair consultations at Shape Hair & Beauty in Lewes.
