Ultra smooth, shiny, fluid strands are dominating our Explore page, serving up uber-glam anti-lockdown inspo for when we want to feel a little glossier and more pulled together.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen the trend take off. ‘Glass hair’ went stratospheric in 2018 with mega slick bobs taking over from beachy waves. But unlike the super sharp, sheet-like straightness that characterised that look, a new rendition – liquid hair – has come forward to take its place. The difference? It’s silky straight, only a little softer.
The look favours fluid movement with plenty of sheen as it catches the light – think glossy golden syrup vibes.
We asked top hair stylist, and DryBy artist in residence, Hollie Rose Clarke, how to achieve the look ourselves. For long-lasting silkiness, she recommends a keratin treatment. “The smoothing treatment eliminates frizz, locks in colour and reduces blow-drying time for up to 12 weeks,” she explains.
Kim K’s doing it. Zendaya’s doing it. Dua’s doing it and loads of our favourite influencers are doing it too.
Hollie’s a fan of using the vegan 72Hair treatment on her clients, which is designed to penetrate all hair types to actively condition and revitalise it. “The treatment can be tailored to give you your desired results,” she explains. “If you’d like a smoother finish then we blow dry the treatment into the hair and you do not wash your hair for 72 hours. If you have curls and love them but what to remove the frizz, then we blow dry the treatenet into the hair and you wash after 24 hours which leaves you with beautiful curls, minus the frizz,” she adds.
“It has a trace amount of formaldehyde,” she confirms, “purely to stop bacteria, rather than to straighten. The reason other brands use a lot of this ingredient is to create poker straight hair, whereas this one restores your hair to its virgin state but smoothing an improving the condition, creating manageable beautiful glossy hair. ”
In terms of the process, “step one, hair is washed with a clarifying shampoo to open the cuticles,” says Hollie. “Step two, the treatment is applied and left to process for 35-45 minutes. Step three, the treatment is blow dried into the hair. And step four, very small sections of hair are taken and straightened with flat irons, 7-10 times each. ” After, you’ll need to stick to gentle sulphate-free shampoos and conditioners.
But, if you want to try the trend at home, tactical products and your straighteners can do a great job. “If you want to recreate the liquid hair trend yourself, use IGK’s Good Behaviour Smoothing Spray (£27) or ColorWOW’s Dream Coat (£26) and straighten with your flat irons,” says Hollie. “Finish with the ColorWOW Extra Mist-ical Shine Spray (£26) or Kevin Murphy’s Shimmer Shine Spray (£25) for that glossy finish,” she says.
