Okay so here’s the thing about curly shags that I don’t think gets talked about enough. Everyone assumes that once you hit a certain age, the goal is to tame your curls, smooth everything down, go shorter and “neater.” And I get where that instinct comes from, but it’s honestly backwards. Curls have this incredible ability to create softness and movement around the face that no flat iron can replicate, and a shag cut is basically engineered to let that happen naturally. The layers do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.
I had a client a few years ago, probably 63 or 64, who’d been blowing out her natural curls every single week for over a decade because someone once told her curly hair looked “messy” on older women. We did a shoulder-length shag on her, let her curls just exist, and she literally teared up in the chair. Not because it was some dramatic transformation, but because she looked like herself for the first time in years. That’s what a good curly shag does. It doesn’t fight anything, it just works with what’s already there. So this whole collection is really about that, finding the version that fits your curl pattern and your life and just letting it do its thing.
#1: Dark Espresso Curls with Boho Volume
This is maximum volume done right. The curls are dense and springy with a richness to the dark espresso color that makes the whole shape feel intentional rather than out of control. I’ve noticed that darker curly shags tend to read as more polished even when the volume is turned up to ten, because the color creates a uniform visual boundary that keeps the eye from getting lost. The cut has clear shag architecture with shorter crown layers building up to that rounded peak, and the sides taper in just enough to keep the overall shape from going too wide. This is a look that gets better with a little bit of humidity, which is the opposite of what most people experience with their hair.
#2 Polished Curly Bob-Shag in Warm Brown
This sits right on the border between a curly bob and a shag, and I think that’s exactly where it should be. The curls are well-defined but not tight, probably in the 3A range, and they’re falling in a way that creates a shape that’s rounded at the sides and slightly longer in the front. The warm brown is rich and healthy-looking with just enough light variation to suggest dimension without any obvious color technique being visible. What I appreciate about this as a closing look for this collection is that it represents the most “wearable” end of the curly shag spectrum, the version that works in any professional setting, requires minimal thought in the morning, and still has enough personality to feel like more than just a default haircut. Sometimes the best version of something is the one that quietly does its job without asking for attention.
#3 Windswept Blonde Waves with Natural Highlights
This is the kind of hair that looks best outdoors, and I don’t mean that in a backhanded way. The blonde has that sunlit quality where some pieces are almost white and others are a deeper caramel, and the waves are loose and open in a way that catches wind and movement beautifully. The shag layers are keeping the crown from going flat while the length, right around the shoulders, has enough weight to prevent the whole thing from flying away. I’ve always thought that wavy shags in this particular length range are the most forgiving of any hairstyle because they genuinely look good at every stage of growing out, from fresh cut through to the point where you’d normally be desperate for an appointment. The texture hides the transitions that straighter hair can’t.
#4 Copper Red Shag with That Undone Thing
The color on this is a proper natural-looking copper red, the kind that makes people wonder if she was born with it. The curls are mid-sized ringlets that are sitting at and just past the shoulders, and the shag layers are most visible through the top where shorter pieces create that textured, slightly messy crown that defines the whole style. I like that there’s no attempt to make the front pieces match or behave, some are curling toward the face and some are curling away, and the result feels like real life rather than a salon photo. If you’ve got this kind of natural red or you’re considering going there, the maintenance conversation matters because keeping this shade vibrant means regular glossing treatments and minimal heat. But the texture itself is maintenance-free, which is a fair trade.
#5 Wavy Shag with Soft Brunette Highlights
The wave here is gentler than most of the other cuts in this collection, closer to a strong 2A with some 2B bends through the mid-lengths and ends. But the shag shape is still very much present in the layering through the crown and the way the front pieces frame the face. The brunette has some lighter highlights woven through that are catching warm tones, and the overall effect is soft and approachable without being fussy. This is a great option for someone who’s maybe not fully curly but has enough natural wave that a blunt cut always ends up looking shapeless. The shag layers give the wave something to do, a direction to go in, and the result is hair that looks styled even when it isn’t.
#6 Compact Curly Shag in Deep Brown
This is about as short as you can take a curly shag before it stops being a shag and starts being a curly crop, and the balance is well struck. The deep brown is glossy and uniform, and the tight curls are creating a rounded shape that follows the head closely. What I notice is how clean the perimeter is, with the curls ending at a consistent length around the ears and nape rather than trailing off into wispy ends. That kind of precision on curly hair only happens when the stylist takes the time to go curl by curl at the edges, checking the shape from every angle. It’s painstaking work but the result is this kind of polished finish that makes the whole cut look intentional.
#7 Sun-Warmed Curls with Effortless Movement
Everything about this reads as easy. The warm brown has golden undertones that are catching the light, the curls are falling in a mix of directions that create natural movement, and the length is sitting right at the chin where it balances beautifully against the jawline. The shag layering is moderate, not too heavy, not too subtle, just enough to give the curls room to breathe without sacrificing the overall shape. I think what makes this particular version so successful is that the proportions are exactly right for the curl pattern. Tighter curls would need more length to achieve this same silhouette, and looser waves wouldn’t have enough structure to hold it. This is that perfect match between cut and texture that happens when both are considered together.
#8 Wild Platinum Curls with Rock and Roll Spirit
This is not for everyone and it knows it. The platinum is bold, the volume is unapologetic, and the whole thing has that slightly undone, slightly unhinged quality that makes it feel like a deliberate style choice rather than a mistake. The curls are a mix of loose spirals and tighter pieces, and the shag layering is letting each one do whatever it wants, which creates this beautiful controlled chaos. Going this light at this length requires serious commitment to conditioning and toning because platinum curly hair will go brittle and brassy faster than just about any other combination. But when it’s maintained, when the curls are healthy and the tone is right, there’s nothing else like it. I once had a client who went this route after twenty years of sensible bobs and she said it was the first time strangers started talking to her in grocery stores. The hair changed how the world interacted with her.
#9 Parisian Blonde with Lived-In Texture
I have a soft spot for hair that looks like this, like someone ran their fingers through it once and then forgot about it for the rest of the day. The blonde is that warm, slightly brassy tone that happens when you let highlights grow out a bit, and honestly it’s better for it. The curls are loose and varied in size, some pieces waving, some spiraling, some just bending, and the shag cut is accommodating all of them without trying to unify anything. The length grazes the shoulders and the overall volume is concentrated through the top and crown, which keeps it from looking flat against the head. This is the kind of cut where a sea salt spray on damp hair and air drying is genuinely all you need.
#10 Dark Wavy Shag with Curtain Fringe
The wave pattern here is closer to a 2B or 2C, that territory where the hair isn’t ringlet curly but has enough bend to create real body and movement through a layered cut. The dark brown is rich and uniform, which gives the whole look a certain elegance even though the styling is completely relaxed. Those curtain bangs are hitting right at the cheekbones and sweeping outward, and on this face shape they’re doing exactly what curtain bangs should do, opening up the center of the face while softening the forehead. The shoulder-length is nice because it means the waves have enough weight to hang properly without pulling straight. This is a very wearable version of the curly shag for someone whose texture is on the wavier side of the spectrum.
#11 Cinnamon Curls Kept Short and Sweet
Sometimes you look at a haircut and you can tell the person wearing it has had some version of this style for years because they know exactly what works on them. That’s what I see here. The cinnamon color has a dusty quality, not quite red, not quite brown, that feels like it’s evolved gradually rather than being chosen from a color chart. The shag is short with soft volume through the top and the sides tapering close enough to reveal the jawline and earrings. There’s a subtlety to the whole thing that I find really appealing, nothing is overworked or overcorrected. It’s just a woman who knows her hair.
#12 Warm Copper Shag with Mediterranean Bounce
This is the kind of copper that glows in sunlight, and whoever chose this shade understood something important: warm skin tones and copper are a natural pairing, but only if you get the undertone right. Too orange and it fights the complexion, too red and it ages the face. This sits right in the middle, a true copper with enough brown in it to stay grounded. The cut is a shorter shag with the kind of bounce that tells me the curls are naturally this tight, and the layers are creating that rounded silhouette without any blowdrying or diffusing involved. The length is smart too, right at ear level with enough fullness at the sides to balance the face without covering anything up.
#13 Effortless Brown Curls with a Natural Center Part
I keep coming back to how natural this looks. The center part is letting the curls fall evenly on both sides, and the brown tone has that warmth that comes from not being colored at all, or being colored so well that it’s indistinguishable from the real thing. The length is sitting right at the chin and the curls have that mix of tighter ringlets underneath and looser waves on the surface that you often see in naturally curly hair that hasn’t been overly manipulated. There’s no product crunch visible, no frizz halo, just healthy curls doing their thing. If you’re looking at this and thinking it seems too simple, that’s the whole point. The cut is doing all the work so the styling doesn’t have to.
#14 Copper Curls with a Parisian Attitude
This is one of those cuts where the color and the cut are in genuine conversation with each other. The copper has this warmth that catches light in every curl individually, so you’re getting dimension without any highlights or lowlights doing the work. It’s just the natural play of light on a single rich tone. The shape is rounded and full through the crown with shorter layers that keep everything up and away from the face, which is exactly what you want when you’ve got this much texture to play with. There’s no weight dragging it down, no flat spots. I think what makes it feel so distinctly European is the lack of over-styling. This reads like someone who scrunched in a curl cream and didn’t touch it again, which is honestly the highest compliment you can pay a shag.
#15 Golden Curls with Warm-Toned Dimension
The color on this one is worth studying. There are at least three different tones happening, a deeper golden root, a lighter honey through the mid-lengths, and some almost champagne pieces at the tips where the oldest growth has lightened naturally. Together they create this depth that makes each curl stand out from the one next to it, which is exactly what you want when your curl pattern is this full and this textured. The cut is a medium-length shag with enough interior layering to prevent the triangle shape that dense curly hair gravitates toward. I’d recommend a deep conditioner once a week for hair like this because all that texture tends to be thirsty.
#16 Petal Soft Blonde with Shorter Layers
There’s a delicacy to this one that I find really appealing. The curls are soft and open rather than tightly coiled, and the blonde has that quiet, almost translucent quality that natural blondes get as their hair silvers and the two tones blend together. The layers are shorter on top and gradually lengthen toward the nape, which creates this gentle cascading effect that follows the natural curl pattern instead of working against it. On a longer face shape like this, the width through the sides is doing exactly what it should, adding balance without looking like it’s trying. I wouldn’t change a thing about this.
#17 Honey Blonde Volume with Relaxed Curls
I’ve seen this exact cut on at least a dozen women over the years and it works every single time because the proportions are just right. Chin length, curls that are loose enough to have movement but tight enough to hold their shape, and a color that’s warm without being heavy. The honey blonde has a slight golden undertone that catches light beautifully, and the layers are distributed evenly enough that you don’t get those odd flat patches that sometimes happen with curly shags when the layering is too aggressive. This is the kind of cut that a good stylist can do in their sleep, and that’s not a knock on it at all. It’s a classic because it works.
#18 Tight Dark Curls with an Urban Edge
The curl definition here is almost impossibly clean. Every single coil is holding its shape independently, which makes me think there’s a good curl defining gel involved, but the cut itself deserves most of the credit. When you’ve got curls this tight and this dense, the difference between a good haircut and a bad one is the difference between looking like this and looking like a mushroom cap. The layers here have been cut to open up the shape gradually from the crown outward, so you get this beautiful tapered silhouette that’s wider through the top and narrower at the sides. It’s a genuinely sophisticated short cut that happens to be wildly easy to maintain.
#19 Strawberry Blonde with Garden Party Energy
The bangs here are everything. They’re cut short enough to clear the eyebrows and they’re curling in different directions, which sounds like it shouldn’t work but absolutely does because it keeps the forehead area from looking too uniform. The strawberry blonde is one of those colors that’s genuinely difficult to maintain because it lives in this narrow space between blonde and red, and any shift in tone can push it in the wrong direction. Whoever is handling this color knows what they’re doing. The rest of the cut has that classic shag roundness with shorter pieces at the crown that give it height, and the overall length just barely touches the nape. If you’re considering curly bangs for the first time, this kind of curl pattern, that looser 3A ringlet, is actually one of the easier ones to work with because the curls are predictable enough that your stylist can anticipate where they’ll land.
#20 Mediterranean Curls at Their Best
There’s a version of the shoulder-length curly shag that shows up in every Mediterranean town, and this is it. The curls have that thick, slightly coarse quality that holds shape all day without product, and the layering is generous enough to keep the weight from pulling everything straight. The warm brown has subtle lighter pieces through the top that look like they came from sun exposure rather than foils, which gives the whole thing an effortlessness that’s hard to manufacture. I’d guess this is second or third day hair, and the fact that it still looks this good says everything about the cut. The bangs are sitting right at the eyebrow and blending into the sides, which is the sweet spot for curly bangs because it avoids that awkward gap that happens when they’re cut too short and spring up.
#21 Chin-Length Curly Shag in Warm Brunette
The volume on this one is really impressive given how short it is. The curls are sitting right at chin level and they’re stacking beautifully, which tells me there’s good density to work with and the layers were placed to encourage lift rather than collapse. The dark brunette reads as almost black in certain sections and warmer in others, creating a natural depth that you’d pay a lot for in a salon if it didn’t already exist on its own. This is the kind of cut that looks better as it grows out, which is a rare and wonderful quality in any hairstyle. You might get eight or even ten weeks between trims before it starts losing its shape.
#22 Playful Short Shag with Reddish-Brown Curls
This is a cut that’s doing a lot with a little. The hair is on the finer side with a looser curl, and the shag shape gives it just enough chaos to feel interesting without overwhelming the texture. I like the wispy pieces around the ears and nape, they keep it from looking like a helmet, which is the number one risk with short curly cuts on finer hair. The reddish-brown color has a naturalness to it that suggests this might not be too far from her original shade, just deepened a touch. Sometimes the smartest color work is the kind nobody notices.
#23 Tight Auburn Curls with a Cropped Shape
When your curls are this tight and this well-defined, the cut becomes almost sculptural. This is a shorter shag where the layers are working to create a rounded silhouette that follows the head shape without clinging to it, and the auburn color has enough red warmth that it keeps the whole thing from feeling severe. I’ve cut this type of curl pattern many times and the key is understanding that what looks like an inch of hair when wet can spring up to half that length when dry. The stylist here clearly cut this dry, which is the only way you get a shape this clean on curls this tight. If you’ve got 3B or 3C curls and you’ve been told you can’t do a shag, show them this.
#24 Soft Blonde Curls with Natural Ease
There’s something about this cut that feels like it’s been settling into itself for a while, and I mean that in the best way. It’s not freshly styled, it’s not first-day hair, and that’s exactly why it works. The curls have that slightly relaxed quality that comes a few days after washing, where the ringlets open up a little and the whole shape gets softer. The blonde is gentle, not trying to be platinum or golden, just a natural sandy tone that works with the cooler skin underneath. This is a short curly shag for someone who wants to be genuinely low-maintenance and not just “low-maintenance for a salon photo.”
#25 Sun-Kissed Waves with Curtain Bangs
This is the shag that people who are nervous about shags should start with. The waves here are loose enough that the layering reads as relaxed rather than chaotic, and those curtain bangs are doing something really smart, they’re framing without closing in. The warm blonde has clearly been maintained with care, with enough tonal variation to keep it from reading flat or one-note. What I appreciate most is that this doesn’t look like it took an hour to style. It looks like good hair that had a good cut and got left alone. For anyone with a similar wave pattern who’s been doing battle with a blunt cut or a one-length bob, this is the version that shows you what your hair was probably trying to do all along.
#26 That Red Though
Okay but hear me out, this red is doing something really special here. It’s not one of those flat box-dye reds, it’s got warmth and dimension that actually makes the curls read as individual pieces instead of one big mass. The cut itself is smart, medium length with enough layering to keep the volume up top without letting things get bottom-heavy. If you’re thinking about going red and you have this kind of curl pattern, this is the reference photo to bring in. Just know that reds like this fade faster than almost any other color family, so you’ll want a color-depositing shampoo between appointments.
#27 Layers That Actually Earn Their Keep
What I love about this one is that the layers aren’t just there for the sake of it. They’re placed to give the hair lift and shape right where it matters, around the face and through the crown. If you’ve got finer curly hair and you’ve been frustrated by everything falling flat, this is the kind of cutting technique that changes the game. The shoulder length is nice too because it gives you enough weight at the bottom to keep things from going poofy, while the interior layers handle the volume situation up top.
#28 Bangs and Curls, the Pairing Nobody Warns You About
So curly bangs are one of those things that can go really right or really wrong, and this is an example of really, really right. They’re soft and wispy enough that they don’t overwhelm anything, and the way they blend into the rest of the layers makes the whole thing feel like one cohesive shape instead of bangs-plus-haircut. The color here is worth mentioning too, that warm golden tone makes everything feel approachable and soft. If you’re considering curly bangs, just make sure your stylist cuts them dry, because wet cutting curly bangs is basically a gamble.
#29 When Your Natural Texture Does All the Work
This is one of those cuts where I’d honestly tell you to just wash it, scrunch in some product, and walk out the door. The layering is strategic enough that the curls fall into place on their own, and the thickness of the hair means you’re getting volume without even trying. The thing I really notice here is how the layers around the face are slightly shorter than everything else, which creates that nice graduated effect without looking like it was over-thought. On humid days you might get some extra expansion, but honestly that’s not always a bad thing with a cut like this.
#30 Effortless in the Way That Actually Takes Zero Effort
Some cuts look easy but secretly require forty minutes and a diffuser. This one genuinely doesn’t. The curl pattern here is doing most of the talking, and the shag shape just gives it somewhere nice to land. I like how the length hits, not too long that it drags everything down, not so short that the curls bunch up. If your curls tend to lose definition by day two, a curl refresh spray in the morning honestly makes all the difference.
#31 Burgundy Curls with Real Presence
That burgundy is gorgeous and it’s doing exactly what a good color should do on curly hair, which is making every single curl visible. When you’ve got a deeper, richer tone like this, the light catches each curl differently and creates this almost three-dimensional effect that you just can’t get with a flat color. The cut has enough volume through the mid-lengths that it reads as full without being overwhelming. I’d probably recommend this shade to someone who’s been doing basic brown for a while and wants something that feels like a shift without being shocking.
#32 Bangs That Frame Without Closing Things In
The bangs here are doing that perfect thing where they soften the forehead without making the face feel smaller, which is honestly hard to pull off with curly hair. The rest of the cut has this airy, bouncy quality to it that I find really appealing, like the curls have room to breathe. If your hair is on the thicker side, this is a good example of how the right layering can take density and turn it into movement instead of weight. You’ll want a lightweight curl cream for definition without crunch.
#33 The Shoulder-Length Sweet Spot
There’s this magic length for curly shags that sits right at or just above the shoulders, and this nails it. Long enough to have some swing, short enough that the curls stay springy and lifted. The volume here is substantial but it doesn’t look like it’s trying hard, which I think is the whole point. If you’re dealing with frizz, and let’s be honest most curly hair is dealing with frizz, a good hydrating curl gel applied to soaking wet hair will help lock in that definition before it has a chance to puff out.
#34 Crown Volume Without the Effort
The thing that caught my eye immediately is the lift at the crown. That’s all layering technique, and it makes such a difference when you’re working with curly hair because it gives the whole style height and shape instead of letting everything just hang. The curls through the mid-lengths and ends have this really nice relaxed quality too, nothing over-styled or crunchy about it. For anyone with finer curls who feels like their hair just sits there, this is exactly the kind of approach I’d suggest.
#35 That Warm Orange Is a Whole Mood
I’m going to be honest, warm orange tones on curly hair just make me happy. There’s something about the way light moves through a color like this on textured hair that’s completely different from how it looks on straight hair, it almost glows. The cut is uncomplicated in the best way, layers for movement, enough length for versatility, and the curls are defined but not overly manipulated. This feels like a wash-and-go situation for someone whose curls cooperate, which is the dream honestly.
#36 Soft and Full with a Little Bounce to It
This one has a frothy, almost whipped quality that I find really charming. The curls aren’t super tight or super loose, they’re in that in-between zone that gives you volume without things looking unruly. The mid-length cut is really working here because it keeps the bounce alive. If your hair tends toward frizz in any kind of humidity, you already know the deal, but a curl-enhancing mousse scrunched in while your hair is still damp can help hold things together without any stiffness.
#37 Rosy Curls That Feel Like a Warm Hug
The rose tones in this one are so pretty and unexpected, it’s the kind of color choice that doesn’t scream for attention but absolutely gets it anyway. The shoulder-length shag is classic and the soft layers give the curls room to do their thing naturally. What I appreciate about this look is how low-key luxurious it feels. Not overdone, not underdone, just this really nice in-between where everything looks intentional but not fussy. The color will need some upkeep since those rosy tones can shift, but it’s worth it.
#38 Face-Framing Layers That Actually Know What They’re Doing
Okay, the face-framing layers here are perfectly placed, right along the cheekbones where they create the most flattering effect. I see a lot of face-framing layers that are either too short and just stick out or too long and don’t actually frame anything, but these are doing exactly what they should. The overall length and shape give the curls enough structure to look polished while still feeling natural. This is a great option if you want something that photographs well from every angle.
#39 Easy and Natural and Genuinely Cute
This is one of those cuts that just makes you smile because it looks so comfortable. The curls have a natural softness to them and the medium length means nothing is dragging or getting weighed down. I like that this doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be anything other than what it is, which is a woman with beautiful curly hair wearing a cut that makes the most of it. Sometimes the best thing a stylist can do is get out of the way and let the texture lead, and this feels exactly like that.
#40 Plum and Edgy Layers, Yes Please
That deep plum color blending into subtle highlights is creating so much depth in these curls. The layers here have a little more edge to them than some of the other looks in this roundup, slightly more choppy, slightly more intentional about creating texture. It gives the whole style a bit more attitude, which I’m really into. If you’re someone who wants your haircut to have a little personality and you’re not afraid of a richer color, this is such a good direction. Just budget for color appointments every five to six weeks because plum fades faster than you’d think.
#41 Bright and Bouncy With an Orange Pop
This bright orange is fun and I love that it’s on a shag because the layered structure gives the color so many surfaces to play on. Every curl catches the light differently, which makes the whole thing look more expensive and dimensional than a single-process color usually does. The shoulder-length works perfectly here, it’s that length where the curls have just enough weight to behave but not so much that they stretch out and lose their spring.
#42 Soft Layers and Warm Color Working Together
The layering here is really gentle, almost imperceptible unless you’re looking for it, and that’s what makes it work. It gives the curls just enough shape and lift without breaking up the overall silhouette too much. The warm color has a richness to it that would look beautiful in any lighting, and if you wanted to add some dimension, a few face-framing highlights would take this from lovely to really stunning. For anyone with fine to medium curls, this kind of subtle layering is usually the way to go because it adds movement without sacrificing what little density you might have.
#43 Plum Curls Just Above the Shoulders
There’s something about this length, just above the shoulders, that makes curls look their bounciest. And that plum color is just enough to be interesting without being a whole thing, you know? The soft layers blend seamlessly into the curl pattern so nothing looks disconnected, and the overall shape is really flattering. I think this would look amazing on someone who’s been wearing their hair one way for a while and is ready for something that still feels like them but a little more alive.
#44 Airy and Soft and Really Pretty
The fine-to-medium texture here gives this cut such a lovely, airy quality. It doesn’t have that heavy, dense look that some curly shags can lean toward, instead it feels light and almost floaty. The layers create movement without making things look thin, which is honestly the tightrope walk of cutting finer curly hair and this nails it. If you’re debating between embracing your curls or fighting them, let this be the sign that embracing is always the better choice.
#45 Defined and Polished but Still Fun
I keep coming back to the layering on this one because it really does highlight the curl texture beautifully. There’s enough definition in the curls that it looks polished, but the overall vibe is still relaxed and easy. The just-above-shoulders length is giving it that nice rounded shape that reads as very put together without being stiff or overdone. If you’re someone who wants to look like you tried a little but not too much, this is your cut.
#46 Low-Key Beautiful Curls
This is one of those looks that’s quietly gorgeous. The curls are well-defined, the layers create a nice shape, and the shoulder length keeps everything proportional. Nothing about this is loud or attention-seeking, it’s just really good hair. And honestly that’s sometimes what you want, a cut that makes you look like you always look that good, even when you just rolled out of bed. The texture here has a richness to it that suggests the curls are well-moisturized, which is always the foundation of great-looking curly hair.
#47 Red Curls with Life in Them
The red tones here are adding so much warmth and life to these curls. I always tell people that red on curly hair creates this almost magical effect because the color shifts as the curls twist and catch light from different angles. The mid-length cut is solid and the layered texture works with the natural curl pattern instead of against it. This is the kind of look where you’ll catch a glimpse of yourself in a window and feel genuinely good about what you see.
#48 A Really Clean Shape on Natural Curls
What stands out to me about this cut is how clean the overall shape is, even with all that natural curl texture happening. The silhouette is almost perfectly rounded, which means the layering was done thoughtfully with the curl shrinkage in mind. That’s actually one of the biggest things that separates a good curly cut from a mediocre one, whether the stylist accounts for how much the hair will spring up when it dries. This one clearly did. Regular trims will keep this shape looking this crisp, probably every eight weeks or so.
#49 Silver and Blue Is Such a Cool Combination
Okay I genuinely got excited when I saw this one because the cool blue highlights against that silver base are just so good together. It’s unexpected and playful and it works with the curly shag shape in a way that makes the whole thing feel modern and fresh. If you’ve gone naturally silver or gray and you want to do something fun with it without covering it up, this kind of accent color is a really smart move. The curls give the color so much dimension because you’re seeing it from all these different angles at once. You will need to maintain the blue with a color-depositing conditioner since fashion shades like this wash out pretty quickly.
#50 Volume at the Crown, Easy Everywhere Else
The crown volume on this cut is really doing the heavy lifting and I mean that in the best way. That lift right at the top gives the whole style shape and structure, and then the curls through the mid-lengths and ends just do their thing naturally. It’s the kind of cut that looks like it takes a lot of work but genuinely doesn’t, assuming the cut itself is done well. And that’s really the whole secret with curly shags, a great cut means minimal effort after the fact. If you find a stylist who understands curly hair and how to build shape with layers, you’re set.
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