Kendall Jenner’s record-breaking photo. (Photo: Instagram)
If you’re looking for the latest hair trend inspiration to bring to the salon or try at home, you’re better off scouring Instagram than flipping through the September issues of fashion magazines. Just search hashtags like #GrannyHair (45,269 and counting posts), #MermaidHair (475,054 and counting posts), and #CrownBraid (19,032 and counting posts) to see for yourself. Two months ago, when social media it-girl Kendall Jenner posted this Instagram of herself with her long hair making heart shapes on the floor, she broke the record for number of likes — and at almost three million likes so far, it doesn’t seem to be disappearing into the black hole of the internet just yet.
Heart-shaped bangs on a young teenage Korean girl. (Photo: Instagram)
In fact, after this photo was posted, young South Korean women began posting similar photos on Instagram, styling their fringes into upside-down hearts. Kotaku reports that the trend is popular in the trendy district of Gangbuk District in Seoul, and that it’s not an everyday hair trend — it’s very much for social media. All you need to achieve this look, called “heart-bangs hair,” is a curling iron, deft fingers, and some hairspray. The resulting style is made for quick Instagram sharing. It’s cute, it’s fast, and you don’t need to dye your hair into a rainbow to take part in it. If you search the hashtag on Instagram, you get 2,712 photos of heart-shaped bangs. It’s not too different from the other social media beauty trends du jour, like multimasking.
A selfie taken by a young Korean woman. (Photo: Instagram)
Jenner went viral for her photo, but she can’t be credited starting this trend in South Korea. Like many hair trends, this is an organic movement amplified by celebrities but popularized — and possibly started — by everyday people. Popular anime cartoon character, Sailor Moon, for example rocked the upside-down heart-shaped fringe decades before Instagram even existed. What this trend is picking up on, however, is that some beauty looks are now being created specifically for the intention of posting on social media. There’s a community of young women wearing their hearts on their foreheads — and it’s almost like an inside joke between a few thousand of them.
