15 Popular 2016 Hair Trends That Took Over Everyone's Camera Rolls

Baby hairs swooped, eyebrows on fleek, and bomber jacket necessary. But the cherry on top? The original slickback. The higher the bun, the closer to heaven — and no one rocked it better than Zendaya.

For a minute there, every it girl seemed to have cotton candy-colored hair — Kylie Jenner, Rihanna, Elle Fanning, and Hailey Bieber included. Bonus points because it photographed beautifully on Tumblr.

Leave it to Alexa Chung to make a 2016 hair trend look genuinely chic. Of course, side parts have been creeping back — and with them, expect side bangs, clipped back or left loose over the eye.

Before claw clips and bows took over the timeline, flower crowns had their day in the sun — literally — at Coachella... or in your backyard with a VSCO preset filter if you couldn’t snag a ticket. Everyone from Beyoncé to Vanessa Hudgens to your college roommate committed to the aggressively Instagrammable trend.

There was balayage, and then there was this brunette-to-blonde ombré that celebrities like Lucy Hale, Chrissy Teigen, and Ciara made popular. If you walked out of the salon looking like your roots had already been growing out for months, you got it right.

Razor-sharp chops were everywhere in 2016, but none hit harder than Rihanna’s chin-grazing power bob. She came, she saw, and she conquered, leaving an entire decade of unanswered album questions in her wake.

The unofficial Coachella uniform: space buns, stacked statement necklaces, and John Lennon-style sunglasses. Festival fashion set the trends for the year, thanks to Kendall Jenner and Vanessa Hudgens.

Euphoria clearly took notes. Holland Roden and Bella Thorne brought glitter roots from Pinterest to the red carpets, and now with body glitter staging a comeback, it begs the question: Will hair be joining the party?

Tightly braided pigtails were the hairstyle du jour, capable of carrying you from SoulCycle to class to the club and everywhere in between. You probably had to beg a friend to braid them in the first place — but hey, they were Kylie Jenner-approved.

Why was her hair so big? It was full of high notes. Ariana Grande turned this voluminous half-up ponytail — complete with a strand of hair wrapping around the base — into a Dangerous Woman-era signature. Choker and baggy sweatshirt not included, but always welcome.

Blondes like Taylor Swift went even blonder in 2016 — and some famous brunettes like Kylie Jenner, Zoë Kravitz, and Kristen Stewart got in on the fun, too. The upkeep on those icy platinum shades had to be brutal, but paired with a vampy matte lip, it was a moment you didn’t want to miss.

“Beach hair, don’t care” was basically the motto for styling. Textured and wavy, but not preciously crimped — as if you slept in a braid (which you probably did) — with long, loose curls and straighter ends. Cheugy by today’s bouncy blowout standards, sure, but this year’s Golden Globes prove mermaid waves might be getting a 2026 update.

Grandma chic. Kim Kardashian and Kesha went so platinum, their hair veered silvery-white, while Winnie Harlow and Ciara rocked true gray — the surprise “anti-fashion” fashion color that defined 2016.

The coolest girl you knew in 2016 knew how to do a fishtail braid. To everyone else, it looked like surgery — two strands overlapping, meticulously loosened — and it took just as long. No comment for anyone who could do a French fishtail ... but seriously, how did it feel to be God’s favorite?

Pixies may have ruled last year, but the haircut that used to dominate mood boards was the long bob. Hitting right at the shoulders with some shorter layers and waves for movement, lobs were the selfie-ready style that felt equal parts polished and effortless, and red carpets were full of them.