What you need to know about hair inspo photos

Pov: You are a bride looking through THOUSANDS of hair inspo photos on Pintrest, Instagram, Facebook, and just about any other social media platform that's out there. You might even have an album of different hair styles saved in a Pintrest folder or in your photos app on your phone. This is wonderful! Gathering inspo pictures is the first step to deciding on your dream wedding hair style!

Once you have your favorite inspo photos collected, the next step is to choose your wedding day hair. Sounds easy, right? NOT! As a bridal hair stylist I have gathered some tips to help you choose the perfect hair style for you! Over the years I have seen so many beautiful styles and photos and I have also helped hundreds of brides decide on the perfect hair style for them on their big day! Some important aspects to consider when looking through inspo photos for your hair are the color of the hair, the texture of the hair, the length and thickness of the hair, and if the photos could be edited.

Photos of hair styles often look absolutely stunning because of the way the hair is colored. Let me explain more about what this means. A lot of times we are drawn to photos based on the color of the hair especially when there is a lot of dimension, like highlights and lowlights. This can really make a hair photo stand out to us. With this information consider how the style would look with your hair color. Another tip is to search your desired hair style with your color hair, for example: "low, clean bun on blonde hair". This type of search will narrow down your inspo pictures and make it easier for you to choose your dream style! Here is an example of the same style I did on three different colors of hair so you can see how much the color affects how the style can look:

Now let's talk about hair texture. There are so many beautiful textures of hair and this is such an important characteristics of hair to consider when you are choosing your style. If you plan to use your natural curls search "upstyles (or half up styles) with natural curls" in order to find a beautiful style that will fit you and your texture of hair! It is also important to keep in mind whether or not your hair holds a curl. Yes, there are products that can help hair hold curl, but some hair can not hold curl for long periods of time even with all the hairspray in the world. This is also a great time to bring up the fact that too many hair products or too much of one product can do more damage than good, causing frizz and making the hair heavy which will make it easier to fall. This is why trials are SUPER important and a great investment for your wedding day hair.

Let's continue on and talk about the length of the hair. Length is another important aspect to consider when looking through different hair styles. This would also be a great time to mention extensions. The length of the hair as well as the density both play huge roles in the style you want and the style that you can get. This is when extensions can help out too! In my experience, I have had about 40 percent of my brides use hair extensions to help them achieve their dream hairstyle. The top three photos below are styles I have done that use four rows of added extensions to help achieve the desired fullness in the styles. Although the extensions are not obvious, they add so much to any style! Brides can find affordable, great quality extensions on Amazon- just be sure the extensions can be styled with heat tools! The two photos below are a similar type of style (boho braids) but done on two different lengths, densities, (and colors!) of hair.

Lastly, be sure to pay close attention to whether or not a photo could be edited to look a certain way. Typically it is obvious if a photo is really edited but other times it is not obvious at all. Not only can this be deceiving, but it can also result in unrealistic expectations. This brings up another good point- if you are considering hiring any one in any industry and you have the opportunity to see their work, look for a few things: consistency, cleanliness/neatness of their work, and their presence (tone, how they interact with others) on social media.

Again, there are so many beautiful inspo pictures and very talented hair stylists but these are a few tips that I have noticed that helped my brides narrow down their overwhelming decision of choosing their dream wedding hair style. I hope this helps any bride who is feeling overwhelmed as they are making this decision and any hairstylist who needs tips on how to guide their clients in the right direction.