There isn't just one way to do '90s-inspired hair. There were Rachel Greene's layers, Mariah Carey's curls, Winona Ryder's slicked-back bob, and Brandy's braids. Gothic micro bangs, supermodel blowouts, and tousled pixie cuts—you get the picture. The one thing that tied the decade's trends together? No matter the style, you always had to push it one step further. Below, scroll through our favourite '90s hairstyle ideas that still feel just as trendy today.
Related article: The ’90s Fashion Moments We Want to Wear Now
Who hasn't tried to flat iron, volumise, and tousle their hair into Cher Horowitz/Alicia Silverstone perfection? (Extra points if you have lived-in blonde highlights that look like they actually came from the California sun.)
Brandy wore these tiny braids finished with loose curls in 1997, but they wouldn't look a day out of place here in 2021. The same goes for the frosty lipstick and multidimensional eyeshadow.
There was no escaping The Rachel haircut if you had thick, mostly straight hair. Dubbed after Jennifer Aniston's lovable Friends character, it taught women everywhere the meaning of "face-framing layers."
Above-the-brow micro bangs were a cool girl staple, and the more DIY and lived in they looked, the better.
One look at a Mariah Carey album cover had fans rushing to embrace their natural curls. The global superstar's hair set out a quest, should you choose to accept it: the style was perfectly undone, glossy with product but not oversaturated, and volumised without being weighed down.
Off-duty supermodel hair was iconic in its own right—bouncy, curled or straight, with a glossy sheen that looked like it was lit from within.
Leave it to Winona Ryder to casually step out in 1990 with this finger-raked bob that, currently, sits in 1,000 moodboards across the internet.
It's tough to find any Lil' Kim hairstyle that hasn't been echoed today, though we have to give the Most '90s Award to this blonde look with chunky pink highlights. (Or is it pink with blonde highlights?)
Crimped or not, small waves made a big splash in those years. Some were looser and more beachy, while others had that uniform, heat tool look that was everywhere.
The '90s pixie cut combined two important hair factors: tiny bangs and loose, woke-up-like-this texture.
This article first appeared in Harper's BAZAAR US