The 7 cuts, colours and styling products you'll be seeing in 2016.

Image: iStock.

This year we’ve witnessed a parade of wild and wonderful hair trends. The frontrunners have included long bobs, lived-in colour, rainbow shades inspired by opals and oil slicks, and every bottle blonde’s new BFF, Olaplex.

It’s only November, but we can’t help wondering what 2016 has in store. In the absence of a crystal ball or time machine, we asked award-winning hairdresser Jules Tognini of Brisbane salon AKA Togninis for his expert predictions.

1. The lob will go “shorter and tighter”.

It’s been the reigning ‘It’ haircut for a while now, but Jules foresees lob converts taking it “shorter with a little more texture” in 2016.

“I think it’ll still be around, but I see it going more cropped, more interesting, a tighter shape. It’s easy to go just that little shorter,” he says.

2. Head shapes will have their moment

We hear a lot about complementing our face shapes, but Jules wants our actual craniums to get some love. “Head shapes are really sexy but a lot of people are wearing their hair really heavy at the moment … hairdressers are starting to change they way they do hair and working with head shapes,” he explains.

Techniques like ‘disconnection’ and texturising underneath are key. “It’s like taking a section, working internally and taking all the weight out and letting it fall over the top,” Jules says.

“It’s not like that ’90s concave bob where they’ve built up all the weight. It’s almost reversing that — taking away the bulk and letting your head shape shine through.”

3. Matte, texturising products

Wave goodbye to super-shiny strands — matte-feel products are coming to the fore.

Jules is a fan of spray wax in particular. "It gives really good texture and because it's got a wax base, you can mould it. [Whereas] if you use a hairspray, as soon as you touch your hair it's done, unless it's a really hard lacquer," he says.

Look for products that are brushable and light enough to layer up — Jules recommends the Evo range. "Salt spray is awesome for texture; you activate it with a blowdryer or put it in natural for a couple different looks. Styling powder, you can reactivate it and build up shape again," he says. (Post continues after gallery.)

 4. "Underground" brights

There's no denying the popularity of rainbow brights, but until now it's all been a bit 'in your face'. Jules says a more "underground" approach to bright colours will rise up.

Instead of having bright blue ends, it's possible to create a reverse balayage look that's far more subtle. "You can do some panels underneath, like a nice soft peach, and everything falls over it so you can only really see the colour when the hair moves or you part it on different sides," Jules explains.

Alternatively, having "pieces" of colour in one spot — the fringe, for example — can create a feature point without being too out-there. "It's like hidden stuff that you have to find. That underground scene in our cities with the cafes in the little back streets, I see hair going there," Jules says.

5. Freehand colouring techniques

Jules says colourists will continue to embrace more freehand, less structured techniques next year. "People [are] using palette boards instead of foiling — they're laying the hair on palette boards, or laying it on the back of their hand and painting with a brush," he explains.

This is good news for us clients, because the result is more natural-looking highlights — think "I've lived on a sun-soaked tropical island for three months" colour. (Post continues after gallery.)

6. New ways of creating shape and volume

Products aren't the only way to change the way your hair looks. Jules says simple tricks, like changing the direction of your GHD curls, will grow in popularity.

"If you want your curls on one side, tuck one side behind your ear — if you curl it the right way the curl will flow back around your head," he suggests.

Also, that "flip-flop" part embraced by the likes of Lara Worthington and Zoe Foster Blake isn't going anywhere. "That's a really easy way of changing your look in two minutes. It's just getting your hairdresser to cut your hair so it falls both ways," Jules says.

7. Voluminous length

If Jules had his way, every woman in the country would chop off her long hair. But for those of us who just can't part with it, he says the big trend is low-down volume.

"The volume's getting away from [up top] and turning down to the jawlines, cheekbones and on the ends. Instead of going really high and big, they're getting more volume down the ends. I really like that," he says.

And goodbye to...

There are two hair trends Jules wouldn't mind seeing the back of in 2016. Drum roll please...

"I'd be happy for balayage to melt away a bit. It was awesome, but I think I've seen too much now and now I'm like, 'Okay, I think we can move on now'. I saw so much bad balayage, which is probably my issue," he says.

Same goes for hair extensions. "You've got to be high maintenance enough to go and get them moved up every six weeks ... if a girl came in to me and said, 'I haven't washed my hair in three weeks, I want extensions!' I'd be like, 'No, you're not getting them'," Jules says.

Which of these styles will you be embracing?