The Rachel haircut, commonly known as simply "The Rachel", is an eponymous hairstyle popularized by American actress Jennifer Aniston.
Designed by Aniston's hairstylist Chris McMillan to repair her damaged hair and grow out her bangs, "The Rachel" is a voluminous shoulder-length haircut, with several distinct layers that frame and turn outwards from its wearer's face. It has been described as a variation on both the shag and bob haircuts.
Fun Fact: Jennifer Aniston's hair is styled by her longtime hairstylist, Chris McMillan. He styled her hair when she was on Friends and is the one responsible for “The Rachel” haircut. Jennifer Aniston's signature waves and layers look has been modified over the years by McMillan.
The 'Rachel haircut' is back in all its '90s glory. The voluminous shoulder-length style with long layers was popularised in the '90s after Jennifer Anniston's character Rachel Green in hit US TV show Friends.
The choppy face-framing layers of the Rachel hairstyle formed one of the most trend-setting hair looks of the 90s and continues to influence the outcome of hair appointments worldwide to this day.
"For 2022, pixie cuts are not as popular. The trend seems to be more of a 'bixie cut. ' It's equal parts bob and equal parts pixie," Korab says. Like the name suggests, the length of this cut is between a bob and a pixie, but make no mistake: the texture is more pixie-esque.
But fans of the hairstyle are quickly discovering that the style is not exactly easy to recreate. Even Aniston told Marie Claire that "the 'Rachel' was high-maintenance... I'd curse Chris every time I had to blowdry. It took three brushes—it was like doing surgery!" she said.
The Rachel
Even though '90s-inspired haircuts are having a moment, if you have fine hair, Blake recommends avoiding haircuts like "the Rachel," which tend to have flicky layers through the lengths of the hair. "Fine hair just can't flick at the ends as easily, and so this haircut will just looked wilted," he says.
“The original Rachel was so iconic because it was the mid '90s and we'd just come out of this period of grunge; people were getting bored of this no-hair hair and no make-up make-up,” says hairstylist Luke Hersheson. “When Rachel Green appeared she was the opposite to all of that.
The octopus haircut is one of the hottest hairstyle trends for 2022. The haircut is a reinvention of the iconic short to medium-length layered "Rachel" haircut that was popular in the '90s.
Aniston continues to gift us with hair surprises. Not only did she actually hate “the Rachel” haircut that launched a million copycats (she called it “a pain in the butt” to maintain, because of her naturally thick, wavy texture—relatable!) she actually prefers her hair straight.
A butterfly haircut combines short layers with long layers to give your hair dimension, movement and body. The short, wispy layers hit around the chin to frame your face, highlight your features and even contour a round face shape.
Top La hairstylist, Sal Salcedo, reminded us just how phwoar the cut is with an outgrown, shaggier rendition, he called The Rachel 2.0, which featured collarbone-length strands complete with choppy jaw-length and face-framing layers.
The style is claimed to have been created by Jennifer Aniston's hairstylist, Chris McMillan. "The Rachel" became wildly popular among young women and was copied the world over, becoming the 1990s equivalent of Farrah Fawcett's 1970s flip.
Similar to a mullet, the style features more body and volume at the crown of the head (the head of the octopus) and then longer, thinner, shag-like layers from the mid-shaft to ends (the tentacles). Though the octopus haircut is inspired by both the mullet and shag, it is neither.
So what, exactly, is the Monica haircut? Well, zone in on Courteney Cox's exceptional hair game between seasons one and two of Friends. It graduates from a textured choppy bixie—the bob meets pixie hybrid, which features a jaw-length cut and layers at the crown—to a longer midi, collarbone-length rendition.
In fact, she refers to the hair cut as a "big, horrible mistake." The actress claims the famous style did not have any real staying power. “He [hairdresser Chris McMillan] gave me the 'Rachel', which was a big, horrible mistake. I mean, it was great at the time, but it was a never-ending legacy for some reason.”
From the use of Karen, beginning in the late 2010s, as a pejorative for an entitled middle-aged white woman. The association of a specific hairstyle with this type of woman began with a 2014 meme pairing a photo of a white woman with an asymmetrical blond bob with the text "The 'Can I Speak To A Manager' Haircut".
Blunt cut. If you have a finer hair texture but like to keep your length long, Seamus McKernan, hairstylist and Nioxin Top Artist, recommends asking your stylist for a blunt haircut. "Blunt cuts have a solid, clean line at the perimeter of the hair that gives the appearance of fuller hair.
Blunt cuts are some of the best options for thin hair, and Therese's trick is to create a "point-cut" perimeter to the style, as opposed to a simple straight line.
The most low-maintenance haircuts are very short haircuts like pixies and cuts with long layers that make styling easy and don't require a ton of salon maintenance. While you'll still need to see your stylist every few months to keep your cut looking its best, you can go longer between appointments.
Asking for a “warm golden barley or vanilla blonde” would recreate a similar shade to Aniston says Seeley, but using the right wording and phrases will get you a similar tone, but one that suits your own skin tone.