The 5 Worst Hairdo Fails of 2022 — And How To Avoid Them! 

They say that hindsight is 20/20 — or in this case, 2022! The end of the year is a great time to think about the days gone by, both our awesome moments and our… less-than-awesome ones. Another year of working from home and YouTube tutorials has led to some of the funniest hairdo fails of all time. And for the Beauty Supply 123 team, a lot of our “cringe” has to do with how easy it can be to avoid some of these major styling catastrophes.

Today, let’s look at some of the most common, most disastrous, and most easily fixable (or avoidable!) hairdo fails of 2022. 

Cutting Your Own Bangs

How many times must we say it — NEVER cut your own bangs! While it’s one thing to trim an already-established look your stylist has been keeping up for years, it’s entirely another to give yourself a makeover with your kitchen shears. 

How We Would Avoid It: Always, always, ALWAYS trust a professional. If you’ve found a style that you love, the next step is to find a stylist you love just as much! For dramatic looks like curtain bangs or blunt bangs, take the time to research examples on similar face shapes to yours. 

The next best thing to do is ask your stylist about upkeep at home. Many stylists will recommend specialized brushes or styling products made for bangs, like a detangling brush for blunt bangs (especially if you have naturally curly hair), or a light hold hair spray to keep your feathered bangs in place without adding unnecessary weight. 

Too Hot to Handle 

OOF! If you’ve ever used a curling iron, a straightener, or hot curlers, then you probably know what it’s like to have heat-burned hair. It’s one of the most common mistakes we make when we first start styling our hair on our own, and it’s also one of the easiest hairdo fails to avoid. 

How We Would Avoid It: The secret to avoiding heat burned hair is to use the right styling treatments specially formulated to protect your hair from heat. The best heat protection hair products for you depend on your hair texture and thickness. No matter what, we like gentle products with ingredients like argan, avocado, or coconut oil. For thicker hair, try a leave-in serum like Olaplex #9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum. For lighter hair, a gentle hair primer applied on damp hair — before you style — can do just the trick. 

Spell it with us: F-R-I-Z-Z

Whether it’s the weather or a few too many days between washes, our hair is susceptible to a southerner’s worst enemy: humidity. Frizzy hair can be extremely frustrating, especially when those flyaways are all that stand between you and a killer hair day. Some people tend to overcorrect, thinking they need massive amounts of hair gel to keep that frizz at bay. Instead, they end up with that “helmet hair” look: too much gel or spray adds tons of weight to your hair, and can make it greasy or sticky from buildup. 

How We Would Avoid It: With anti-frizz products, less is more. You always want to err on the side of gentleness, especially because it’s easier to add more product than it is to take it away. Anti-frizz is another hair category where you need to choose the best anti-frizz products based on your hair type. For example, naturally textured hair can benefit from something like CHI’s Aloe Vera Oil, while lighter or straighter hair may only need a few spritzes of this “Frizz Fighting” Mist from Crack Hair. 

Say Adieu to Cheap Shampoo

Buildup — breakage — heat fry — wonky drying — what all of these hairdo fails have in common is that they’re often caused by using the wrong shampoo and conditioner for your hair. However, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on hair-washing products that get used once before taking up critical shower space for the rest of your lease. 

How We Would Avoid It: The trick here is to invest in high quality hair products that won’t break the bank. You can find the right blend of budget-friendly and high-quality recipes with trusted brands like CHI, Biosilk, Redken, and David Douglas. We’re big fans of quality ingredients like argan oil, tea tree and peppermint oil, or keratin. These ingredients add moisture, silkiness, and shine without chemical buildup or brittleness. You can also choose products designed specially for dyed hair, like David Douglas Drench Color Safe Shampoo. 

Hair Dye Fry 

Finally, one of the most common culprits for hairdo fails is our frenemy, the boxed hair dye. Stylists around the world will give you hundreds of reasons not to dye your hair at home, but the truth of the matter is that you can create your own high-quality treatments so long as you are using high-quality products. (In general, however, you may want to avoid bleaching your hair at home unless it’s something you’ve got experience doing — leave chemical bleaching to the professionals!) 

How We Would Avoid It: Firstly, put your trust in familiar, established brands like CHI, American Crew, and David Douglas. A cheap box dye you find at the dollar store is much more likely to fry your hair than a trusted brand like Redken. Once you’ve perfected your style, the best thing you can do to protect color-treated hair is to use hair care products like David Douglas Violent Toning Shampoo or CHI’s Ionic Color Lock Treatment. 

Whether 2022 was an adventurous year for you or a lesson in sticking to the styles you know, the Beauty Supply 123 team is here to provide the supplies, guidance, and recommendations you need to make every day your best hair day. Check out our online catalog for styling tools, styling products, dyes, chemical treatments, and more guaranteed to keep you looking and feeling your best all year long.