We love a hairstyle that can do the heavy lifting for us. Great hair can completely overhaul how we feel and that's why we're crushing hard on the marquise layers haircut we've seen – offering up unrivalled face-framing.
What are marquise layers?
Named in honour of the marquise shape (which falls somewhere between a diamond and an oval and is leading engagement ring trends), the hairstyle brings some major face-framing action that encircles eyes, cheeks and lips to bring definition, structure and attention to some of our favourite features. The layers come to a point at the forehead and chin, then softly cup cheeks to create a marquise frame that adds covetable bounce and movement.
“People are liking having layers in their hair more,” notes top hair colour and styling trend forecaster, Zoe Irwin, “and with this marquise layer, it’s a lot heavier at the top," she continues. "There’s a lot more weight generally through the hair, so it’s not the shaggy ‘90s layers like The Rachel that we’ve been seeing a lot of,” she adds.
“The layers tend to be on the longer side. It feels thicker and the layering seems to happen in the last few inches of the haircut, so this suits somebody who wants a little bit more swing in the hair,” Zoe says. As for styling, “it’s blow-dried out so it has a soft volume,” she notes.
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Why choose marquise layers?
One-length hair works on short or bob-length hair, but if its midi and below, lacking layers can make hair feel a little shapeless. In the same way that makeup artists call upon pro techniques to balance light and shade and bring harmony to features (like contouring and highlighting), carefully constructed layers throughout hair can equally provide definition and interest.
It's also a great choice if you want style and movement while keeping the length. “By having this layering, it’s really good for people who still like to feel the length of the hair from the front,” says Zoe. “When you take the hair into tje ‘90s Rachel layering, what tends to happen is the weight and the length is more towards the back of the hair. How the marquise is fantastic, is if you want to still feel the length around the front, it gives that look of really long hair,” she says.
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How to create marquise layers?
An amazing haircut can do a lot of the hard work – but to coax out full-bodied, exaggerated marquise layers, styling is just as key.
Chop-wise, ask your hairstylist for long and medium-length layers softly scattered through hair (as Zoe mentioned, you don't want anything too short and choppy).
As for styling, this is what really helps this hairstyle take off. “If you look at this image, it really is quite lifted throughout, so if your hair is quite heavy or lank, it definitely needs to have some body in it, so you'd need to blow-dry," says Zoe.
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Start with a good foundation. “I would definitely use a light leave-in spray conditioner and a volumising spray spritzed directly onto the roots every three or four inches around the scalp,” says Zoe. She also recommends liberally spraying a volumising lotion on the mid-lengths and ends.
“After rough-drying the hair to 80%, clip up the top section and start working on the underneath. You can get loads of fantastic round blow-dry brushes now from Babyliss and GHD. Or, if you’re using a brush and hair dryer, secure the nozzle attachment to the dryer and use a medium-to-large bristle brush. Glide it underneath the hair section. Lift the brush up as you’re working through and direct the dryer to the top of the brush so you’re smoothing the hair as you wrap it round,” says Zoe. “If you have curls or waves, you would be blow-drying it out sleeker. The natural movement in your hair would give you this bounce, so the blow dry is totally dependent on hair type,” she adds.
“For the front section, I would blow-dry forward first before taking the brush on top of the section and blow-drying it back which gives you the perfect amount of root lift, plus a flick. It’s almost a little bit ‘70s or ‘80s,” Zoe says.
There's no point putting in the hard work of heating your hair if you're not going to give it time to cool and set in place. “Set it by using a large velcro roller for loads of bounce," says Zoe.
Hair pro (and the queen of marquise layers) Emma Chen has shared her secret to creating voluminous layers with rollers in numerous videos to her Instagram. She separates hair into three big sections – the top layer and each side. After blow drying hair, she sets them in rollers to cool.
What works in the pursuit of thick, healthy hair (and what really doesn't).
Although it doesn’t look like it, this is a really nice blow-dry that’s then messed up," says Zoe. “To lock the style in place take some hairspray, mist everything then flip your head upside down and brush it throughout to tousle it,” she says.
In her video, once hair is released, Emma uses a wide-tooth comb to separate out hair, smooth and encourage volume.
For finishing touches, centre part the hair, then shape using your fingers. The pinch hair hack works a treat at encouraging that pointed marquise shape at the top, then pinching hair into a bend as it reaches the cheekbone (and hair-spraying it once again into place) will give the width and volume at the sides.
The best bit? “It stays in the hair for days,” says Zoe.
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How to wear marquise layers?
Here's some of our favourite ways to wear the hairstyle…
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For more from GLAMOUR's Senior Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
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