Haircut ideas usually drum up in the salon, but recently a more unusual inspiration has appeared: the vegetable aisle.
“Lettuce hair” is trending. A more subtle take on the traditional mullet, the new salad style features more subtle variations in length between the back, sides and top of the hair. Lettuce hair has a loose and often wavy top, softly tapered shoulders, and a feathered tail at the back of the neck that resembles leafy greens.
For the Wuthering Heights press tour, Jacob Elordi toned down his on-screen Regency cut, lowering the shoulders but keeping the windswept top and tail, reminiscent of a head of Romaine lettuce. Heated Rivalry’s Connor Story’s wavy locks could be mistaken for a curly finish, while figure skater Ilya Malinin’s butter lettuce locks add extra drama to Quad God’s dizzying axels.
The salad style originated in the world of ice hockey, where players widely adopted the mullet in the 70s and 80s. Although the mullet died out in the ’90s, hockey players were slow to ditch the “party at the back” and instead cut it short, resulting in more modern lettuce locks.
“A classic sign of proper hockey hair is when you can clearly see it flowing down the back when the helmet is on,” says Markus Eckroth, a right-winger for Sweden’s Knockrockers. The team has amassed hundreds of thousands of views of their TikTok videos showcasing the team’s best lettuce hair.
“I have naturally wavy hair, so I usually ask my hairdos to be long enough in the back, especially around the neck and above, so I can tuck it behind my ears,” says Eckroth. “If you have good lettuce, people will definitely notice. It’s considered a bonus and part of the hockey identity.”
Hockey players refer to long hair blowing out from under their helmets as “flow” or “flow state.”
During the men’s gold-medal ice hockey game at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, some of the best examples of flow will be on display. Eckroth described US players William Nylander, Sweden’s Mika Zibanezad and Germany’s Moritz Seider as having “great lettuce” and representing the “classic modern hockey look”.
However, the look is not limited to hockey. John King, editor-in-chief of Pulltab Sports, compared Malinin’s pirouetting mane to the swirling hair of US ice hockey star Jake Guentzel, and cited US freestyle skier Mac Forehand as a strong example of his “amazing hair” style. “A mullet is hockey hair, but not all hockey hair is a mullet,” says King.
Since 2011, King has been compiling an annual “All Hockey Hair Team” YouTube video where he ranks the lettuce of his hometown Minnesota high school hockey team. It has subscribers from all over the world, many of whom have never seen a hockey game.
Now the trend is jumping from the rink to the red carpet. Barry Keoghan’s new hair, coded mostly lettuce, as he prepares to play Ringo Starr. Harry Styles sports tufty tresses in promotional photos for his new album, Aperture. Glen Powell, Brad Pitt, Paul Meskal and Austin Butler have also recently succumbed to salad.
Part of the appeal, Eckroth says, is that style instills confidence. “It doesn’t add anything material to your performance, but the saying ‘look good, play good’ certainly applies.”
King says some players have recently started getting perms to ensure a constant curly lettuce look, while others bleach for added effect. Time will tell if Hollywood follows suit and goes with the flow.
