The lob has been on the list of top haircuts for years now, and it’s easy to see why. It can be intimidating to go for a big chop, and short haircuts don’t offer many styling options. Long hair can be cumbersome, and during Southern summers, hot. Enter the lob—the happiest medium of all. Technically, a lob is a long bob haircut (hence the name), but they offer more versatility than most haircuts. These celebrities have the best styles out there—and they’re all unique. Gina Rodriguez’s enviable caramel highlights, Kerry Washington’s bold bangs, and Olivia Culpo’s half-up style showcase just a few lob looks we’re obsessing over. If you’re looking for a new cut or an update for your own lob, this is the best inspiration. The lob has reigned supreme over all haircuts for a while now, and if you haven’t tried it, you’re overdue for a salon appointment.
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Kerry Washington’s Straight-Across Bangs
Kerry Washington’s bangs are bold, blunt, and beautiful, and we are here for it. Super sleek bangs and strands make for a fun, modern look. If you’re anxious about cutting straight-across bangs, talk to your stylist about what type of bangs will flatter your face shape most. But if you know you can rock this look, why would you ever stop?
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Carrie Underwood’s Complete Sophistication
Carrie Underwood’s sophisticated straight lob has a balanced amount of volume and movement with swept back layers. This a perfect day-to-night hairstyle that looks polished without looking too fussy. For more inspiration, browse these versatile and easy medium length blond hairstyles,
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Gemma Chan’s Glossy Waves
Gemma Chan’s glossy waves and face-framing highlights exude pure glamour. For a hairstyle that’s both versatile and chic, this shoulder-length lob is blunt and slightly a-line. We’re envious of how incredibly healthy her mane looks—shiny and bouncy absent of frizz and split ends. To achieve lustrous locks, check out these six signs your hair is healthy to see where you can improve your hair’s condition.
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January Jones’s Shaggy Bangs
There’s a new shag haircut in town, and it’s flattering on every face shape. Instead of straight across bangs, January Jones’s are swept to either side for a face-framing effect. A cut like this is a great way to ease into bangs if you’ve never had them.
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Vanessa Hudgens’ Asymmetrical Cut
Although she can rock a boho look better than anyone, Vanessa Hudgens went modern (and fabulous) with this asymmetrical look. A longer-in-the-front style looks sophisticated when worn board straight.
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Rachel McAdams’s Asymmetry
Rachel McAdams’s asymmetrical lob is anything but ordinary. With choppy layers and loose waves, her blonde locks are full of volume and texture. Lowlights add additional depth. Looking to lighten up your look? Browse these blonde hair color ideas for inspiration.
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Emma Stone’s S Waves
Emma Stone’s stunning S waves are pure star glamour. Just the slightest wave creates a polished, modern style that’s slicked back on one side with vavoom and volume on the other. For more celebrity redhead inspiration, explore these red hair color ideas, from strawberry blonde to deep cinnamon, to add a sizzling shade that’s flattering for your skin tone.
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Nicey Nash-Betts’s Tousled Locks
Nicey Nash-Betts’s shoulder-grazing lob is sleekly parted in the middle and styled smoothly off her face. But loose, tousled pieces with very soft highlights give depth and texture.
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Millie Bobby Brown’s Deep Side Part
Millie Bobby Brown knows the key to creating instant volume is a deep side part. Part your hair further on the usual side or even on the opposite side for drastic volume. Curl your hair in thick curls and pin back the other side for even more glam. Don’t forget hairspray!
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Jada Pinkett Smith’s Retro Curls
Jada Pinkett Smith’s curls exude Old Hollywood glamour, and nothing pairs better with a retro look than a classic red lip. We can confidently say a deep side part with finger curls will forever be in style.
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Margot Robbie’s Flipped Ends
Rather than flipping out, Margot Robbie’s glamorous curls flip under at the ends. It might feel unnatural to style an inward curl, rather than a curl that flips away from your face, but she proves it can totally work.
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Viola Davis’s Classic Look
Viola Davis’s lob is timeless. The cut is simple and flattering because it hits at the perfect spot between chin and shoulders. With classic beauty, less is more, and this lob doesn’t need a single change.
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Gina Rodriguez’s Subtle Color
Gina Rodriguez’s highlights are the ideal barely-there color job. If you have dark hair or have never tried highlights before, this is a great example to start with. She has a few caramel babylights throughout her hair, but the color gets stronger toward the ends of her strands. It looks natural and will grow out well without constant tune-ups at the salon.
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Emilia Clarke’s Blunt Ends
Emilia Clarke hits the cool-girl nail on the platinum blonde head with her center part, dark roots, and blunt ends. Nothing is more daring than a total chop, and blunt ends look edgy and modern.
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Olivia Culpo’s Half-Up Style
Classic bobs can be too short for updos, so a lob is a great cut if you want to go shorter without giving up that ponytail. Olivia Culpo’s casual half-up look is cute for everyday wear, and it shows the versatility of the lob.
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Lily James’s Flipped Up Ends
This sleek lob flatters Lily James’s square face shape by letting her high cheek bones pop. With a side part and ends ever-so-turned up, this style is classic glam without looking overdone. Her rich brown hair color with light-reflecting caramel highlights provides subtle dimension.
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Jenna Ortega’s Curtain Bangs
Jenna Ortega’s wolf cut—what hair stylists describe as part shag-part mullet—is dominated by curtain bangs, choppy layers, and flipped-up ends. Shag haircuts are a lot more versatile today than the 70s version, where stylists can tailor this layered cut to one’s face shape, hair length, and texture.
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Chrissy Teigen’s Face-Framing Highlights
Chrissy Teigen’s face-framing highlights are natural, flattering, and what we’re bringing to the salon to show our colorist exactly what we want this spring. Her lob, soft waves, and seamless highlights are effortlessly pretty.
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Rose Byrne’s Balayage Waves
These large sun-kissed waves on Rose Byrne shows off her layered lob hairstyle. Whether your hair color is black, blond, or a shade somewhere in between, balayage’s free-hand painted technique creates light-reflecting subtle contrast to hair. Explore these balayage ideas for adding low-maintenance, natural-looking highlights to your tresses.
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Jessica Alba’s Polished Side Part
Jessica Alba’s side-parted, face-framing style shows off some volume with waves toward the ends, while subtle highlights add even more depth. A shoulder length hairstyle is the way to go if you’re looking for versatile styling options without the maintenance of long hair.
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Angela Bassett’s Modern Glamour
Looking for a lob hairstyle for a special occasion? This take on a classic Hollywood glam looks updated with big, tousled curls that don’t look overly set or stiff. Pinning back hair on one side with a side part allows facial features to shine—here, Angela Bassett’s dramatic eyes and high cheekbones are a stunning focal point.
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Charlize Theron’s Long Layers
This longer lob hairstyle is layered to create volume and movement. A middle part with a touch of height at the roots keeps this style from looking flat.
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Mindy Kaling’s Smooth Edges
Add some spark to your lob with the slightest edge. Mindy Kaling’s glossy, angled lob is shorter in back and longer in front with the ends coming down to a point. Create the illusion of bangs by tucking a section of hair off to the side.
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Jenna Dewan Tatum’s Soft Waves
Jenna Dewan Tatum’s soft curls are the wavy look we all strive for. If we could wake up every day and have our hair look like this, we’d never complain again. Since we don’t wake up with smooth, tousled waves, we’ve got tips for curling your lob with a flat-iron or a curling iron.
