How to Cut, Color, and Style Your Cub Cut

POV: You’re 36 minutes into mindlessly scrolling, and you’re already over your limit. You promised your screen time wouldn’t exceed a half hour, but here we are. And now you found yourself deep in the TikTok rabbit hole of curiosity and interest *per usual*. Tonight's topic: Cub Cuts.

There's no denying that the Wolf Cut is one of TikTok's most viral haircut trends. First flagged in the summer of 2021, this radically fierce style has gone mega-viral, and we’re not mad about it. The Cub Cut is the chic offspring of the Wolf Cut — an androgynous throwback that playfully blends the ‘70s shag cut and ‘80s soft mullet to create a modern-day rock-and-roll vibe. Prioritizing texture, movement, and body with layers on layers, the Wolf Cut is an iteration of decades past that we didn’t know we needed. Think mullet, but with a voluminous twist. Gen Z can’t get enough of it, and neither can we.

Now, enter the Cub Cut — the lovechild of last season’s trending styles, the Bob and the Wolf Cut. While the Wolf Cut is traditionally longer with a soft ’70s vibe, the Cub Cuts leans more toward the ‘80s with an edgy ’90s grunge aesthetic.

Having taken over TikTok, we decided to give the trend a go. Watch content creator @mandy_clementine as she slays the Cub Cut trend, sharing the easiest step-by-step directions for recreating the feral, cool-girl look from home.

GET THE CUT

Part of what makes the Wolf Cut and Cub Cut so appealing is that they’re easy to create from home. The goal is an intentionally choppy, uneven look with face-framing layers or messy side-swept bangs to give the style volume and attitude.

Although we don’t recommend cutting your mane, many bold TikTok users have made the chop themselves, including our girl @mandy_clementine. First, they tie their hair into a high pony “unicorn horn” and cut straight across the end. Repeat the process with a second “unicorn horn” consisting of just the top layers and a final horn with just the bangs. Doing so will create tousled, textured layers.

COLOR THE CUT

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

- Pastel Purple & Pastel Silver Coloring Conditioners

- Hair Color Starter Kit

STEP 01: Section off dry hair. @mandy_clementine clips the top layer of hair up and focus on the bottom layer to start working her way up to the crown.

STEP 02: Using the Pastel Silver Coloring Conditioner, apply color to small sections of hair, starting at the roots and working your way to the ends. Make sure hair is completely saturated with conditioner for even color coverage.

STEP 03: Next, levels! Repeat STEP 02 on the next layer of hair using Pastel Purple Coloring Conditioner. Repeat this process alternating colors with each layer.

STEP 04: Let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

STEP 05: Wash, rinse, dry, and get ready to style!

STYLE THE CUT

What we love about the Cub Cut is its versatility and ease of style. It’s all about that messy, “I just woke up like this,” undone vibe, but you can dress it up to be more sophisticated, edgy, chic, or glam, depending on your mood and aesthetic.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

- Alligator Clips from the Hair Color Starter Kit

- Blow Dryer

- Curling Wand

STEP 01: Using a blow dryer, dry your hair thoroughly. @mandy_clementine chose to do a “rough blow dry” since she will finish the look using a curling wand.

STEP 02: Clip the top layer using oVertone’s Alligator Clips from the Hair Color Starter Kit.

STEP 03: Starting with the face-framing layers, grab about two inches of hair and wrap it around a curling wand to create beach waves, curling the hair in towards your face. Repeat the process until everything’s curled to perfection.

PRO TIP: For extra curling power, twist the curl with your finger as it cools in the direction you want it to go.

STEP 04: Once you’ve curled every layer, “shake her on out” by loosely running your hands through your locks.

STEP 05: Reveal your fierce she-wolf vibe and give a little howl.

HEALTHY HAIR STARTS WITH NOURISHING COLOR

“My dry hair desperately needs a conditioning mask & treatment. So I’m actually really excited.” — @mandy_clementine

This collab was special because not only did we cover one of TikTok’s hottest trends, but @mandy_clementine started with dry, dull hair. Using oVertone Coloring Conditioners, she gave her locks an extra boost of color and hydration from our powerful pigmented conditioning formula.

“The consistency of this is so satisfying. It reminds me of a pudding, and I really just want to eat it. Also, it smells really good, so that doesn't help. But don’t eat the oVertone. But do let your hair gobble it up because it’s so good for it. My hair is drinking this up. It feels so nice in my hair.”

The result is gorgeous, healthy-looking hair beaming with color. You can see a noticeable difference in @mandy_clementine before and after in terms of vibrancy, shine, and softness which compliments her ‘70s shag modern makeover. We are living for her new look and healthy color that’s bold, feminine, and makes a powerful statement.

SHOP THE LOOK