Leading search engine Google has produced its first Beauty Trends report, confirming the three largest trends of 2015 were man buns, braids and bold colours. To discover the top beauty interests of consumers, Google analysed the monthly volume of beauty-related search queries from January 2013 to August 2015.
Men’s hair led the charge with top search devices including ‘how to grow a man bun’ and ‘how to tie a man bun’. Google also confirmed that 2015 saw men’s hair queries overtake women’s hair queries for the first time.
Men’s hair searches ran in order of preference as follows: comb over, fade haircuts, undercut, flat top haircut, high top fade, pompadour fade, hair sponge, man bun and mohawk fade. Ellen Sideri - CEO of ESP Trendlab - told Google that it was just the tip of an iceberg of a soon to be booming industry, commenting: "It's like waking a sleeping giant.”
Interest in braids for women also peaked. ‘Box braids’ and ‘cornrow goddess braids’ were key search terms which began to prove popular in 2013 and hit peak this year. And, as was apparent on a slew of different celebrities, coloured hair also maintained interest. ‘Granny hair’ was a major search relating to silver, grey and lavender locks, with ‘rainbow’ equally investigated online. Searches for ‘rainbow hair’ in particular have grown by 148 per cent.
In a move that proved the growing influence of mobile connectivity, Google’s Marc Speichert confirmed the majority of searches have been made via a mobile device: “Many people now turn to smartphones in these I-want-that-look moments, as evidenced by search and video trends. Of all Google Search queries related to beauty, the majority are done on mobile.” The findings proved 82 per cent of men’s hairstyle terms were done via mobile, as were 85 per cent of those relating to braids, and 80 per cent of trending hair colours.
