Layered Cut

The layered cut is the most generic request in any salon, which is exactly why it never quite works. 'Layers' without specifics gets internal layers that remove weight at random places. The cut that actually works: long layers starting below the collarbone, with the shortest face-framing piece at the chin, and weight kept at the ends. Specify or you get something blander.

It flatters every face shape and every texture, which is the appeal — when cut to the spec above it's the most universal long-hair shape on the menu. Straight hair shows the layered movement cleanest; wavy and curly hair benefit because layers prevent the heavy 'triangle' shape that one-length curls fall into.

Low daily maintenance — air-dry, leave-in cream, done. Trim every ten weeks. The layered cut has been the dominant Western long-hair shape since the 1970s and has revived under various names (the Rachel, the choppy long-layered cut, the curtain bang lob) without ever really leaving. The fundamental shape is the same. Specify 'long layers starting below the collarbone' — generic 'long layers' often produces internal layers that end too short.