A quick glance at the runway and street style trends confirms that grunge hair is still as cool as ever. Polished, flawless looks with every hair perfectly in place are undeniably beautiful, but sometimes you just don’t want to put in that much effort—or look like you did. When you want something natural and easy, ditch your blowdryer for stylishly messy styles that are as effortless as they look.
Taking us back to the days of edgy simplicity and gritty cool, these ’90s grunge haircuts are your perfect escape from high-maintenance glam.
1. Tousled Waves
The secret to messy tousled waves that look beautiful is in soft layers and great products, which give your hair the shape it loves and enough hydration to stay bouncy.
2. Choppy Bixie
As iconic as it gets, the choppy bixie is what all the cool girls had at some point back in the day—look up Winona’s gorgeous tousled hair from Reality Bites and you’ll call your stylist to make an appointment.
3. Long Layers
Layers create movement and add lift to the hair, so it won’t look flat and dull even when you don’t style it. This easy-to-wear look includes shorter pieces near the face that frame it oh-so-stylishly.
4. Layered Bob
A tousled layered bob is already grunge enough, but chunky highlights really give it that ’90s look.
5. Choppy Lob
You don’t like to wash your hair every day, but you want it to look good? This haircut is at its coolest on days two or three. To achieve the same look when your hair is fresh, apply texture cream to wet locks and let air dry.
6. Side Part Lob
The side part goes in and out of style, but nothing beats the volume you can achieve just by tousling your hair to switch the side it’s parted on.
7. Messy Waves
Messy waves are easy if your hair is already naturally wavy—encourage your natural texture with salt spray in wet hair, scrunching as it dries. If your hair is straight, you can help out your tresses by haphazardly creating bends and waves with a flat iron.
8. Razored Bob With Fringe
En corte bob a navaja is lightweight and grows out beautifully, making it low maintenance both on the day-to-day basis and when it comes to upkeep.
9. Choppy Medium Hair With Bangs
Skip the brush and embrace the frizz. This choppy haircut with bangs looks gorgeous with a bedhead look, especially when it’s real and not just styled to appear so.
10. Pixie texturizado
Everything about this pixie cut embodies cute grunge: the ashy color with faded pink highlights, the tousled texture and the amount of styling—none—required to make it look great.
11. Long Straight Hair
Long straight hair has its spot in the grunge aesthetic, but since you probably don’t want to spend time styling it, get a few shorter pieces near the face or bangs to create some movement and prevent flat hair on top.
12. Textured Medium Hair
Textured medium-length hair is the right choice for anyone who’s indecisive. It has the layers needed for a flattering shape, but they’re not obvious and it can be styled up or down for a more or less grungy look.
13. Choppy Bob
A super choppy bob flirting with the wolf cut is flowy, bouncy and soft. This haircut has been perfected and looks contemporary, but the contrasting streaks take it back to the ’90s grunge aesthetic.
14. Natural Waves
These are not your flawless olas de playa. There are no hot tools involved; just wash your hair, let it air-dry and hope for the best. Add hair accessories to revisit the riot grrl look of the ’90s.
15. Choppy Layers
Choppy layered hair works just as well for thick and thin hair. It removes bulk but not volume and the short layers add lots of bounce.
16. No Part Bob
While we’re debating hair partings, this gorgeous bob is here to remind us that you don’t have to have one. Push your hair back and let it fall to create a natural look that pairs perfectly with a simple bobo romo.
17. Soft Shag
The shag came from the ’70s by the way of ’90s and it keeps evolving to suit the era. This time around, it’s bouncy with an edge and versatile when it comes to styling.
18. Blunt And Layered
This blunt shoulder-length haircut shines when it has lots of texture. In grunge terms, don’t wash it every day if you don’t want to style it.
19. Chunky Money Piece
The iconic blonde money pieces can’t be left out when discussing ’90s grunge hair. Giving any haircut a dose of nostalgia, it looks best when your hairstyle isn’t too polished.
20. Bob con flequillo
There aren’t many aesthetics that don’t include the one and only bob with bangs. To make it grungy, wear it natural, don’t fight your frizz and if you’re into it, bleach your bangs.
21. Loose Waves
The mix of colors and the choppy ends give this look grungy vibes even though the waves have been carefully created. Make it even grungier by skipping styling the next day.
22. Long Hair With Long Bangs
The perfect balance of natural, soft grunge texture and flowing long hair. Spritz with dry shampoo to create a piecey look.