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Tracing the Hair Evolution of the Beatles: From Mop Tops to Psychedelic Shags

The Beatles
Photo: Getty Images

John Lennon would have turned 74 today. The man who wrote antiwar anthems like “Imagine” and famously asserted that the most revolutionary thing you could do was to “stay in bed and grow out your hair” may forever be associated with the seventies peace movement, but it was his remarkable physical transformation during his time with the Beatles that reflected the rapidly changing cultural landscape of the sixties. In just five years, John, Paul, Ringo, and George went from mop-topped heartthrobs on The Ed Sullivan Show to shaggy-haired pioneers of psychedelic rock with albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Yellow Submarine. In honor of the counterculture icon’s birthday, here’s a look at the Beatles’ hair evolution.

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How to Fake Air-Dried Waves When It’s Cold Outside

Lara Stone
Photographed by David Sims, Vogue, December 2011

We may have embraced the nonchalance of natural, air-dried waves this summer, but the moment temperatures dip below balmy, walking out the door with any degree of dampness in our hair is a surefire way to catch a cold. According to Joey Silvestera, owner of NYC’s Blackstones Hairdressing salon, a change in season does not require a total paradigm shift in your signature aesthetic. “You can still get that lived-in look using a blow-dryer,” he says. For loose waves and a windswept texture, simply towel-dry wet hair and reach for a styling cream—Silvestera prefers the malleability and weightlessness of Bumble and bumble Grooming Cream, Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Styling Treatment, or Five Wits Ultralight Conditioner. Depending on the length of your cut, massage between a nickel- and quarter-size amount of the product through the mid-lengths and ends, then twist hair into two-inch sections. Once completed, Silvestera says, you can air-dry the twists for as long as possible. If you’re in a hurry, you can set the look using a hair-dryer with a diffuser on low speed and high heat. When completely dry, either scrunch more product into your hair for a rock ’n’ roll disheveled feel or comb through it with your fingers for a bohemian effect. Any way you spin it, “It’s so low-maintenance. And not trying too hard makes women look really beautiful.”

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