Heartthrob hair has begun to evolve. Thanks to a rise in bowl cuts, Bangs for Men™, and the number of haircuts postponed by the pandemic, pop stars are gravitating toward a new style Esquire has christened the Cherubim Haircut.
To review, a cherub is an angelic being, often depicted in art as “a chubby, healthy-looking child with wings.” Typically, that plump baby angel also has subtle, carefree curls unburdened by the weight of heavy styling products, that sometimes find rest on the forehead, like the swoopy tween haircuts of the early aughts. The cherubim haircut also wields unbelievable anti-aging powers that rival those of retinol – a miraculous effect that can be seen here on Justin Bieber, the haircut’s current poster child.
The transition from heartthrob hair to cherubim hair was an easy one. With the normalization of the Bowl Cut (the foundation upon which cherub hair is built), and boys proudly perming said bowl cuts on TikTok to add texture, all it took was some growing out during COVID-19 lockdowns to set the stage. Factor in the inescapable desire to regress back to simpler times when we were younger and oblivious to firenados and murder hornets, and you’re left with the boyish style that catapults one to the heavens, far, far away from planet Earth.
Ready to take off? You have a few options. If you want go “full rosy-cheeked cherubim,” as Esquire puts it, look to Biebz’s and Troye Sivan, who both have a more textbook version of the cut. Want to channel the more free-spirited baby angels that fly around with flowers and such? Look to former heartthrob hair owner Harry Styles, whose 2019 bangs have softly grown upward and outward as if in motion. For a more modern take, look to BTS’s V, who brings a nice grown-out floppiness to the look, or Machine Gun Kelly, whose bleached baby angel hair proves even cherubs can be edgy with the right attitude and accessorizing.
Regardless of which you choose, rest assured that somewhere up there, Degrassi High’s cherub hair pioneer J.T. Yorke (R.I.P.) is smiling down on us all, beaming with feathery pride.