Bangs, bobs, pixies: software that analyzes your face and helps you choose

Feature Image by Hannah Gullixson

Curtain bangs, ultra-sleek bobs, rebellious pixie cuts. Just open TikTok or Instagram to see that hair is back at the center of beauty conversations. Every week a new trend emerges, every month a new “definitive” cut. Yet, while social media pushes toward standardization, more and more people are making a counterintuitive choice: relying on AI to personalize their look.

The most viral cuts (which don't suit everyone)

This is how social media works: you see a cut on a creator, you save it, you take it to the hairdresser. Too bad that same haircut, on another face, can have a completely different effect. Bangs that are too short, bobs that shorten the neck, pixies that harden the features. The problem isn't the trend, but the idea that there is a universal haircut.

This is where artificial intelligence comes in, promising to do what beauty filters don't: truly analyze your face, not transform it into someone else's.

From “face shape” to facial mapping

For years, we were told that all we needed to know was whether our face was oval, round, or square. Spoiler alert: it's not that simple. New AI-based software works on a much more detailed mapping, analyzing proportions, symmetries, facial angles, hairline, and even volume distribution.Some apps and platforms allow you to upload a photo (or use the camera in real time) and return a sort of hair-friendly identikit: critical points to enhance, areas to lighten, strategic lengths, and bangs yes or no.

How AI really works for hair

It's not just about trying out a cut virtually, as many beauty apps already do that. The extra step is predictive analysis: AI cross-references aesthetic data, hairstyling rules, and databases of similar faces to suggest realistic solutions.

In practice, it tells you:- which cuts best harmonize your proportions- where bangs could work (or ruin everything)- what kind of bob avoids the “mushroom head” effect- whether a pixie cut enhances your cheekbones and jawline or makes them look harderAll with a pragmatic approach: no standards, only personalization.

What about hairdressers? Open question

What about hairdressers? Open question

This is where the critical point arises. How willing are hairdressers to engage with these tools? Some professionals are already up to date, curious, and ready to integrate software and digital consulting into their work. Others remain tied to the classic method: expert eye, experience, intuition.

The risk is a generational clash: customers arriving with AI analyses in hand and salons that don't know how to interpret them. But the potential is enormous: AI does not replace the hairdresser, it can enhance them. Combining technology and human expertise could be the real evolution of hair styling.

The future of hair is (also) digital

Bangs, bobs, or pixie cuts are no longer just a matter of fashion, but of identity. Face-analyzing software is changing the way we choose our hairstyles, making beauty more inclusive, personalized, and conscious.

The real question is not whether AI can help you choose the right cut. The question is whether we are ready to abandon the idea that there is only one right cut for everyone. Gen Z has already answered that question.