TIKTOK AUDIO: Girl, don’t do it, it’s not worth it.
I’m not gonna do it, girl. I was just thinking about it, I’m not gonna do it.
SARA KADOURA, REPORTER: TikTok’s latest DIY hair trend is the one-minute mullet. Filling for you pages of the follicly adventurous, the cut promises a choppy, androgenous look which tapers from short in the front to long in the back. Think less Billy Ray, more Billie Eilish.
With salons being closed for much of the pandemic, many young people ventured to their bathroom mirrors for at-home haircuts. The one-minute mullet is only the most recent style to go viral. Curtain bangs, bleached face frames and buzz cuts all had their moments. But something about this one feels extra DIY. Like the kind of thing that would end up in a haircut fails compilation video in 2012.
The simplest process involves tying a ponytail at the very top of your head, then holding your hair straight up and giving it one solid chop. The further up you cut, the longer your final product. The results in edited videos on Tik Tok look professionally done. But I’m skeptical. So I booked a volunteer braver than I—
HELEN BRADSHAW, WNUR NEWS STAFF: I’m Helen and I do WNUR with Sara.
KADOURA: —and a less-than-professional stylist—
ERIN MCCOTTER, WCAS ‘23: My name’s Erin and I’m Sara’s roommate.
KADOURA: — for Saturday at 3 in my bathroom salon.
(IN THE BATHROOM)
BRADSHAW: Should I get it wet?
MCCOTTER: I’ve seen most people do it — well, okay, I’ve seen some people do it wet, some people do it dry, whatever you think would work.
BRADSHAW: Mm?
KADOURA: Erin made the ponytail and did the first snip —
SCISSORS SNIP
KADOURA: — before we decided that Helen should get her hair wet.
SHOWER TURNING ON
KADOURA: Um, let me get a towel.
KADOURA: It was all very planned out.
For some added technique, Erin sectioned off smaller pieces at the front of Helen’s head and used the same technique to snip—
SCISSORS SNIP
—and snip—
SCISSORS SNIP
BRADSHAW: I love that part.
—until …
MCCOTTER: OK, there we go. Let’s take a peek!
BRADSHAW: The issue is I can’t really see it dry, but — oh, no, I like that a lot. I think it’ll be a good length.
KADOURA: Helen’s one-minute mullet took more like 20 minutes, but TikTok did not disappoint.
MCCOTTER: Woohoo!
BRADSHAW: Yay!
KADOURA: And now …
TIKTOK AUDIO: I’m about one impulsive decision away from giving myself a mullet.
KADOURA: For WNUR News, I’m Sara Kadoura.
Produced and reported by Sara Kadoura
Contributions by Helen Bradshaw
