The Scandi bob is a haircut you recognise by the fact that it is not trying. A defined line, few or no layers, the weight gathered at the ends. The result looks like someone who just got up and happens to have good hair - which is, of course, the most expensive look of all.

The difference from a classic bob lies in the absence of layers. When the hair has not been broken up along its length, the weight stays low, and that creates an illusion of density. Which is why this cut suits people with fine hair best - the ones every hairdresser has been offering layers "for volume" for years, only for the result to look even thinner.

Five versions, depending on your nerve

The classic runs straight, between the jaw and the chin. The micro bob goes shorter, to or above the jawline, and is the most fashion-forward option. With a fringe - light, open or lightly textured - you add movement. The long bob to the shoulders is the version for people who cannot commit to short. And a side parting gives volume and a more relaxed look, without a single product.

Why it is worth more than the trend

The most practical argument has nothing to do with fashion: this cut grows out well. Which means you are not trapped in monthly salon appointments just to hold the shape. Here, where hair is among the larger monthly expenses for many people, that is not a detail, it is a sum.

The shape adapts to any face through length, parting and finish. There is no single Scandi bob - there is a principle, and the hairdresser adjusts it. That is also the difference between a trend that lasts one season and a cut that stays.

What this trend carries with it is a different idea of beauty: cared-for hair, but not excessively perfect. Some will say that is just another way for perfection to pretend it is not perfection. Perhaps. But at least it is perfection that does not demand half an hour in front of a mirror every morning.