While the Rest of the World Is Chopping Off Their Hair, Selena Gomez Is Keeping It Long
A case for the anti-trend.


If I’m being completely honest, I hate trends. Passing fads contribute to wastefulness, encouraging consumers to buy the latest hot item in order to fit in or garner social media likes. And then, in the blink of an eye, the trend changes, leading makeup products to rot and clothes to end up in the garbage—a practice that contributes to pollution and worsens climate change. Quick-changing trends also pressure people to change their looks based on the desire to fit in, when, in my opinion, beauty and fashion should be methods of self expression and individuality.
Thus, it’s always a breath of fresh air to see anyone—but especially a celebrity—remain steadfast in their signature look rather than blindly following the crowd. At the moment, Selena Gomez is one of the first public figures that comes to mind, because the beloved singer and actress has been growing her long hair out rather than chopping it off like so many of her contemporaries.
Kate Beckinsale, Shay Mitchell, Lady Gaga, and Carey Mulligan are only a few of the celebrities who have gone for short, blunt looks like boy cuts and bobs this winter. And while all of these women look fabulous, I find myself dismayed when everyone—in Hollywood or out—looks just about the same. And while Gomez has certainly participated in the hair lightening trend taking over red carpets and social media, it’s refreshing to see that she’s indulged in trends on her own terms, exclusively adopting the looks that feel authentic to her rather than embracing all of them at once.
If you, too, want to grow your hair out or simply retain the mane you already have, consider investing in hair growth products like vitamins, shampoos, and oils, which are designed to support healthy hair growth and retention from the inside out. You can also channel the showstopping shininess of Gomez’s hair with a premium hair gloss or leave-in conditioner.
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Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.
Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art
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