This article was originally published in the Hair care Trend Report. Receive your copy here
Laying edges, or ‘sleeking’ is a hairstyling technique often used as the finishing touch for women with Afro-textured hair.
“It involves smoothing, shaping and styling the baby hairs along the hairline using gels, pomades and small brushes to create sleek, expressive and often playful looks,” explains
Charlotte Mensah, founder of Hairlounge salon and the Charlotte Mensah Manketti Oil range. She notes that slicked-back low buns, high ponytails, half-up half-down looks and finger waves remain timeless, while sideburn styling continues to evolve. “Some looks, like kiss curls or intricate swirls, require more precision and patience, while sleeker everyday styles are easier to achieve with the right brush, pomade and oil.”
“However, before edges were considered ‘a thing’, it was really about, ‘how can you make your short hair more fun and more playful?” comments Sterling Jones, beauty historian, marketer, trend forecaster and founder of The Beauté Study.
“A great example is Josephine Baker [the American dancer and activist] – Baker had her own hair care brand [Bakerfix], a pomade, and she would take her hair, swirl it to make a little curl and leave it in the middle of her forehead.”
Since then, edge art has had spikes in popularity, such as in the 1990s thanks to looks from Salt-N-Pepa and TLC. And following 2025’s MET Gala, edges are firmly back on fashion’s rada, coinciding with the opening of the museum’s ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ exhibition, honouring the role of dandy in the history of Black culture.
Stars from The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri to Simone Biles and Dua Lipa were among those attending the event with hair moulded into kiss curls.
“Recently, edges have come back,” Tumi Siwoku, science-led innovator and Beauty Science Labs founder, tells Cosmetics Business. “People are doing finger waves, they’re doing all sorts of edges. And, especially with Black women, a lot of them have wigs with edges attached to them.”
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