Artist Pass: Your Exclusive Guide to the Highly Requested Bobs Defining 2025

For beauty fanatics, there’s nothing quite as exciting as getting a backstage look at your favorite celebrity glam moments. Slip on your Artist Pass as we take you behind the scenes of the beauty looks that live rent-free in our minds from our favorite tastemakers and the talented artists they have on speed dial. Inside, their best-kept product secrets, niche tricks of the trade, and their hot takes on buzzy pop culture beauty moments.

In the age of social media today, we have more access than ever to our favorite celebrities’ makeup artists, hairstylists, and manicurists—we’ve even met their facialists, for crying out loud. But what 30-second TikTok videos and envy-striking Instagram selfies don’t show you is the step-by-step process of what it really takes to craft a look that garners thousands of likes on Instagram and sets seasonal trends, so we’re putting you in the glam chair courtesy of your own Who What Wear Artist Pass. The coveted celebrity stylist with A-list clientele that you’re about to meet? None other than Justine Marjan.

Known for her jaw-dropping wet-hair looks on the Kardashian clan, mermaid-like waves on Eva Longoria, and off-duty-model chic bobs à la Elsa Hosk, Marjan is in a league of her own. As one of the most in-demand hairstylists in Hollywood, the mane magician is tough to pin down for a chat, much less get a full-blown tutorial from. But for our first installment of this artistry series, we knew we had to sit down with the purveyor of our most-saved hairstyles of 2025. Keep reading to get a step-by-step breakdown of two of Marjan’s most highly requested looks: Elsa Hosk’s touchable side-swept waves and Khloé Kardashian’s half-up, half-down flippy bob.

Elsa Hosk is the holder of many titles: high-fashion model; Victoria’s Secret Angel; mother; founder of her eponymous fashion brand, Helsa Studio; and the source of all of our hair envy. We’ve taken countless screenshots of her chic, effortlessly tousled bobs—so instead of letting more images crowd our camera roll, we’re going straight to the source.

Marjan describes this artfully curled look as the “sideswept boyfriend bob” and explains that the secret to a great short style is volume, volume, volume. “I’m so excited to show you how to do this because most people that have short hair are kind of scared of using a curling iron because it can easily look super short or way too curly—so I’ll show you some of my favorite techniques,” she says coyly.

1. Prep the Hair

Marjan starts by misting a touchable hair spray through the locks to “give fine hair a little bit of hold” when styling. Speaking of finer strands, she also reaches for clip-in extensions to amp up the thickness. “Most people’s hair doesn’t have a ton of fullness naturally,” she adds. (However, this step is totally optional.)

2. Curl Vertical Sections

Reaching for her GHD Classic Curl Curling Iron, outfitted with a one-inch barrel that perfectly suits shorter strands, Marjan begins to curl the hair in sections—many going in the opposite direction. “If you don’t want to build too much volume but you want texture, take vertical sections [of hair] versus horizontal,” she advises, opting for vertical sections to achieve The Elsa. “Horizontal sections will build width and vertical sections will be more relaxed,” she explains.

3. Alternate Directions

Clamping the hair from the root, Marjan pulls the iron down the length of the hair, twists as she goes, and drags the iron down straight at the ends. (The secret to this flouncy bob is having ends that don’t skew too curly.) “I want to see a lot of movement and texture, so I’m going to alternate directions—doing some of them forward and some away from the face.”

4. Skip the Bottom

Another trick to this effortless style? Marjan keeps the section at the nape of the neck straight. “Don’t worry about curling that, because you really want the straight ends to give more of a blunt finish and [add] fullness to your style—the texture [is what] we really want on the top.”

5. Fluff and Set

Once every section of the hair has been curled in opposite directions, Marjan zhuzhes the bob with her fingers to create an imperfect, touchable texture that offers the “windswept” effect. To set the waves, she mists a texture spray (Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray) through the roots, lifting up the hair and spraying between layers to “give a little bit of lift and [a] fluffy finish.” As the texture spray dries, play with your hair and separate the strands where needed to achieve your desired look—one Marjan calls a “fun little flippy, flirty bob.”

“It’s so easy; it takes two seconds,” says Marjan. “Short hair is so fun.”

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If there’s one thing you can expect Khloé Kardashian to be wearing, it’s some form of chic athleticwear and a perfectly styled, sharp hairdo. (No seriously, not a hair out of place.) This half-up, half-down, flipped-out bob has quickly become a signature of the middle Kardashian sister’s, and Marjan even regards Kardashian’s style as her “favorite bob transformation” to date.

“The bob is the moment,” says Marjan of the chopped, chin-grazing style that every fashion girl has been sporting within the past year. “Everyone has short hair right now, you know?”

1. Part and Section the Hair

Marjan approaches her canvas how any artist would—by first sketching the outlines of her masterpiece. The stylist forms a clean side part with a tail comb and leaves out a moderately thick, face-framing layer that will later become the focal point of the style. To keep the section separate from the rest of the look, she pins it aside. Here’s where the magic starts to happen.

2. Slick Back the Top

Coating the fibers of a clean, unused toothbrush with a hair wax stick, Marjan begins to comb the short bristles through the hair to lay a sleek foundation for this ultra-slick style. “I love this on a toothbrush because it allows me to have a clean application—I can really control the hair,” Marjan explains. She instructs us to begin meticulously combing the top section of hair toward the crown of the head—where you want the bun to sit—to begin forming this sleek half-updo. This is where Marjan spends the most time, as she’s a self-claimed “perfectionist” when it comes to slick updos. “If I see photos of people where this isn’t so clean, it will bother me,” she quips.

Bottom half of your hair getting in the way? No problem—the hairstylist suggests clipping the bottom section with creaseless hair-setting clips to keep each part tidy.

3. Smooth It Out

Once you’ve laid a sleek enough base and have the top section of your hair firmly grasped at the crown of your head, the next step is to mist a strong-hold hair spray and go back over that section with a smoothing brush. (Pro tip: Make sure you brush through this section while the hair spray is still wet.)

“For a sleeker updo, I love a strong-hold gel,” says Marjan. “Tresemmé Extreme Hold Gel is my favorite.” But the product Marjan reaches for the most (aside from a wax-coated toothbrush) is a dependable hair spray—her poison being the Oribe Superfine Strong Hair Spray. If by this step in the process you feel like you’ve just gotten a facelift, you’re doing it right. “This is why everyone loves a snatched moment,” she jokes. “It really will wake you up.”

4. Tie It Off

The stylist’s next piece of advice? Secure the slicked-back top section—and ditch the elastic bands entirely. “I use [an] elastic string instead of a hair elastic,” she explains. “I can get a cleaner application this way instead of messing with the hair—I can just hold it in place and then tie it.”

If you can, she recommends phoning a friend for this hair-tying process. “You need four hands,” she says with a knowing smile, calling over an assistant to tie a double knot just below where her hand is.

5. Flick the Ends

With the slick-back complete, it’s time to focus on the celebrity-loved flippy bob. Marjan always reaches for the GHD Chronos Styler, a flat iron with one-inch plates that make it easy to create straight strands with upturned ends. “I love this styler because I can get sleek looks, or I can get curls, or I can flip out the ends—I can really control it when I’m styling, so this is my go-to,” she explains.

Marjan separates the bottom half into even smaller horizontal sections, ironing each layer flat until the ends, where she lightly flicks the flat iron upward. “It doesn’t need to be a major flip with short hair, because it’s going to look flippy regardless,” she explains.

6. Smooth Flyaways

To finish off the bottom, Marjan sprays the toothbrush from before with hair spray and lightly combs it through the flipped ends to smooth flyaways. She also recommends lightly misting underneath the flipped ends to set the upturned style. Before starting on the bun, Marjan adds creaseless setting clips just above where the hair begins to flip to keep the locks straight and sleek against the head.

7. Create a Tiny Bun

The final part feels like the most daunting: the dreaded messy bun. If you’re in the same camp as us, where these updos always turn out best when you’re not trying, Marjan has a solution. She takes the hair and twists it around the ponytail holder, relying on pins to do the artful styling (as opposed to tucking your hair into the elastic and hoping it stays). “I like to see a little bit of something from the front, so I’ll play around with that,” she explains, letting a few ends poke out of the top, side, and bottom. “Spray that with hair spray, too,” she advises, taking a mist to the baby bun.

8. Shape the Front Piece

All that’s left to do is straighten the front piece that you started with—and if you want, you can add a thin clip-in extension underneath the front bang to extend the piece to the length of your bob (Marjan’s recommendation).

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Q&A: Tips and Tricks

We didn’t just get a step-by-step breakdown of the two most in-demand looks from Marjan; we got a master class in bob styling, too. Below, even more tips on how to achieve the perfect bob, celebrity-style.

What’s an easy way to create volume in a short bob?

“If you want more volume or a piecey, fluffy finish, then I love a dry texture spray or a dry shampoo, like Nexxus Dry Shampoo or Oribe Dry Texture Spray.”

How do you achieve such perfect hairlines on your clients?

“I’ll go in with my powder if there are any [sparse] areas in the hairline,” says Marjan. “I don’t want it to look too wiggy or fake, but this just gives a little bit of dimension there so it really blends.” (Editor's note: Divi's Root Touch-Up is such a game changer for this.)

Another hairstylist tip? When looking for imperfections, she relies on other mediums to catch what the eyes can’t see. “I always check in the mirror, because sometimes what my eyes can see is different from what I will see in a photo,” says Marjan. “So if I don’t have a mirror, I’ll use a photo.”

How do you know if a bob suits you?

“If you’ve never gone short, you have to think about how long you’ve been thinking about this decision and if you’re willing to commit because it does take a long time to grow your hair back. So if I’m gonna cut someone’s hair short, I wanna make sure that they’re very sure about this decision and it’s not a spur-of-the-moment thing, like after a breakup or something,” she says with a laugh.

“You also want to think about face shape. Depending on your face shape—first of all, do whatever you want to do and what makes you feel good about yourself—but I do like to take people’s facial features into consideration when I am cutting someone's hair, and usually you think about different facial features and what you want to accentuate, so either it'll be the jawline, the chin, lips, cheekbones. You think of those features that people really want to enhance and where the cut sits, how that can best suit the face shape.”

What types of bobs are trending right now?

“Everyone is taking more risks and willing to go shorter with their bobs. Short hair’s always been trending—maybe in the last five years—but maybe longer lengths were more on-trend before, but now we’re seeing a really short (jawline or right below the ears) bob, which I love for a fashion moment. It always looks good with clothes to have something above the shoulders.”

You like to use clip-in extensions to boost volume. Can you explain why someone should try this?

“They’re low-maintenance, easy to put in your hair, and you can reuse them. But if you’re doing this at home, I would suggest taking your clip-ins to your hairstylist and having them cut them so they blend in with your hair, and then you can pop them in and out by yourself.”

How do I apply clip-ins by myself?

“I use a small comb and just tease [the hair] right where I’m going to clip it. I use hair spray right at the base, and it keeps them really flat to the head,” Marjan recommends. “Applying them on a diagonal line makes them look most natural in the hair.”

The front pieces are always the hardest to style. Do you have tips for those sections?

“You want to think about face framing. I do things a little looser in the front because I really want it to hit the eyes and cheekbones and really accentuate those features—I wouldn’t do it too curly in the front, usually, so I’ll work the iron through the hair a little bit faster so it has those looser results.”