It’s been a whole month since Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh chopped her hair into a bob, and she’s keeping that fresh hair feeling strong. The royal, 61, updated her youthful new cut with a bigger, bouncier, flicked-out version as she attended the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow yesterday.
Pumping up the volume to watch the weightlifters pumping iron, Sophie’s blonde hair has been noticeably plumped at the roots and flicked out into a trendy bell-bottom shape. While we're reluctant to use this year's most over-used social media term, it could be described as a case of bob-maxxing.
'Sophie’s hair is looking sensational,' says Marc Trinder from Trinder Hair Studios in St Albans, British Hairdressing Business Awards Salon of the Year 2026. 'This bob really suits her and she’s elevated the look by adding a little volume at the root and flicked out the ends.'
It's a switch-up of note because it comes at the exact point when some women start to feel bob regret. At the one-month mark, that mic-drop makeover moment is gone, all the compliments have been voiced already, and bob boredom can start to creep in.
It's a scenario Marc knows about. 'I often recommend a chin-length bob for my mature clients – it is incredibly youthful and so often I hear them say ‘it’s taken years off me’ once they’ve seen the end result. I don’t think I have ever cut a bob like this and had a client who didn’t love it!'
'However, when you opt for a bob, it might be lower maintenance day to day in terms of the time it takes to wash and style your hair, but if you’re used to simply tying your hair back, it will take a little more effort to style.' (We’ve already seen a few cases of Sophie shoving it out of her eyes with her sunglasses.)
The good news is that a bob is 'really versatile', and far from a one-trick style, as Sophie is showing. 'Sophie’s cut is growing out nicely,' says Marc. 'With the additional length she’s opted for a cute flick on the ends, which you can easily achieve on dry hair using a round bristle brush and a blast of heat.'
'A great tool to use at home for achieving this look is a large heat brush styler, often called a blow-out brush,' he says. 'Essentially this will blast the hair like a hairdryer, but directly through the brush attachment. This makes it really simple to style a haircut like this.' Mark Hill's is an affordable top-rated option by the Good Housekeeping Institute.
He adds that a hot brush 'can also be used at the root to create volume, which is instantly youthful'. To do this, Marc points to a technique known by the pros as wrap drying. 'Using the heat brush, direct the hair to the opposite side that you want it to sit, and really use the brush to lift it at the roots,' he explains.
'You can add a blast of dry shampoo or texturising spray to really lift the root and build volume – Davines This is a Dry Texturizer is the best one I’ve used.'
'After you’ve brushed it in the opposite direction that you want it to sit, simply place the hair in position, but don’t brush the volume out.'
In short, it's easy, quick and simple to inject oomph into a bob. As the Duchess proves, just a quick lift and zhsush can give you the feel of fresh new hair all over again.
