How to go viral in the haircare niche on Instagram
What 900+ viral haircare reels have in common: what they show, how they start, what they sound like, and who posts them. Real numbers from Aubrium's library.
Bad, good, best. A list reel ranked the ways people wash and oil their hair, then asked viewers to watch to the end and see where their own routine stands. It came from an account with 12,432 followers and was played 21.3 million times.
Washing, oiling and fixing hair is the heart of this niche, and teaching is the main way in: tutorials are 43% of the 900+ viral haircare reels in Aubrium's library. 270+ cleared a million views. Line every reel up by its account's size and the one in the middle has 16,185 followers. One note before you read on. Some of the biggest reels here promise hair growth, and we don't quote those. The bigger picture lives in our guide to the reels that go viral, with a page for every niche we looked at.
Viral haircare reels usually show a face, 70% of them, and tutorials are the biggest format at 43%. Slideshows went furthest: the middle one drew views 50 times its account's size. Text sits on 92% of them, their own audio on 52%, and 35% were posted by accounts below 10,000 followers.
Aubrium's library, 31 October 2026.
What kind of haircare reels go viral?
Tutorials, at 43%: how to wash, oil, brush and treat it. Transformations come next, at 16%.
Slideshows went furthest by a wide margin. There are only 33 of them, 3% of the total, yet the middle one hit 50×. Stories came next at 29× and transformations at 27×, while tutorials sat at 22×. Talking heads, 6% of reels, reached 8×.
Do you need to show your face?
No. 70% do show a face, but the 30% that never do went further: the middle faceless reel reached 32×, the middle one with a face 19×. Only 9% show no one at all, and a third, 34%, talk to camera.
Should haircare reels have text on screen?
Yes, and the bare ones are the surprise. Eight in ten, 81%, keep to a line or two; heavy text is 10% and bare reels just 8%. Those few with no words on screen went furthest, 34×, ahead of heavy text at 27× and a light line at 20×.
Trending song or your own sound?
Both, close to evenly: 52% use their own sound and 42% a song, above the 37% across the library. Those two finished level, 21× each. Borrowed audio, another creator's sound, is only 5%, and those 48 reels went further, 36×.
What hooks work for haircare reels?
Transformation teases lead, on 20% of these reels, then curiosity gaps at 14%. POV hooks are only 4%, yet their middle reel hit 46×, with warnings next at 37×. Warnings here tend to name a mistake, like "Stop! Don't put that serum here." One reel in ten, 10%, opens with no hook of any type. Typical length: 10 words. Six we picked by hand, leaving out the growth promises:
- POVText on screen
POV: You wash your hair like this 🧼
- WarningText and spoken
Stop! Don't put that serum here.
- RelatableText on screen
when your hair gets THIS glossy!
- QuestionText and spoken
Wait, are we actually implanting plastic hairs into our heads now?
- NegativeText and spoken
But those aren't only split ends you're cutting.
- Bold claimText and spoken
It's been four years since my client has been able to comb through her hair.
Polished, or filmed on your phone?
Mostly polished, at 69%. Phone-shot reels, 30% of the total, did better on reach, 26× against 19×. Slow reels, just 5% of the total, reached 35×, well past medium at 22× and fast at 20×.
Can a small haircare account go viral?
Yes. 35% of viral haircare reels were posted by accounts below 10,000 followers, and measured against their size, tiny accounts did best: 140× for the middle reel under 2,000 followers, 41× in the next band up, 9× past 50,000 followers.
Your next haircare reel, by the numbers
43% are tutorials
Slideshows went furthest: 50 times, from 33 reels.
70% show a face
Faceless ones, 30%, reached 32×; with a face, 19×.
92% put text on screen
The bare 8% went furthest, at 34.
52% use their own sound
A song, at 42%, finished level: 21× each.
10 words, the middle hook
Hooks of 5 to 8 words went furthest, 26.
52% ask for nothing
No "comment for link" at the end.
Keep reading
The opening lines get their own page: the best hooks for haircare reels. Nearby: how curly hair reels go viral, what works for hair salons and the beauty brand reels that travelled.
Questions people ask
What haircare content goes viral on Instagram?
Tutorials are the biggest group, 43% of viral haircare reels in Aubrium's library. Slideshows make up just 3%, but their middle reel reached 50× its account's followers, against 22× for tutorials.
Do haircare creators need to show their face?
No. 70% of viral haircare reels show one, but the faceless 30% got further: 32× followers in the middle, against 19× with a face.
Should haircare reels use trending audio?
You can, and 42% do, more than the library-wide 37%. Another 52% use their own sound, and the two finished level at 21×.
What hooks work for haircare reels?
Transformation teases are the most common, on 20% of viral haircare reels. POV hooks are rarer, at 4%, yet their middle reel reached 46× its account's followers.
Do you need a big following to go viral with hair content?
No. 35% of viral haircare reels were posted by accounts under 10,000 followers. Across all of them, the middle reel's account had 16,185.
How we did this
We looked at every haircare reel in Aubrium's library on 31 October 2026: 900+ reels from 800+ creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached far more people than its creator has followers. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's haircare niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Format, faces, text, sound and hooks are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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