Here are all the top 2025 trends every Glasgow student needs to know about

Welcome to 2025, where your personality is a carefully curated blend of trends you discovered on TikTok.

In an age where trends change so fast and vary so much, why try to create your own style, when Pinterest will do it for you?

From rockstar girlfriend style to red dress theory, keeping up with what’s trendy is essential to maintain that main character energy and stay cute on campus. But can anyone actually keep up with this exhausting pace? Is it all just a blur of consumerism that leaves us with closets full of clothes we wear once for Firewater Thursday and never again?

If balancing deadlines and fashion feels overwhelming, fear not, dear reader, for I am here to guide you through which trends are worth your time—and which are just a fast track to wasting your SAAS. 

New year, new you! Just follow all of these steps and buy all of these products and you’ll become unrecognisable in a few days.

Hair

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So let’s start with hair.

If 2024 was the year of Cowboy Copper and Old Money Blonde, 2025 is all about Mocha Mousse. This warm, chocolatey hue is apparently the hair colour to have if you want to look like you’ve just stepped out of a “quiet luxury” ad campaign. It’s giving dark academia, perfect for your late night library selfies.

Bonus points if your hairdresser can’t quite explain what makes it different from last year’s brown. Fairly sure the Glasgow rain won’t let me achieve my hair goals anyway, but hey ho, at least it’s cheaper than platinum

Nails

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The nail trend of the moment?

Blueberry Milk nails are so last year, January Navy nails are all the rage. They’re classy enough for class and hot enough for Hive.

According to TikTok, blue is the colour of nails boys find most attractive. Sure, because the approval of “Ryan from your seminar” should definitely drive your life decisions.

They say you can’t put a price on happiness, but if you could it would be £30 for a fresh set. Still, they’re cute and versatile, so maybe Ryan has a point this time. 

Fashion

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A post shared by Camino | Christina Winnie Yan (@camino.living)

Now onto fashion! What are the hot girls wearing this year?

Bad news for everyone who just received matching Lululemon sets for Christmas, because athleisure is on the outs (is this a new excuse to avoid the gym? I think yes).

After last year’s obsession with old money style, it’s boho chic making a big comeback in 2025. Is this endless cycle of reinvention just a way to sell us the same styles over and over again or is it possible that the fashion world is actually starting to prioritise sustainability?

With trends aligning to the growing focus on upcycling, now is the perfect time to raid your parents’ wardrobes for 80s gems or explore the charity shops along Byres Road. Not only is this an affordable option for students navigating tight budgets, but it’s also a great way to support local businesses.

Heard of Starry Starry Night? It’s the West End’s go-to for vintage leather jackets, and let’s not forget the frequent vintage sales at GUU. Fashion in 2025 isn’t just about looking good—it’s a statement against fast fashion and waste. Is nature healing?

Beauty

So what’s the best selling beauty product to ensure a face card which never declines?

Between 9am lectures and late-night study sessions, who has time for a 12-step skincare routine? This year is all about skin minimalism, or skinimalism, a practice rooted in simplifying our overcomplicated skincare routines. How refreshing! That’s according to Vogue of course.

Ask the same question to Cosmopolitan and you’ll find that the miracle product is the Advanced Anti-Aging Retinol + c-PDRN Serum by Rejuran… which is apparently salmon sperm? What does it do? Who knows! For just $79.99 you can find out though! For that price, I expect it to moisturise my skin, condition my hair, and finish my diss for me. 

No, but really, hot girls in 2025 are all about nourishing beauty from within. It’s all about looking low-effort while spending your rent money on red light therapy masks and collagen coffee powders (probably still cheaper than Starbucks), all in the name of achieving that elusive Korean glass skin.

The mantra is clear – the uglier you go to bed, the prettier you wake up. Isn’t it odd how much of our beauty choices are driven by external validation? Too deep… Now run, don’t walk, and get your very own bottle of salmon sperm!

Aesthetics

What’s the freshest aesthetic to follow?

Well, those of us who rely on student loans can take a collective sigh of relief – clean girl aesthetic is finally out!

That’s right, the expensive unobtainable holier-than-thou vibe is finished, and has been dethroned by its chaotic nemesis, the “messy girl”. Is this not just a rebrand of rat girl summer? And is rat girl summer just some weird extension of the rat vs frog theory? Is every trend just a rebrand of some other trend? Where does it end? Whatever.

Say goodbye to sleek buns and green juice—now it’s all about smudged eyeliner, bedhead hair, and looking like you accidentally slept through your alarm (on purpose). Fashion calls it rebellion; I call it Monday morning. If being disheveled is a trend, I deserve an award—I’ve been nailing this look for years. Who’s calling, Vogue is that you? 

Ultimately, it seems that no matter how many trends we recycle or how many “new” aesthetics we try to adopt, the beauty industry continues to spin its web of unattainable standards, leaving us with the illusion of choice while still pushing the same ideals.

Is it really about self-expression and creativity, or just about keeping us locked in a cycle of consumption?

The pressure to fit into these narrow, constantly changing boxes feels less like empowerment and more like a clever marketing ploy designed to make sure we never stop buying.

So, new year, new me? Or maybe just the same you, but with navy nails and a better thrifted wardrobe.

Either way, here’s to 2025 – the year we make trends work for us, not the other way around.

Featured images (before edits): Unsplash and Instagram