mmg.com.au

A sneak peek at how you’d look with a new do is on offer thanks to a Shepparton hairdresser and his fiancee who have developed a one-of-a-kind hair app.

The free-to-download app is called Hair Trends and it allows users to overlay a new hairstyle on to a photo of themselves.

There’s hundreds of styles and colours for men and women — and co-creator and House of Zizzars hair salon owner Dale Anderson said the app would prove a useful tool for those wanting to ‘‘test’’ a new look before taking the plunge.

It comes with a few free styles and you can ‘‘unlock’’ extra styles by buying them.

As well as trying out hairstyles, users of the app can share photos on Facebook and Twitter.

‘‘They can say to each other, ‘Hey what do you think of my new style?’,’’ Mr Anderson said.

‘‘My iPad lives in my salon now,’’ Mr Anderson said.

‘‘I’m an old dog keeping up with new tricks.’’

The 43-year-old has been based in Shepparton as a hairdresser for more than 20 years.

He said the app took about six months to develop and feedback had been good so far, but it was early days.

App co-creator Ali Dau, 34, said the pair saw a television program on 60 Minutes about apps and the idea grew from there. She said the app was for those who ‘‘want to try a new style or colour, but aren’t sure if it’s going to look any good’’.

Ms Dau said there had been 600 downloads so far.

‘‘There’s been (for example) eight from the USA, two from Australia, four from the UK and one from Saudi Arabia,’’ she said.

The app also uses facial recognition technology to fit a style to a person’s face shape.

Anyone keen to find the app can search ‘‘Hair trends’’ in the app store and download it for free. There are several hair-related apps and this one is also labelled ‘‘Hair trends tomorrow’’.