~Sunday, October 7, 2012
At a glance, hair trends this
fall dictate both red carpet styles, as well
as wind-swept tresses—any which way you want
them to dance around your ponytail, retro-bun or braid.
Let’s start with red carpet:
If your inner “Hollywood”
glamour is reaching out to you, one of the biggest trends is a low, side part—with
shine and sleekness to the extreme! Whether
your hair is tied back, or loose and wavy, products are a must for these
styles. If cinching hair back use lots
of gel in wet hair and make a side part; comb hair down from the low part and comb
hair back at sides, then secure into your ponytail, knot, or twist. Now, grab your hairspray and spray away to
lock it in!
Going for ultimate glamour? Plug in your large-barrel curling iron and
ready yourself for a little more prep work.
Apply a generous amount of medium-hold gel to damp hair, (preferably a
product with lots of heat protectant), and blow dry hair. Separate hair into four quadrants (from crown
of head), and starting in the back, working from the bottom up, take sections
only slightly larger than the barrel of your iron and curl each section under
and horizontal to your partings. Use the
same method for your front sections as you curl up to the low, side part; apply a shine product and continue brushing
through hair until a wavy, elegant finish is achieved. I personally love this
look very smooth at the crown and tucked behind the ears for a version that is
a playful and fun—day or night. Lastly, hold the look with hairspray.
Next, let’s get gusty:
These styles are straight
forward with no fuss required. The only
thing needed is a haircut with a few soft layers to frame your face. Picture what your hair looks like after a
long frantic day: unruly strands without any designated place to go are
usually falling out of your ponytail, or have escaped their way out of hair
clips. Or better yet, picture yourself
in a sporty convertible with your hair down (or it could be in a high ponytail—but
I’m picturing windy, wild, and enjoying life with your hair down!) Whether you are the ‘long frantic day’ person
or the ‘enjoying life’ nonconformist, look in the mirror as the afternoon
approaches, and— voilá!— you have the look!
But, of course, I’m here to
help you achieve this look first thing in the morning. As you cinch your hair back into a ponytail,
let a few strands fall down from your hairline (usually not below eyebrow
level). These strands shouldn’t look
like big clumps; rather, they should look disheveled and a bit frizzy. Even if you left a little too much hair out,
you can always use a hair pin to hold some back. (It’s actually a big fashion
statement for hair pins to show these days!)
Once again, my favorite product now comes into play: hairspray. The only way to maintain the frizzy, blown
look is with firm-hold hairspray. In fact, I usually don’t use bobby pins,
but lightly tease strands back towards my ponytail and then blast them
into place with my spray. (If you want to get
really wild with this, hit the fringe off to one side with your blow dryer on its
low setting, and use your hairspray simultaneously. I used to do this to keep my bangs standing
on end in my “glam rock” stage in the 80’s!)
The best part about glamour versus gusty is the versatility of use for both daytime or evening-
.
