Fashion
7 Easy Tricks for Wearing Your Hair Down
It's quick, insanely stylish right about now, and adds the perfect It Girl element to any formal outfit. It's also a great way to disguise unmanageable locks, but spend too much time with your hair up and you might be setting yourself up for a lifetime of bad hair days. Wearing the same updo over and over can stress out your hair, leading to hair breakage, and — since the hairstyle is constantly tugging at the follicles — even hair loss. Here's how to wear your hair down even when you really don't want to.
Get an easy curling iron
Sometimes your hair is just wavy in all the wrong places. Don’t reach for that scrunchie — get a curling iron that’s really easy to use. I just bought this clamp-less ceramic curing iron and it’s changing my life: it’s so much quicker and more intuitive than the clunky curling irons of yore. Watch these tutorials by The Glamourai or Cupcakes and Cashmere to learn how to wield your curling iron for quick, easy waves. Hint: as with all hairstyles, it’s easier to curl dirty hair.
Discover dry shampoo
This should be a no-brainer by now, but if you don’t have dry shampoo all over your bathroom mirror by now, I just don’t understand you. Dry shampoo (or plain corn starch, like I use #bohemian) means your hair will never look greasy again. No joke. If you don’t have time to hop in the shower, rub dry shampoo into your roots and finish off with salt spray instead of disguising dirty roots with a ponytail.
Batiste Dry Shampoo, $8, Amazon
Image: Maria Morri on flickr
Texture yourself
You’ve really got options with texturizers these days, and they’re a good way to give purpose to otherwise blah hair. You can add pomade or hair wax to your ends for a dreadlock-y effect, sprinkle texturizing powder through your roots, or rough the whole thing up with some surf spray. The messier you get, the more you’ll look like Georgia May Jagger.
Sexy Hair Concepts Hair Wax, $10, Amazon
Bring back barrettes
Sweep your hair to one side and pin it in place with criss-crossed bobby pins. Tuck a delicate, girly headband into messy locks. Add a tiny bow to one side. Hair art makes your hairdo look purposeful (even if it’s totally not).
Rhinestone Headband, $20, Amazon
Do a soft updo
If you really can’t stomach the thought of having your hair in your face right now, pull it back into a soft, low bun or a loose, super-messy braid. (Blake Lively always seems to be rocking a perfect one.) It’ll hide any hair issues without straining your follicles.
Pull back the hair around your face
If you don’t like what’s framing your face, pull it back: A puffy half-updo, two small braids, or simply clipping the sides back are all good options. A headband paired with some gentle backcombing wouldn’t be all wrong here, either.
Backcomb
OK, this one only gets a C-, because backcombing is pretty bad for your hair. But if you’ve been wearing a bun for the past 365 days, it may be worth it just to divert the stress from your roots. Gentle backcombing is best done on dirty hair, and it’s a pretty cool way of looking like a devil-may-care diva, if that’s your thing. Here’s a great how-to.
