hair

ALL HAIR, ALL WEEK

photos/post/graphic design: Kristin Ess

The shorties have spoken! Here’s a tutorial for all the lobs + bobs out there. We HAD to hit up our favorite songstress Alison Sudol to be in this tutorial because she recently went shorter, and like many of you she mentioned that she has a hard time doing pretty updos. This one’s fairly simple if you know how to french braid. If you don’t, better click here and learn that first! If you do know how to french braid, grab some bobby pins + hairspray because here we go! 

1. Start with clean, dry hair.
2. Part your hair all the way around in a big horseshoe shape about 1- 1 1/2 inches above your ear. Clip that section up.
3. French braid both sides and get them to meet in the middle in the back of your head. Take both of the loose ends and make a teeny tiny bun. If you need hairspray to make the bun stay, give it a little shot and then bobby pin. It’s TOTALLY okay if it’s a bit messy. It’s going to get covered up anyway.
4. Let down all the hair from the section on top and take a bit of texturizing spray to it (we used THIS ONE which is a bit expensive, but you could also use THIS ONE which I also love!).
5. Tease the crown area for some volume and then smooth it over with your comb.
6. Give the top layer a light veil of hairspray.
7. Now start twisting the sides back as you see Ali doing in photo 7. Pin the twist to the braid as you go. NOTE: That’s the whole point of the braid! You’re using it to secure the hair! That’s the trick to getting short hair “up”, otherwise everything tends to fall out or not reach.
8. Repeat the same twist + pin method to the other side. Secure the twist by pinning it to the braid as you go.
9. Once both sections reach the back, roll those two “tails” you have left over from the twists. I prefer to roll upward, but you can roll sideways or down if you prefer. Just be sure to check your work in the mirror as you go. Look at it from the front, the back and the side to make sure it looks balanced! If you have a hard time rolling the leftover pieces (aka: if they’re too short) you can always just tuck them into the braid. If the hair is too soft, spray it a little with some hairspray. YOU CAN DO IT!
10. Once you’re done, give it a good veil of a strong-hold hairspray. You know my FAVORITE.

We’ll try and do more updos for short hair! We hear you + we know you want them! If you try this, please let us know how it went for you via instagram @thebeautydept! Good luck! xo