The Art of the Ponytail

For those of you with long hair a ponytail is the effortless hairstyle of choice on a busy morning, so this month we have looked at some quick and easy ways to dress up a plain pony.

If sleek and smooth is your thing then you can transform the good old standard pony tail into something wonderful in a matter of minutes.

1. The high pony. Using every woman’s must have brush the tangle tease, smooth your hair into a high pony tail (not too high we don’t want a Croydon face lift) and secure with a hair band that has two hair pins looped through at opposite sides. Push one hair pin through the centre of the pony and wrap the hairband around the hair securing with the other hair pin in the opposite direction. Now cover the band with a decoration of your choice. I love a metal pony cuff for that sleek high fashion look.

2. The pony tail with a twist. Smooth your hair into a low ponytail, just at the base of your skull and secure with a hair band (no hair pins this time). Pull the hair band about 1.5 inches away from your head. Now split the section above the band into two and fold the length of your pony tail through the gap, creating a twist. Push the band under the twist to hide. You can fold the lengths over and pin them underneath to create a really quick up do as well.

The undone look more your style? The try these simple looks.

3. Brush your hair into a ponytail (location is your choice). Take a section of hair, lightly tease with a comb to create texture and then roll over your hand or several fingers away from the centre of the ponytail and secure to your scalp with a hair pin. Repeat this process until you have created a messy bun.

4. Secure hair in a ponytail either at the nape of your neck or slightly higher. If your hair already has a bit of curl to it great if not seperate the pony tail into about 7 or 8 sections and curl each section with a curling iron, wand or straighteners. Then take each section place a hair pin about 3/4 down the length of the hair twist and pin to head.

Natalie Willingham