5 Minutes, 5 Tools, 5 Easy Upstyles for Summer Hair
It finally feels like summer is almost here! I’ve been getting ready for plenty of salt water, sand and sunshine to fill my next few months. But as fun as all of the summer activities and vacays are, fighting my hair the whole time can really ruin the fun for me. And let’s not even get started on the heat that accompanies those sunny days…. I can’t even. The general rules of thumb are to keep your hair out of your face, off your neck and utilize hats and headscarves to pull those locks up. But that’s a bit boring for my taste. I always like to challenge myself as a hairdresser and come up with bigger and better creations.
This summer, I think we should all step up our beach hairstyle game, so I’ve created these five up-styles that every woman can rock. And because a great summer hairstyle should be simple and easy, every up-style can be done in five minutes and created with only five simple tools, which you’ll see listed below. So grab your tools, pick up your Kevin.Murphy and bookmark this to reference your best summer up-styles!
1. The Look: The Faux Bob
The Tools: 1 Elastic, 3-5 Bobby Pins
The How To: This look is great for natural curl, manufactured curl or sleek, straight hair. Start with your hair in whichever texture you’d like to pull off, keeping in mind that natural will be easier. You can also backcomb your hair at this phase if you want added volume at the crown. Once you’ve determined that, gather all the hair back into a low ponytail at the nape in an elastic. Then, pull the elastic down about two inches. Take the hair in the ponytail and roll it up under where the hair is gathered at the nape. Take 3-5 bobby pins and lock them in “X” formations, holding the the tucked hair in place. Then, pull pieces out around the face if you want a messier look or leave is nice and sleek.
2. The Look: Sew Up
The Tools: Kevin.Murphy Sewing Kit
The How To: Just like the faux bob, you can do this look with any texture of hair. Using a little curl and using day old hair will give you a bit more grit and hold to give this look some extra oomph.
To start, section your hair with your styling comb. Leave one section out in the fringe area and a section above each ear. Leaving those large sections out, start at the nape of the neck. Take your sewing needle (using thread already tied around the loop) and a section of hair at the nape and loop around that gathered hair three or four times until you’ve created a secure base. Continue bringing hair back towards your base and looping each new section with your thread. Once the whole back has been done, bring pieces from the front sections in until everything is secured with thread. If you want a more formal look, part your hair before bringing it back.
For a more beach appropriate, tousled look, just bring hair back in large, loose sections and go for big, sexy texture. When you run out of thread or are finished with all the hair, loop your thread again three times to secure an ending base and then cut the thread from the style. This look can be very formal if it’s curled and styled first or it can be the equivalent of an easy, messy bun. Either way, it’s summer ready and so easy! To take it out, just snip the thread at your first base and pull the thread out!
3. The Look: Chic Chignon
The Tools: Kevin.Murphy Super Goo, Styling Comb, 1 Elastic, 3 Bobby Pins
The How To: Sometimes our summer events are more formal, like a wedding or black tie party. The Chic Chignon is perfect for an event like this and it looks modern and structured. First, use your Super Goo and styling comb to create a sleek, center part. Then, use your comb to bring all the hair back into a low ponytail. Secure with an elastic. Pull all the hair that’s in the ponytail and twist it in one direction. Use more Super Goo through the ends of the ponytail to slick it down and tame any extra fly-aways. Then, twist the hair around the elastic and secure it as you go along by pinning down with a bobby pin. When you get to the end, tuck that in underneath the chignon and secure it with another bobby pin.
4. The Look: Couture Ponytail
The Tools: Elastic, Kevin.Murphy Super Goo, Styling Comb, 1 Bobby Pin
The How To: This one is similar to the chignon in technique, but can give you a much more playful style. First, gather all of your hair up into a high ponytail, hitting at the crown. As you hold the hair with one hand, use your comb to slick the hair down as much as possible. Add a little bit of your Super Goo to the hair to add more shine and sleekness. Then, use the elastic to secure all of the hair once it’s perfect. If needed, you can also sleek out the ponytail with some more product or leave it bouncy and natural for a softer look.
5. The Look: Textured Braid
The Tools: Kevin.Murphy Sewing Kit, Styling Comb
The How To: I love this look fresh out of saltwater because the salt will plump the hair up and give it lots of texture, adding to the braid. There’s also something effortlessly sexy about a nice side braid on the beach. Start by gathering all of your hair over your shoulder. Braid it up as tight as possible to the ends. Take some thread from your sewing kit and use that to tie off the braid.
For a more bohemian look, wrap the thick thread about 5 times around the braid and then tie it off. Once your braid is secured, use the tail end of your styling comb to pull various sections from the braid out a little bit to add texture. Try to keep balance in mind when choosing which pieces to pull out and don’t pull them out so far that they are just sticking out. Once you love the texture and everything is secured, you are all set!
Alright, lovelies… I hope you enjoyed this week’s column and all the fun ideas for you to try out this summer! As always, let me know if you have any questions on any of these styles. And definitely share the love on Instagram when you try out these styles on your own hair because I want to see!
Images Via: ShutterStock, Lipstick and Luxury, ZHairstyles & Pretty Designs.
