You might not think it's possible that we could love and spend more time at a store than the Prada in Soho (never not museum quality), but it is. Craft stores are our jam—and we never walk out with a lot, but there’s something about perusing a million and one marker colors that get our creative juices pumping. Which is essentially what happened at the ribbon rack the other day, when we came across the perfect black velvet ribbon. Well, the aforementioned “juices” starting flowing and took us straight from the craft store, ribbon in hand, to Suite Caroline, the Soho salon where we knew stylist Johnny Haeger would know exactly what to do. The result was a perfect undone ponytail (which transitions easily into an equally undone chignon), that wasn’t sacharine in the way you might expect a beribboned hairstyle to be—but was more “French schoolgirl playing hooky.” (Are you following us?) Herein, the DIY how-to.
— The Products —
Curling iron
Maison Pearson brush
Hair pins and bungi elastic
Black velvet ribbon (I got this one from Michael's)
Fine-tooth comb
Evo Day of Grace Leave-In Conditioner
Evo Helmut Strong Hairspray
Evo Shebang-a-bang Dray Spray Wax
Evo Mister Fantastic Blowout Spray
— The Step-by-Step —
1. Wet the roots with leave-in conditioner and brush back with fingers to get rid of your part.
2. Liberally spray Evo Mister Fantastic Blowout Spray all over your hair and blow dry roots roughly with your flingers until bone dry to build volume and create a messy texture
3. Then blow dry your hair straight back in the direction you want it to fall in the ponytail, stretching the roots to create more volume as you pull back. Continue to spray Mister Fantastic into roots and hair and blow-drying until you achieve a gritty texture.
4. Taking large chunks of hair create loose waves for texture and movement. Curl away from the face and don’t hold your hair in the iron for an extended time—simply let it fall without clamping down on it.
5. Let your waves cool and then shake out the waves from your roots rather than raking through so that you maintain the texture. Spray Evo Shebang-a-bang Dry Spray Wax throughout hair for added texture, volume and grit.
6. Place your hair where you want it to lie when it’s in the ponytail on the top and sides of your hair. Then hold it back with your fingers before attaching the ponytail holder.
TIP: Use a bungee instead of an elastic, which will pull out the texture.
7. Once the bungee is attached you can “edit” the ponytail by pulling out strands to add more ridges and texture. Pull out hairs around your face and neck to add softness.
8. Wrap ribbon around the bungee to cover the elastic and tie in a large bow.
To create a loose chignon…
9. Brush out the texture of the ponytail and divide it into three parts. Loosely braid. Tie off the braid with a small elastic.
10. Tie the ribbon in a knot over the elastic at the end of the braid. Leave the ends of the ribbon long.
11. Twist the braid, creating a knot up and around the original ponytail.
12. Pin random bits of the braid into your head using approximately three large hairpins and three small hairpins for detail.
13. Leave three-inch tail with ribbon to fall past the bun. Spray with Evo Helmut Strong hairspray to finish.