The Tousled Updo: Can You Wear this Trend?

If you subscribe to a multitude of women's fashion magazines like I do, you've probably noticed an awful lot of the "tousled updo" showing up this month. InStyle shows you how to do updos, and Glamour made a mention. Well, it's a great polished look for a night on the town, and an easy look to achieve with the right products on hand and a few tricks up your sleeve!

Start off with slightly dirty hair, not freshly washed, but you don't want it greasy at all. I use a volumizing shampoo and conditioner in the shower, and I think that's a great way to get a head start on the body you need. You want the hair at the crown of your head to have volume, and if you have thinner hair, you'll need the extra body to make your hair look thicker in the updo.

After my shower, I skip any smoothing products and head directly for the mousse. Even when you're showing far in advance of your planned updo, the mousse will help you get the lift you need and that volume at the crown. The mousse that I chose when I was working on this story (no pictures yet, but they're coming!) was Umberto Giannini's Glamour Shimmer Mousse with gold highlights (Rite Aid Stores, $3.99). I had pretty much sworn off drugstore mousses because I found them too drying for my poor, color-treated hair. (I was lured in by the adorable pink can with retro styling.) This mousse has almost the opposite effect: less volume than I would like and a little too much moisturization for this application. I do like this mousse for my sleeker hairstyles, but I don't recommend it highly for this application. Make sure the mousse that you choose doesn't leave your hair feeling stiff at all; you need your hair to be flexible when you're styling.

After you've allowed your hair to get a little dirty, refresh your volume by rolling with large hot rollers or a medium to large curling iron. After you've curled your hair, separate the curls and make them lightly piecey with the use of a wax product. My choice is Matrix FlikTricks (salons, $17.99), which will let you style your hair but keep it touchable. The container recommends applying to the hair directly, but I like to apply it to the palms of my hands and work into the ends of my hair to build it up to the desired level of hold. (A side note: small amounts of FlikTrix will also help maintain your style even when you wear your hair down.)

Finally, we're ready for the updo part! If you've got bangs or shorter layers near your face, you can style them like normal or brush back into your hairline to blend in with the rest of your hair. For the tousled updo, shorter front layers are really ideal, and your style will look a little less coiffed than those with longer layers. If your front layers extend beyond the chin, you might want to pin them back in a small barrette. I tease my fine hair to give it a little bit of volume and then pin back far away from my face. You can leave a small piecey section or two hanging in the front to frame the face if you like.

How your proceed from here depends on the length of your hair. This month's Glamour outlines some excellent strategies for shorter hair (as illustrated by the lovely Scarlett Johanssen), but I can only relate my strategy for shoulder-length or longer hair.

There are two basic approaches to this look: the high ponytail or the french coif. The high ponytail is clearly the easier of the two and looks a little more casual and fun, while the french coif will give you a little more polished look.

After your hair is up, use a hot curling iron to calm any stray pieces of hair down and separate with more wax pomade. For this look, you want a few rough edges. It should look like you didn't try too hard to achieve the look (even though, clearly, this is a time consuming process). If your shorter layers are not following the program, you'll need to get out your box of bobbi pins or small barrettes. For a more formal look, hide your bobbi pins, but for a more fun look, use a variety of cute barrettes and pins and let them show!

With a little practice, this is a look that's easy to master and that you're sure to find useful in the upcoming holiday season!

Rating:

Umberto Giannini's Glamour Shimmer Mist

Matrix FlikTrix