How To Create A Hot Holiday Updo

Hair Beauty Tip

submitted: Dec 31, 2008
tip #316

A pulled-back pompadour like Beyoncé Knowles' is an easy and elegant 'do for all your holiday parties.

Want a fun and festive style to help you light up the party circuit? We love the modern pompadour, a volumized hairstyle you can wear sleek like Beyoncé or messy like Mischa Barton.

• To create Beyoncé's polished pompadour: This style is so flattering because it "has a little lift around the face and some fullness on top," says David Evangelista, the creative director of the David Evangelista Salon at the Cornelia Day Spa in NYC. Apply volumizer to your roots, then rub a tiny bit of smoothing cream from mid-shaft to ends. Try Garnier Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioning Cream, a favorite of Evangelista's. Blow dry hair straight, then tease it on the front, sides and crown area. Pull the hair along the middle two inches of your hairline back, then pin hair right below your crown with a long bobby pin. Next, take a one-inch midpiece on each side and, one at a time, pull them up, twist and attach to the pin. Finish by securing both pieces with an additional hair pin.

• To create Mischa's messy updo: Apply volumizer all over wet hair, blow out and then apply dry shampoo on the roots to hold the style. Tease hair, then pull it all back in a ponytail, twist it around and secure with hairpins. Pull a few key pieces haphazardly out of the ponytail so that it looks slightly undone. "It's not about locking it in place," says Evangelista, "you want it to look like an unstructured updo."

• To give these styles an extra punch of pizzazz, add a sparkly accessory. "It'll give a holiday hairstyle that extra edge and make it very festive," says Evangelista. We love Medusa's Heirlooms Pearl and Crystal Curved Barrette.