All Made Up // The Pony Tail

Ah the pony tail.

 Somewhere between going to the gym and schlepping dirty delicates to the dry cleaner, the pony tail got relegated to the ‘I don’t care’ section of the personal hair style encyclopedia. But while we’re worshipping at the alter of dry shampoo, pony tails could be taking us from work, to play to an evening out. That is, if you play your cards right.

We used our very own Emily to show how texture, placement and part can make all the difference in the humble pony tail.

In this first round, Em’s pony tail is an everyday go-to for me. Perfect for running errands, a get together with friends or going to class (not that I’ve been in school for fair while…). It’s got casual, second day texture, mid height, with a ton of volume at the crown.

Using a teasing comb to beef the crown up and smooth the top, you can pin the volume in place just above the pony tail holder by criss-crossing two bobby pins. Nothing is too precious with this pony tail so resist the urge to smooth fly aways with hair spray.

Next up is a personal favourite that I call the Barbie pony tail. Albeit a little more complicated than the average pony, this hair style makes anything from a LBD to a pair of skinny jeans sexy, fun and youthful.

Parting your bangs in the centre, a la Bridget Bardot, keep loose layers around the face. Put the bottom half of your hair into a super high pony tail, diagonally above the tops of your ears.  With the top section that was left out of the pony, split it into three. Tease each section then lay the middle part over the pony tail. Lay one side diagonally across the pony tail and use the final section to wrap around the two sections of hair and the pony tail, pinning underneath.

Grab a large barrel curling iron, loosely wrapping sections of the pony to smooth and curl. Lean your head backwards and mist hair spray up into the pony tail while separating the curl.

Inspired by the s/s 2014 runways, the final pony tail is sleek, angular and sophisticated. Not to mention incredible easy to do.

You’ll want to start with straight, dry hair. This is perfect for second (or even third!) day hair. If you’ve got flyaway’s, work a bit of spray wax into the hair and brush through. Create a deep side part and brush into a low pony. It should sit just above the nape of the neck. For a bit of sparkle, a broach was attached to Emily’s pony tail with a bobby pin.

‘All Made Up’ is a blog feature hosted by hair and makeup artist extraordinaire, Ashley Readings. We work with Ashley on most of our lookbook shoots and other creative projects, and this new collaboration is the perfect way to offer our readers exclusive beauty tips and behind-the-scenes content. Plus, we like any excuse to dress up and have our hair and make up done!

[photos: scarlet o'neill]