Simple styles done well are often the best. Case in point: the ponytail hairstyle. They’re easy enough to do, but they remain one of the absolute top ways to add some extra interest to hair with fairly minimal effort.
If you ask us, cool-girl ponytails are the aspirational, but accessible, equivalent of a white linen shirt. They’re more dressy than hoodies or bed hair, but they’re still casual, comfortable and very, very stylish. In fact, they’re one of the most wearable and versatile styles you can get, because depending on how you style them, they can look preppy, grungy, polished, glam, slick, sporty, low-key or off-duty.
They’ve ascended the ranks from simply a weekend staple to a red carpet regular, thanks to celebs like Zendaya and Hailey Bieber wearing them to high-profile events. Likewise, they’re a smart enough style to wear into the office or as wedding guests.
Even those with short hair can get in on the action, with the low, centre-parted pony offering an on-trend option for anyone rocking a bob or lob.
The key is to keep it interesting – whether embellished with hair accessories, twisted, braided, or just incredibly sleek, these little details will take your ponytail up a notch and stop it from slipping into schoolgirl territory. But before that, be sure to style prep.
To create all the volume and bounce you need, spritz in some dry shampoo or texturising spray pre-styling, or even add in a few curls with a curling wand before putting it up. This will especially help thin hair hold the hairstyle in place.
Luckily, TikTok – and some of our favourite stylists – have gifted us with some sneaky ponytail hairstyle hacks to make the whole process a lot easier, including the claw clip ponytail hack and flip-back voluminous ponytail hack straight from JLo’s hairstylist, Chris Appleton, himself.
Hair prepared. Now it’s time for a bit of updo-spiration. Here are some of the coolest ponytail hairstyles for a statement updo…
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