Half-Up Ponytail Tutorial (plus, my post-styling hair care repair system!)

Reading Time: 6 minutes

When it comes to my hair, I typically stick to the basics: natural (and heatless) beach waves, curls, and an easy messy bun. It’s rare that I attempt a new hairstyle, but lately I’ve been completely enamoured with the 90s throwback half-up half-down ponytail hairstyle.

As a child of the 90s, my hair was often worn in this way. My mum would brush out all my wild tangles and attempt to style my hair as I protested and squirmed in my chair. Somehow, someway, she managed to always get my hair into some sort of hairstyle, and usually it was this half-up half-down ponytail.

Nowadays, I am less squirmy, and rather than protesting against a new hairstyle or having my hair done, I actually really enjoy it – and even pay to have it done. Today I am excited to share with you a step-by-step tutorial on my favourite 90s hairstyle: the half-up half-down ponytail!

Half-Up Ponytail Tutorial

Step One: The first step to creating this look is to add some volume to your hair. After washing my hair, I waited about 45 minutes for my hair to dry a bit and then finished the drying processing by blow-drying it out. A blow dryer is a great way to add volume to your hair. Simply blow dry the roots of your hair away from the direction it will sit and you’ll quickly see your hair appears more voluminous. Also, flip your hair over and blow-dry underneath to get that extra kick-up of volume.

Step Two: Take your curling iron or straightener and begin to add some curls to your hair. I personally use my straightener to curl my hair, but use whichever you’re most comfortable with.

 

Step Three: Separate your hair into two sections – top and bottom. You’ll want to take a smaller part for the top, so start around the “widow’s peak” area. Pull that section up and brush it all back to create one smooth part of hair on the top of your head.

Step Four: Using a small comb, back-comb the very back of the small section. this will create a lift where you put the hair tie.

Step Five: Using a velvet hair tie, tie the top back into a pony tail.

*Velvet Hair Ties typically don’t have any clasp on them which means that they won’t break your hair. The little clasps on hair ties can knot and tug out your hair. Plus, the velvet feel of the hair ties glide over your strands and will reduce the breakage you’d usually get from ponytail styling. 

Step Six: Take a piece of hair from under the ponytail and wrap it around the hair tie. This will disguise the hair-tie.

Step seven: If you want more volume in the bottom of your hair, back-comb it in sections. You can also add more volume to the ponytail using this method. (This is optional.)

Step Eight: Use hair spray to set your hairstyle, and add a touch of serum to your ends to help repair some of the damage from the heat tools and back-combing. I’m using Dove Regenerative Nourishment Serum-in-Oil.

Now let’s talk about how I care for my hair after I’ve styled it using damaging heat tools and drying products. We all know how important healthy hair is to me. I’ve talked about my hair horror story many times, and honestly – it’s something that to this day still haunts me. Having bleached damaged dry hair was simply awful, and it’s been something that has acted as a reminder to keep me on track with taking care of my hair.

Over the last few years, I have done many things to get my hair back to looking and feeling its best, and today I can say that my hair has never been as long, healthy, and manageable as it is now. Since I know so many of us have struggled with hair care blunders, I wanted to share a few things I have learned in the last few years and a few things I feel have found to help improve the health of my hair after styling or colouring it.

Repair Care System:

One thing I’ve realized in the last few years is that products really do matter, and I no longer use just anything on my hair. Dove’s Regenerative Nourishment line helps nourish, hydrate, and restore hair after damaging hairstyles or colouring processes. After styling my hair in this fun half-up half-down ponytail, my hair felt dry and brittle. It was in dire need of some TLC and that’s why I turned to Dove’s Regenerative Nourishment line.

Dove Regenerative Nourishment Shampoo

To start, I use Dove’s Regenerative Nourishment Shampoo. The shampoo appears more creamy than many shampoos and feels as though it’s conditioning your hair as it removes unwanted product and oil.  Many shampoos leave that overly squeaky clean feel to your hair, but I found that this shampoo didn’t over-strip my hair and actually left it feeling quite soft.

Dove Regenerative Nourishment Conditioner

My favourite part of my hair care routine has always been the conditioning. I love how conditioners can take dry brittle hair and instantly make it feel silky. Dove Regenerative Nourishment Conditioner is light and doesn’t weigh down your hair. What it does do is condition, soften, and nourish dry hair and transform it to being soft and smooth.

Dove Regenerative Nourishment Serum-in-Oil

There’s nothing more essential to my hair care routine than a good serum. While many struggle with oily hair, I struggle with the opposite – dry, brittle hair. For this reason, I like to have a light-weight serum on hand so I can apply it after I shower and throughout the rest of the day. Dove Regenerative Nourishment Serum-in-Oil is perfect for this and has been my go-to when I feel my hair needs some instant reviving.

The Regenerative Nourishment range, formulated with Red Algae + Keratin NutriComplex, is a specific daily program for damaged, over-processed hair, making it smoother and stronger against breakage – as if damage never happened. Learn More!

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Dove Canada via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Dove Canada.