Prom Down Do's + Pictures & Advice

The emerging trend out of Hollywood right now is hair that is all the way down and has loose curls and waves.  It’s a little untidy but still controlled and it moves with you.  Try this look out yourself beforehand by following these directions for medium to long hair lengths:

1. Apply volumizing mousse to towel dried hair.  For more volume at the roots, spray in some root lift while hair is still a little damp.  Blow dry your hair almost completely.

2. Use a large round brush to finish blow drying your hair.  Clip your hair up and do this in sections so you have more control over what you are doing.  Make sure the air coming from the blow dryer is moving from roots to ends so your hair comes out smoothly.

3. After hair is all the way dry, use a large barrel curling iron in the ends.  Take random sections and only wrap the ends around one to two times.  After all the ends are curled, separate any that are too chunky with your fingers and not with a brush.

4. Spray the finished look with hairspray.  Perfect!  If you want to add a little sparkle, pop in a tiara or a delicate headband with little jewels in it.

Hint: Try the style out yourself and have a friend take pictures of it from all sides.  That way you can see what everyone else is seeing, too.  On your big day, take the pics with you to a stylist and have them recreate the look for you.  It’s always more fun to be pampered and let someone else take that stress away from you!

If your hair is short and you think it just won’t do much of anything, don’t feel left out.  There are still options for you.  Hit your stylist up for ideas.  Talk to them about your dress and the look you want.  Have them try out a temporary color that plays up the drama of your dress without taking the attention away from you.  And don’t feel like having short hair means you don’t need to have your hair done on your big day by your stylist.  You need pampering, too, and your hair will look professionally done.  Not in the budget?  Don’t feel bad.  Follow the steps below to recreate the professional look at home:

1. Wash and towel dry hair.  Add in a bit of firm hold gel to help hair stay in place and add shine.  Let hair air dry the rest of the way.

2. When hair is dry, use a firm hold pomade, wax or glue to either slick down the ends or spike them out.  The trick with these products is to follow the directions on the package.

3. Give the finished look a fine mist of finishing hairspray and you’re done.  Want a little sparkle?  There are tons of cute little clips that come in all shapes.  For a more simple look, just put in a simple stone.  For more a flirtatious and fun look, try a butterfly or dragonfly.  Sweet!

Hint:  It’s tempting when you have short hair to just run your fingers through it and call it good.  For prom, though, make sure you check the back before you head out the door.  It may be fine, but better safe than sorry!