DIY prom hair
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The perfect hairdo is the best accessory to any prom dress, but save yourself some money and head to the nearest beauty supply or drug store. With the right products, you can create these stylish yet simple hairstyles yourself! No skills required! With our easy directions, anyone can do her own hair -- and save some serious dough.

A Totally Twisted Bun

1. Use a shine serum like Neutrogena's Triple Moisture Healing Shine Serum or an anti-frizz cream like Suave Professionals Anti-Frizz Cream on mostly dried hair to help tame flyaways and frizz and protect your hair from heated styling tools. (Be careful not to use too much or your hair will come out greasy.)

2. Completely dry your hair and then flat iron your entire head, parting your hair at your natural part-line.

3. Leaving some pieces to frame your face, pull the rest of your hair into a low ponytail and use an elastic to secure it. Optional: You can easily convert this look into a half-up/half-down style by only pulling back the top half into the ponytail.

4. Split your ponytail into two pieces and then split the right side again.

5. Twist this piece into a long coil to create a mini-bun on the right side of your head and use pins to secure it in place. Then twist the second piece around the first and pin any loose pieces in place.

6. Repeat on the left side.

7. Spray your head with a finishing spray like Elnett Satin by L'Oreal Paris to really make this style shine and keep it in place.



A Perfectly Pumped Pony

1. To damp hair, apply a volumizing spray gel like Suave Professionals Volumizing Root Lifter Spray Gel or TRESemme 24 Hour Body Sculpting Spray Gel to add lift and volume without looking crunchy or slick. Blow-dry completely.

2. Tease your hair at the roots. (If you're not sure how to tease your hair, see the sidebar below.)

3. Brush your hair back gently, keeping it closer to your head on the side and maintaining more height at the top.

4. Gather your hair into a ponytail mid-head and secure with an elastic.

5. Optional: Twist your ponytail into a loose bun and pin it in place. Finish the style with a maximum hold hair spray like Suave Professionals Freeze Hold Shaping & Finishing Spray.


A Tousled Down-Do

1. Carefully comb a palm-full of extra-hold styling mousse like Soft & Beautiful Botanicals Sculpting Foam or iStyle “I Crave Curls” Curl Mousse on towel-dried hair to give it body and control.

2. Flip your head over and blow-dry your hair until it's mostly dry.

3. Style with a round brush by blow-drying the top section of your hair out from your face and slightly to the side.

4. Take a 1- to 2-inch section of hair on each side and spiral-wrap the hair on a 1 1/2-inch diameter curling iron. Continue curling toward the back of your head until you achieve the desired amount of curls.

5. Use your fingers to shake up the curls from the roots and make them look more natural. To keep your curls intact, use a firm-holding hairspray like TRESemme 24 Hour Body Finishing Spray.


Extra: How to Tease Your Hair
Teasing, also known as backcombing or ratting, is an easy way to add a ton of volume to your hair. Lots of teasing can make you an excellent candidate to be an extra in Hairspray, but just the right amount can add life to any limp-looking 'do.

1. Make sure your hair is 100 percent detangled. If you just flat ironed your hair, make sure it's completely cooled off. If these precautions aren't taken, you can really damage and break off your hair!

2. Gather a small section of hair (about 1 to 2 inches in thickness) and clip the rest out of the way. Note: Smaller sections equal tighter results, and larger sections equal looser results.

3. Hold the section with one hand away from the scalp and, with your other hand, comb down (or backward) toward the scalp with short, sharp, uniform strokes. The great part about teasing is that it doesn't have to be perfect the first try; if you finish a section and think it needs more fullness or height, just do it again.

4. Spray the newly teased section with hairspray. Repeat until your hair is completely backcombed and style as you wish.


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-- Jenna Joyce

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