long hairstyles

L'Oreal Professionnel Hair Director Brad Ngata told us backstage at White Sands that the brief for the hair was "shipwrecked, sun-damaged, salty and sexy." He used what he called the "double mousse" technique, which basically means that he mixed together L'Oreal Professionnel Full Volume Extra and Volume Lift, added them to the hair and blow-dried. Then, Brad selected random pieces of the hair and wrapped them around a coat hanger (no, really) to create a zig-zagged effect, which—FYI—is how you create the perfect deserted island look.

Arnsdorf designer Jade gave Hair Director Todd a few different briefs to start with, but eventually they narrowed it down to a beautiful, soft low pony. The main brief was a "'70s feel without going 'there' too much." It was to be "soft and fresh," which is exactly what the gorgeous style that graced the runway was. Todd was quick to point out though, as with anything that looks easy, there's often a lot of hard work that goes into it! He blow-dried Redken's Touch Control into the hair to add body and grip, then parted the hair in the centre. Next up, he pulled it back and secured it in a low pony, being sure to cover the ears (very important for the '70s feel) and then set upon the most vital part: ruching up the pony. Todd sprayed Workforce on the hair, which helps create that messy texture, and then grabbed random sections and, starting at the tip of the hair, gently pushed upwards to create that slept-in, bed-head feel. If you're looking to re-create the style at home, remember to ditch the brushes. You'll get better results just using your fingers.

The Spring/Summer 2010-11 hair look for Fernando Frisoni's models was dubbed "Sao Paulo Subterraneo" backstage. It was created by ghd's Alan White and again featured two different textures: wet-look on top, loose and dry on the bottom. As you may have noticed, it's been a BIG trend this Fashion Week, so we got the lowdown on the how-to from Alan . . .

STEP 1: Take a section of the hair, no higher than the occipital bone and blow-dry into the nape of the neck. Work ghd maximise mousse through the ends for hold.

STEP 2: Using your ghd styler, put a 2-inch long, loose wave through the ends, making sure that you go no higher than the nape of the neck.

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Redken Hair Director Phillip Barwick told me backstage that the hair was designed to looked as though it had been "growing for years." He wanted it to look like "child's hair catching the light." To get that "purity" to the hair, Phillip used Showpony Extensions and added Redken Touch Control 05 and dried the hair using a large radial brush which added a soft curvature to the ends. The important thing here is even product distribution, according to Phil. For shoulder-length hair, he advises to split hair into three sections: the nape, the back and the top and sides. Then you'll need a tennis ball-sized amount of product for each section. Sounds like a lot, but it works. The hair looked gorgeous. It had a light texture, but it was abundant, too. Tricky but terribly impressive.

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