Prom Dos For Medium Locks

Introduction

Medium length hair is often defined as hair that falls somewhere from the bottom of the neck to the tops of the shoulders. Every hair expert has their own opinion, but this seems to be the general agreement about what constitutes medium length.

Although many people fret that medium hair is hard to "dress up" for the Prom, in reality medium length hair is one of the best lengths for doing lots of different things.

The Hair Boutique has more articles and photos of prom hair than any other hair site on the web. However, I still get tons of email asking me how to deal with the dreaded medium length hair.

If you want my opinion, I think you should consider wearing your medium length soft, very shiny and curled on the ends so that it brushes your shoulders? (See model above).

In case you didn't know, teen guys tend to have a preference for touchable hair. They like soft and shiny flowing locks. Trust me. I get tons of email from guys, just like your prom date, asking me how to convince their girlfriends to go with a softer more approachable look with their hair.

If your heart is really set on wearing your hair up, this article will provide some basic ideas that can be modified to fit every hair type (straight, curly, wavy) and dress type (simple, ornate, sexy) that is imaginable.

Finding A Style No One Else Has

I get so many emails asking for help with creating a style that no one else has ever created.

The bad news is that a style like that tends to be very hard to find. The style to the side is a very high ponytail that is slicked under and pinned to make one fat bun.

Add-on hair in shades of red and maroon were pinned into the bun and allowed to trickle down the model's hair and neck for a stunning and very unusual look. Believe it or not, this is a relatively easy style to re-create. However, would you want to wear it to your prom? Would you want to look at your hair in this style for the next 50 years? Think about it.`

As a rule though, there are only so many ways to wear hair and all the possible ways have been done, over and over.

The key is to finding a good hair look and then making it your own by using accessories like Tiaras, jeweled headbands, flowers, ribbons, various magnetic hair stars & jewels, add on hair, glitter or other items that can make a standard hair style look uniquely yours.

Take Responsibility For Finding Your Style

It is important that you take responsibility for finding your own unique style. Go to the nearest library and check out the most recent hair, beauty and fashion magazines. If the library won't let you check them out, spend some time at the library flipping through the pages.

Take your time and scan through each page to get ideas of the styles that you think would work best for your dress, your hair type (curly vs straight) and your Prom schedule. If you will need a style that will last a long time, keep this in mind.

Make copies of any styles that you like and then either take them to your stylist, or practice on your own hair. If you have problems recreating the style, ask a friend or family member to help you.

Easy As Making A Ponytail

One of the easiest Prom hairdos starts with a basic ponytail. A ponytail? Yes, as easy as pulling your chin or should length hair into a high ponytail on top of your head.

Because ponytails are easier to create on hair that is not freshly washed, you may want to either create the style on "day old" hair or you may want to apply a good styling product like Robert Hallowell's rawhold gel, dream cream heavenly styling cream, or love that shine drops ultimate shine serum to give your hair a sleek and shiny appearance.

Steps For Creating The Curled Ponytail Style

1. Using a good boar's bristle style brush, make sure that you brush your hair until it is smooth.

2. Pull your hair into a ponytail that is gathered tightly by a "hair friendly" elastic band at the top of your crown. The key to this look is to have your ponytail high enough on your head to make sure that you can spread the curls out over the diameter of your head.

Note: The elastic band, when possible should match your hair color.

3. Once you have the ponytail in place and it is tightly gathered carefully separate individual strands of hair into 1/2 to 1 inch sections. Use tiny clips or big fat bobby pins to hope the other sections while you work on one section at a time.

Note: The more curls you want, the smaller the sections.

4. Depending on the size of the curls that you desire, use hot curlers to wrap roll each individual section. Use the smaller curlers for the smallest curls and the largest curlers for very large curls.

Note: In a pinch you can use a curling iron although, as a rule, the curls may not be as long lasting with a curling iron.

5. Leave the curlers in your hair until they are completely cool. Depending on how thick your hair is or the texture, this can take just a few minutes to several minutes. Leave the curlers in as long as possible.

6. After you have taken the curlers out let your hair air cool even further for at least 10 minutes to 30 minutes.

7. Do not brush the new curls out. Instead, using your fingers, take each curl individually and form a loop with the curl. Once you have the curl loop the size and shape that you like, pin it securely with hairpins the same color as your hair. Make sure that you pin the curl with a tight pin that will hold. A bobby pin is best. Pin the curl securely against the scalp so that the pin does not show through.

It is best to start at the center of the curl formation and work towards the outside. That gives you more control over how you arrange the curls.

8. After you have all the curls securely pinned you may want to take one curl and loop around the font of the curl formation (shown above) to cover the rest of the curls.

9. Spray the entire design with a very good holding spray. like rawhold hairspray. Keep in mind that you want this design to last all night at the prom.

10. Add a spritz of love that shine spray for a high gloss shine and finish.

11. Once you have the style finished to your satisfaction add some jeweled hearts, stars, jewels or gorgeous hair pins as accents.

12. If the sides of your ponytail seem to be loose, dab on some rawhold gel or some dream cream to smooth and hold, without oil. Both products provide great hold with no oiliness.

Once the curls are in place and your hairdo is finished, don't touch it again. Only touch your hair is you have to fix a loose strand. The less you touch it the better.

Options For Curled Ponytail Style

The beauty of this style is that it is extremely versatile. You can actually make the curls as large or small as you would like. Instead of pinning medium curls in a circle around your ponytail, you can actually let the curls fall in loose tendrils from the center of your ponytail.

Or you can make very small curls that you pin at the back of your ponytail in a soft waterfall effect.

The great thing about this style is that you can simply move the ponytail back or forward on your head and then adjust the size and placement of the curls according to your tastes.

Both of the two models above and to the side have very small tight curls carefully arranged from a ponytail at the back of their crown areas.

The curls are arranged more towards the direction of the neck rather than towards the forehead. The model at the top has also pulled out a few wisps of hair to form tendrils while the model to the side has added a small jeweled rhinestone tiara to decorate her small collection.

Both models show how versatile the very same basic ponytail can be. You can make large curls, small curls, add tendrils or jeweled headbands or jeweled tiaras. The choice is yours and depends on the dress that you have selected and the image you wish to convey.

Conclusion

It is important to practice any Prom style that you select that you plan to re-create yourself. Try to practice the style you select at least 4 times before the Prom. This allows you to experiment with the style to make sure that you like it on your face and that it works well with your dress.

Try not to wait until the last minute to select the style that you like so that you have time to experiment and practice.

Remember, as long as you can make a ponytail and use hot curlers or a curling iron, you have many options.

If you want to talk more about this or other hair care articles on HairBoutique.com or anywhere else, please post a message on HairBoutique.com's Hair Talk Forums.