Medium Updos & Formal Hairstyles

There’s a common misconception out there that you have to have long luscious hair in order to have a great formal style. It’s simply not true! People with medium length hair may not have as many crazy options (without adding extensions), but they definitely have something else that long haired people don’t have – shorter styling time! This can be a definite perk when getting ready for a big event.

Here are a few styling options for you people out there who want to look hot without all the stress:

Half Updo

No matter how you choose to do this, it looks great for pretty much any event. Straight or curly, doesn’t really matter. That’s more of a personal taste thing. So how do you do it? The basic premise of the half updo is that you only put half the hair up. Sounds easy enough, and it is! Take the top halo section of hair on your head and clip it out of the way. Smooth back the sides to the center back of your head and secure both sides with bobby pins. Add a little root lift to the roots of the hair on top of your head along with a little backcombing to give it more lift, then let it fall over the bobby pins. Smooth over the top a little bit and spray into place with finishing spray and you’re done! You can do it with stick-straight hair, or you can put it in hot rollers first. Either way, the style is quick, easy, and mostly fool proof. For variation, try leaving the sides a little looser or making them really slicked back. Instead of pinning underneath, you can pin each side back using decorative combs. Sounds old-fashioned, but it’s making a comeback.
Roller Set

Sounds funny, and it used to be something the little old ladies went to the salon for once a week. But guess what? It’s a fast easy way for stylish girls to get a formal look! Roller sets are used for celebrity styles on the red carpet and magazine cover photo shoots. The way you place the rollers and the size you use make a difference in the way it turns out. Usually the rollers come with a little guide to show you how to use them, but just think about what you want your hair to do when you place the rollers and you should be okay. If you want the hair to move away from your face, roll the hot rollers away from your face. It’s pretty easy to get the hang of, and you can get amazing results in no time at all!

Updo

Yes, with a medium length haircut you can get your hair into a decent updo. ALL your hair. It just takes a little creative pinning. Section your hair into 5 parts: bottom, middle back, two sides, and top. Start by pinning the bottom section up toward the middle back. Overlap your bobby pins so they hold better and smooth and spray with hairspray as you go to help hold things in. Another great tip for getting those bobby pins to stay in is to do some backcombing in the middle back to give the pins a cushion to stick to. Once the bottom is pinned up, slick those sides back and pin them in around the middle back section, too. Your bobby pins will be around the outside edges of the middle back section. If you want some volume on top, put in some backcombing before you smooth it back and pin it. For a softer look, sweep it to the side then back. Pin it along the top section of the middle back. Once all the perimeter pieces are pinned down, take the middle back section and create barrel roll curls with a curling iron. For each curl, pin the bottom of the curl to one part of the outside to cover the bobby pins that surround that middle back section. Then move inward and pin all the center curls til you have a large but smooth looking curly bun. Sounds a little complicated, but once you get started it’s pretty easy.
Bottom line: Don’t get discouraged. There are a million ways to make your medium length style look great for any formal occasion!