Just like me, you've probably thought that creating a ponytail is just about the easiest hairstyle to accomplish.
I mean how difficult could it be?
You grab a hair tie, pull all your hair back and secure it with the hair tie and voila! Well as I have learned, mostly from being on set and watching hairstylists, that way is just fine and dandy, but if you want to create the perfect ponytail you have to throw a few additional steps in there.
How to Create the Perfect Ponytail
Step 1: Create a part from ear to ear (from the back of the ear, across the top of the head to the back of the other ear.)
Step 2: Clip the front part of the hair out of the way and tilt your head back slightly (to ensure that it does not end up saggy or buckles.)
Step 3: After deciding on placement (low, high or middle of the head), brush rear portion of hair into your hand loosely holding it, and with the other hand grab the ponytail tight against the head and secure with a hair tie.
Step 4: Release the top section with your head still tilted back slightly and brush front portion directly into the other section of hair (trying to avoid disruption of the other ponytail, but don't be afraid to brush the hair straight into and over the previously created ponytail) and secure with an elastic hair tie in the exact same way as above.
Step 5: Using hairspray for fly-aways, lightly smooth and spray fly-aways with hands or a fine tooth comb...only lightly skimming the top of the hair.
Bonus step: If you would like to make the ponytail sleeker or dress it up a bit, try grabbing a small section of the ponytail near the elastic hair tie and begin wrapping it around the elastic to hide the hair tie. Secure wrap with a hair pin and bobby pin making sure that the pin is not visible.
And there you have it, two versions of the perfect ponytail...thanks to amazing hairstylist Pearson Knight for walking us through creating the perfect ponytail!
We're big fans of celebrity hairstylist, Pearson Knight, around here. He's styled hair for New York Fashion Week, is at the beckon call of A-listers and most recently can be found at Russell + Hazel in Minneapolis. So when he launched his own hair care line, I knew I had to try it.
Pearson sent two of the four products from his line that he felt would best suit my hair type. The line is comprised of Sculpture Foam, Beach Grit, Straight Shine and Texture Mud.
Sculpture Foam: This curl and styling elixir also gives you volume. I have naturally wavy hair that I tend to flat iron and blow out, since the waves are never really uniform and make me look more like I just rolled out of bed (less in a sexy way and more in a messy way, on some days an 80's way.)
PK's Sculpture Foam is lightweight and has a pleasant scent to it. It took some trial and error to figure out that 1-2 pumps is all I need for my fine hair. It's easy to think you need a lot more of this frothy foam than you do because it feels like there is nothing to it. But trust me, a little works!
I apply it at my roots to get lift and volume when blow drying, but the best curls actually come from applying the elixir before bed. If I shower in the evening and apply it while allowing my hair to air dry, I wake up to soft, wavy volumized hair. Our editor, Gail, has naturally curly hair and it made her curls look sooooo good!
Straight Shine: This blowout lotion can be used on its own or paired with the Sculpture Foam, as it's main objective is to decrease frizz and increase shine. It's texture is literally like a creamy lotion, but it isn't heavy. Again, since I have fine hair, that is a really important attribute for me. It has the same fragrance as the Sculpture Foam, but with both products the scent disappates once in your hair.
The one thing that immediately caught my attention with the Straight Shine is that it helped my round brush grip my hair better. Usually I am fighting with my hair dryer and round brush so that the hair doesn't lift and cause frizz. With the Straight Shine my hair actually stayed on the brush from beginning to end. This made my blowout look so much smoother and meant less work for my flat iron.
Used together, you get volumized hair with soft curls without the frizz. Isn't that every girls dream, or just mine?
You can find Pearson Knight's hair products online at www.pearsonknight.com
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We are absolutely in love with the selection of natural, eco-friendly, non-toxic beauty products that are available at the beauty bar. From skin and body care products to makeup and hair care, the beauty bar offers a complete solution of beauty products.
It is apparent that a lot of thought went into selecting the beauty brands that were chosen. Hard to find cult favorites such as 
We've interviewed celebrity hairstylist Pearson Knight on a few occasions at NYFW, so we were thrilled when we heard that he was collaborating with russell+hazel for the in-store style studio. Guests are able to book hair services directly with Pearson at the exclusive, by appointment only, one chair, style studio. The style studio is also the only brick and mortar store that carries Pearson Knight's newly launched namesake line of hair products (which you know we'll be reviewing soon!)
If you're in Minneapolis, stop by and say hi!
