Hair how to: the effortless wet chignon

Hair how to: the effortless wet chignon

Bottega Veneta created a harmonious interplay of colours, textures and fabrics on their spring 2012 runway, and contrasted it with a low-key wet chignon. For those days, when you don’t want to spend too much time on your hair, this loosely styled chignon is your friend. The idea is to create a wet look, just as though you’ve stepped out of the pool and slipped into a classic dress. To replicate the look for yourself, follow our step-by-step how to guide.

Bottega Veneta created a harmonious interplay of colours, textures and fabrics on their spring 2012 runway, and contrasted it with a low-key hair and makeup affair. The optimistic chiffon dresses and leather-suede combo skirts balanced out the untidy, wet chignon.

We’ve discussed the versatility of a chignon on Fashionising.com before, and just recently gave you a detailed how-to tutorial for its elegant variety. But for those days, when you don’t want to spend too much time on your hair (or pretend it didn’t take too much time – tricky!), this loosely styled chignon is your friend. The idea is to create a wet look, just as though you’ve stepped out of the pool and slipped into a classic dress.

Follow the step-by-step how to guide after the break. If you’d like to make sure that you don’t miss any of the other looks in this year’s hair trends guide, you can subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed.

Wet-look chignon at Bottega Veneta. Image courtesy Redken.

The how to:
Redken’s Creative Consultant, Guido says his motivation was to create a look that anyone could create at home.
He shares with us his top tips to get this “easy, sexy, summery hairstyle” within minutes.

Apply a volumising mousse (the hair team backstage at Bottega Veneta used Redken’s Full Frame 07 – volumizing mousse) all through towel-dry hair and let it dry naturally.

If you’re in a rush, flip the damp hair forward and blast the hair dryer on high from underneath. This will give your strands the volume they need.

Now focus on getting the wet look. For that, Guido suggests to apply Argan oil all through the hair using fingers. This will give a silky shine. Remember to only do this once your hair is completely dry.

Use your fingers to pull the hair back into a low ponytail. Tie is loosely with a hair tie at ear level. Do note that there isn’t a parting in the hair.

Now wrap the ponytail into a messy low bun / chignon and secure with bobby pins. Pull a few strands out here and there if you want to add to the effortless look of the style.

If you want more shine, apply some more Argan oil to the crown of the hair.

The wet look chignon: how to wear it
The best part about wearing the wet chignon is that it compliments both casual and formal attire. Whether you’re in a beachside holiday home or on a formal evening night out, its personality speaks out through the clothes it’s styled with. For next year’s hot summer months, team it with floaty dresses (just like Bottega Veneta did), hot pants or even palazzo pants. As for make-up, go for a bare-lid mascara and flushed pink lips – keep it simple and feminine.

Piled up and pinned

An effortless updo.
If there’s a middle ground between being stylishly done and carelessly undone, this hairstyle occupies it. It doesn’t require precision or complex tools (bobby pins are your friend – and lots of them) but it does require a little finesse to pull off that undone-done look of effortless chic.

Simple to create and suitable for all kinds of occasion (or no occasion at all, for that matter) this piled up and pinned up ‘do works best when a little textured and messy.

Follow the step-by-step how to guide after the break. If you’d like to make sure that you don’t miss any of the other looks in this year’s 2012 hair trends guide, you can subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed.

Shoot credits
Model: Sophie Van Den Akker @ Chadwick Models
Photographer: Kelly Defina at kellydefina.com
Makeup artist: Shev Kelly for Napoleon Perdis
Hair: Annika Bowen @ Annika’s
Stylist: Mercy Watson
On model Sophie Van Den Akker, hair stylist Annika Bowen used little product. If your hair is cooperative, all you really need for this style is some bobby pins and a spritzing of hairspray.

The style is best for short to shoulder-length hair, and works well with natural curls as well as straight hair.

Follow the steps below to create the look for yourself.

Make sure hair is prepped first. This style is great when hair is a little dirty (for example the second day after it’s been washed.)

Divide the hair into three sections. These sections don’t need to be neat, as this hair style is all about quick, loose and messy. The three sections should be:

1. ear to ear at back nape section
2. horse shoe section from recession to recession
3. the middle section left

Starting at the bottom section, pull the hair into the centre, scrunch into the nape and pin where your fingers are holding the hair. The pinning should be fairly haphazard.

Continuing to the next middle section, scrunch and pin the hair into place.

For the top section, slightly twist and quiff up the hair (you can create as much or as little height to suit your face shape). Pin the quaffed front section in place to complete the updo.

To finish, spray with hairspray.  

The finished look
Our shoot with Sophie Van Den Akker paired the piled up pinned hairstyle with smokey midnight blue eyes for a look that’s best for after hours. For a daytime take pare back the face with nude makeup, a splash of fresh white eyeshadow, or simple black liner and pink lips.
Styling variations

This style can work with some embellishment. If you want to create a free-spirited version dot some flowers through the pinned sections of hair.

Experiment with different products for different levels of texture. Try sea salt spray or a wax product to create extra texture before pinning up the hair.

Brigitte Bardot hair: a modern take

Some hairstyles have a habit of dipping in and out of fashion, while others are so classic they never seem to date. It’s one from the latter category that we focus on today, drawing inspiration from those icons of the 1960s that were so seductive, so utterly sex kitten, that it’s hard to imagine their voluminous hairstyles ever being less than desirable.

So while perfect as a 2011 hairstyle, and surely again in 2012 as the sixties fashion revival continues its rise to dominance, this is also a style that can be adapted and varied year after year, and thus one well worth mastering. It’s a modern take on a style we often associate with the likes of Brigitte Bardot: a half up bouffant hairstyle.

The style will work on hair shoulder length or longer; the longer the hair, though, the fuller and more glamorous you can make this particular style.

Read on for the full ‘how to’, and if you like this hairstyle please be sure to let us know by clicking like below or leaving us a comment at the bottom of this guide.

Make sure there is enough texture and support in the hair to make the style hold.

In this example we’ve kept the texture just enough to add volume but not so much to make the style messy. For night time, or to really add to the sixties sex kitten feel of the look you can add even more texture.

To keep the texture in place use a volumising mousse.

Separate the hair into sections and curl it, away from the face, using either a curling iron or hot rollers. On Rhiannon’s hair a ghd hair iron was used to create curls throughout the hair.

Brush the curls out to break them up and give them a softer, more natural look.

Separate out a circular section of hair at the top of the crown. You can use a mirror to see the back of your head if creating the style on yourself.

Next, divide the section into smaller partings. These will be back-combed, starting at the back so it’s easier to build up volume and height.

Hold the very back parting with medium tension and with a comb work the root area only. Back-combing, if done right, shouldn’t cause too much damage to your hair and shouldn’t knot. Tip: work the comb about an inch away from scalp, put comb in and work in curved movements down to root area, take comb out of root area and repeat.

Follow the same back-combing process with each of the partings of hair.

After all the back-combing is completed your hair should look something like this. Don’t worry if it’s messy at this stage – only a few more steps until you have a sixties Brigitte Bardot bouffant hairdo.

Softly brush the very top layer of hair back, smoothing it over the back-combed section.

Work your bouffant shape into the desired height and roundness, then pull back the hair and pin it in the centre with bobby pins to hold it in place.

To add polish to your sixties Brigitte Bardot hairstyle bring two more smaller side sections of hair into the style.

Pin the two side sections in place. Tip: lightly twist each side into the centre as you do this to help create balance and a smoother finish.