New season, new look — and your hair is the easiest place to start. But you don’t need to lop off your length or use a box of dye to make a major change. These 18 styles will do just the trick when it comes to switching up your style.
1. Super-Snatched Pony
How chic is Jasmine Tooke’s tight pony?! To recreate it, brush your hair up to the crown of your head, using a boar-bristle brush to help smooth any bumps and add shine. Then secure with an elastic. Finally, cover the hair tie with a sliver of hair from underneath the pony, and go over the tail with a flat iron to make it super straight.
2. Sleek with Soft Waves
This easy style is so effortlessly romantic (Kim Kardashian even wore something similar for her wedding day!). Start with dirty or clean hair (you’ll be applying products at the roots anyway), and part it down the middle. Use a curling iron or wand to curl 2-inch sections of the hair from the mid-shaft to the ends in the same direction. Brush it out with a boar bristle brush to soften the waves. Then, spray your brush with a control hairspray and smooth down the side sections of the hair, starting from the roots and stopping just above the ears. To make the side sections stay tucked behind your ears, tie both sides together in a hidden ponytail underneath your hair in the back.
3. Flirty Pony
Leave it to Rihanna to make a basic ponytail sexy AF. It’s sleek and slick in the front with a full, tousled tail in the back — the perfect combo. To steal her style, rake the top half of your hair back into a high pony using a brush or comb, and secure the first ponytail with an elastic band. Then gather the remaining bottom section, combine it with the top half, and secure everything with a hair tie.
4. A Pretty Plait
Want a more polished, yet subtly undone look, like Emily Ratajkowski’s? Simply leave out a few face-framing pieces and then create a traditional braid that flows over your right shoulder. Skip the hair tie and finish the braid off with a ribbon bow (scoop this at the craft store!) for a feminine touch.
5. The Wet Look
Even those with short styles can jump in on the wet hair trend, which is so fitting for summer. Although the hair might look like it’s soaked, it’s actually the product used to give off that effect, which ensures the style lasts all day and night. Apply a liberal amount of styling cream from roots to ends and shape the hair until you have the look you want.
6. Sweet Half-Up Pony
To copy Hailey Baldwin’s half-up look, section off all the hair from your ears up and gather it into a high ponytail. Secure it with an elastic, wrap a sliver of hair around the hair tie to conceal it, and then loosely wave the rest of your hair with a curling iron. Pull the ends of each section immediately after curling to loosen the tendril for a softer look.
7. Stacked Double Buns
Want the effect of an intricate updo minus the effort for a summer wedding? Emma Stone’s stacked buns will get you there. Split your hair into two sections (think top and bottom half of your hair), twist each section into a loosely coiled bun, and pin each in place. Don’t worry about layers poking out. That’s part of the allure of this chic style!
8. Coiled Topknot
Channel Zendaya’s ‘do and take your topknot to the next level. Instead of bunching up all your hair into a bun, twist the tail of a high pony into a coil and wrap it around itself to create a cleaner effect. Lock it in place with pins, and go!
9. Sexy Waves
Nothing says summer like Ashley Graham’s flowing beachy waves. After wrapping your hair around a curling rod (the key is to leave your ends out for a more natural-looking finish), mist your mane with a texturizing or salt spray to add a piece-y coolness to your mane.
10. Sky-High, Curly Style
To copy Jasmine Sanders’s cool-girl, sky-high pony, gather your bundle of curls on top of your head and secure it into place with a cloth hair tie or scrunchie to eliminate damage. Allow the ends to frame your face for a fierce, flawless look.
11. Lemonade Braids
Cornrows braided to one side (aka Lemonade braids or Monica braids) like Issa Rae’s are always a good option when looking for a protective style that’s perfect for summertime. Watch and learn how to do it yourself here.
12. Loose, Crimped Waves
Using a jumbo three-barrel curler, take 2-inch sections and gently clamp the iron down the length of your hair to create S-shaped waves, like Camila Belle’s. Don’t have this specialized tool handy? Create the same soft waves by alternating a flat iron forward and backward (basically hold the iron over one section, and then point your palm down and then up as you move down the section of hair) to get this chic wave.
13. Sleek and Low
Have an event that requires you to to look red-carpet ready, like Priyanka Chopra? This classic, low ponytail is the perfect balance to a full-on fancy ensemble. To get your strands as sleek as Priyanka’s, smooth a lightweight oil over your strands from root to ends to hide any flyaways and bring on that shine.
14. Slicked-Back Cool
Summer is the perfect time to try out a slicked-back style, like Sophie Turner’s. The key to getting a wet look: mousse. It adds a soft texture and hold, whereas gel might make your strands look too wet and greasy. To apply it, use an egg-size dollop of mousse from roots to mid-lengths, and then brush your strands into place as the product dries.
15. Braids to Bun
Hot summer days call for your hair to be off your neck, stat! Take a cue from Camila Alves and part your hair down the middle, and then, starting at your hairline, braid your hair into two braids (braid the strands under each other rather than over one another) until you reach the nape of your neck. Then, gather the two braids, wrap them into a bun rather than letting the braids hang down your back, and pin them into place.
16. Super Long and Shiny
Mermaid hair has never been shinier! If you’re all about leaving your hair down this summer, mimic Kim K’s sleek mane by first flat ironing your hair and then working a shine serum through the ends. Finally, smooth any excess product near the roots. The key to making your hair look healthy and shiny is lots and lots of conditioning treatments in between styling with hot tools.
17. Low Bun
Don’t have time to blow-dry your hair? Or simply don’t want to in the heat of summer? Smooth all your hair back using a boar bristle brush and then twist into a low bun — no hot tools required. Then, balance your understated style with a pair of statement earrings and go!
18. Albaso Braids
Jourdan Dunn’s intricate style, modeled after the traditional braiding techniques of East Africa, involves alternating large cornrows over rolled sections of hair with smaller, flatter cornrows. Her braids stop about halfway back though, allowing her gorgeous curls to finish the look.