Formal Holiday Curly Updos

For a formal, champagne-toasting holiday event like New Year’s Eve, you’ll want your most elegant and glamorous side to shine. You have the perfect gown, now it’s time for a romantic curly updo that’s all your own.

MORE: Wavy Holiday Updos or Kinky Holiday Updos

Go for a Tastefully Tousled Knot

The clock is counting down and you are way dressed up and ready to greet the new year with hope, happiness and excitement. But what to do with the hair?

Rodney Cutler of New York’s Cutler Salon suggests a twist on the half-up-half-down updo.

1. First, loosely gather a group of curls from both sides, away from the face, and pull them back into a ponytail. As you wrap the elastic band around your hair, do not pull the last bit through. Let it rest in a loop rather than creating the entire ponytail.
2. Be sure you leave enough hair not pulled through the elastic to wrap around your ponytail. Keep in mind that if you have shorter hair, this means your knot will be much shorter, whereas if you have longer hair, the knot will look more like the photo.
3. Wrap the ends of your hair that have not been pulled through the ponytail around the elastic band so that they hide it, and secure them with bobby pins. Don’t worry too much about the stray strands that pop back up or fan out — these can create a unique and fun look. However, if you want to keep those pieces down, be sure to use a heavy creme or butter, like shea butter, to keep the curls in place.
4. Finally secure the entire knot with a decorative accessory, such as a sparkling gemstone brooch or barrette. “The accessories play up the elegance and the festive season,” Cutler says. “But you don’t want to look like a Christmas tree and you don’t want [the style] to look contrived. So don’t pull your curls too tightly, and the knot doesn’t have to be symmetrical.”

Final thoughts

Spritz some hairspray on the final look to make sure that flyaways and frizz are kept at bay — especially if you live in windier cities!