Short Hair Tutorial: Styling a Long Pixie for Every Day

Today I'm sharing a tutorial for styling my long pixie every day. I've had a long pixie for about 2.5 years, and it has been such a learning experience. I still have plenty of days when I don't love how it turns out, but I think after all of this time I finally have the hang of styling it. Recently a few of my friends have chopped their hair, and I always tell them that they'll hate it for at least three weeks. Styling really short hair is very different than styling long hair. It takes different product, and you have to switch over from valuing long, clean hair that is touchable to valuing short, dirty hair that can be molded into different shapes. This tutorial starts with clean hair, but my hair actually turns out the best on day two or three. That is when it has enough product in it to maintain the volume and shape that I want. When it's too clean, it just falls flat and slips out of any back combing or teasing I do. 

I'm starting this tutorial with wet, clean hair. And the reason for that is that after showering, you need to part your hair before you dry it. Your part makes a huge difference in how your styling turns out and how your hair looks every day until you wash it again. So to start, wash your hair and let it air dry a bit, but not too much. 

Product lineup:

Big Sexy Hair Root Pump Plus

Big Sexy Hair Spray and Stay

Bed Head Spoil Me

Redken Wax Blast

Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Dry Shampoo

Backcombing comb

I always start styling my hair by parting it and brushing it into place. I like to have a deep side part with long bangs that swoop across my face. In order to get it to dry that way, I need to part it that way while it's wet. So I find my part and brush the front forward, and the shorter side gets brushed to the side. You can watch me part it here. 

Once I find my part, I apply volumizing mousse to the roots—generously.

I rub that through my roots and then blow-dry. In these photos, I was using this blow dryer, but I recently switched to this one. It's amazingly quiet and quick, and it really does a great job at giving me smooth hair that requires less heat to tame.

I blow dry my hair upside down to volumize the roots for 1–2 minutes. I focus on the roots and stop when my hair is 50% dry.

I then stand back up straight and use my fingers to comb through my hair as I dry it the rest of the way. I don't use a round brush because I want my hair to dry straight, not curled under. (You can watch me blow-dry it here.)

I switch back and forth between blowing my hair exactly where I want it to end up and then the opposite way. Blow it forward and down to train it to lay where you want it to, and then blow it the opposite way to try and keep a little volume.

After blow drying. 

(The following steps are what I do every day when I want straight hair, whether my hair is clean or dirty.)

Next I add dry shampoo. If this were day two or three, dry shampoo would be my first step. Be generous on this first day because it will help dirty up your hair, making it easier to work with. Go for the roots, but on the first day spray it everywhere because all of your hair is too squeaky clean.

Bed Head Spoil Me is a really great product to help you get multiple days out of your styling. It re-hydrates your hair after using dry shampoo. Sometimes dry shampoo can make it hard for your hair to hold a curl, so this stuff counteracts that problem. Just spray it on your ends.

Backcombing is essential for getting volume with this cut. My hair is somewhat fine, with a little natural wave. When I blow-dry it, it goes straight and flat. This comb is really perfect for teasing, and I swear by it. I start at the crown of my head and tease sections across the back. 

Continue to tease sections through the long side going forward and then a little bit on each side. The more you tease, the better; just be sure to tease close to the root to get the most lift. You can watch me tease it here.

After teasing, I'll comb through my hair with my fingers to put it back into place.

Next I'll use my flat iron. Sometimes I'll straighten my hair before I tease it; they're interchangeable. On the short side of my hair, I use my flat iron to smooth it away from my face. If you notice, all of my movements to style my hair are in the direction I want my hair to end up in. Each element is to train my hair to go where I want it to.

My front pieces tend to curl under if I don't bend them away from my face a bit. Flat iron each side and the back. Depending on the texture of your hair, you might have to section off your hair to do each side.

Redken Wax Blast is my favorite product to get my ends to stay put. I spray it on all of my ends, still swooping them the direction I want them to lay.

I then use my hairspray to finish things off. I use this volumizing hairspray on the roots and apply it generously, holding up my roots until it dries. Sometimes, especially on day one, I'll have to go back and tease sections a little more or add more spray to get the volume and the hold I want.

And that's it! Like I said at first, it's all about the part. If my part goes back, it's hard to recover from that until I wash it again. But this is how I style my long pixie for everyday wear. It usually takes me about 5–15 minutes. Please leave me any questions below or email me. If you like this tutorial, I have starting doing quick video tutorials on Instagram that I think are even more helpful to really see how I style my hair. You can also find all of my other hair tutorials here.

EARRINGS

Long pixie 360