On Monday night, we witnessed the annual extravaganza that is the British Fashion Awards. Hosted in London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall, the event was an artistic celebration of fashion, creativity and global culture. Amongst a sea of red carpet glamour, renowned celebrity hairdresser Halley Brisker explains his styling of Lily James’s beautiful updo, using exclusively ghd tools:
CREDIT: @halleybrisker
Blow-dry balm
Tail Comb
Detangling Comb
Hairdryer
Paddle Brush
Straighteners
Hairspray
Hairbands
Blow out the hair using the ghd Helios Hairdryer – paired with the brush type best suited to you – taking medium-sized sections. For Lily, I used the ghd Paddle Brush. I also like to maximise shine over the hair at this stage using the ghd Gold Styler.
Part your hair from ear to ear across the top of the head. Using the ghd Perfect Ending Hairspray, pull the back section into a tight ponytail to ensure the hair will follow the angle of the cheekbones. Lock in with a hooked bungee elastic.
Take one side of the front section and – after saturating the hair with your hairspray – pull it back, securing this section onto the ponytail with an elastic bobble; repeat on the other side. You should now have a really tight, centre-parted snatched look, with a ponytail left to work with. If you have particularly straight hair, I like to take the ghd Curve Soft Curl Tong to give some natural movement to the ponytail.
Take a one-inch section on the underside of the ponytail to create a braid, (I chose a fishtail for Lily.) Keep this separate for now, and secure with a small elastic. Separate the rest of the ponytail and twist each section around into a shape that feels aesthetically pleasing, before pinning in place. You can then take the braid from earlier and snake it through the twists to your liking.
To elevate this look, I made a bow from hair extensions – but you could swap this out for a velvet bow clip for ease. A perfect look for the party season! Finish with a misting of ghd Perfect Finish Hairspray.
