How to Do a Chignon

If you have a glamorous night out on the town or just want to get the weight of your hair off of your neck and shoulders on a summer day, a chignon is an easy and elegant way to accomplish this.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Medium or long hair
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Towel
• Hair brush
• Hair mousse or gel
• Small elastic hair band
• Tinted bobby pins
• Hairspray

1. Wash and thoroughly condition your hair the day before the event. Gently towel it dry.

2. Apply a small amount of mousse or gel to your hair while it's still damp and spread it all the way through with your fingertips. Allow your hair to air-dry or use the coolest setting on your blowdryer.

3. Brush your hair the day/evening of the event, starting at the scalp and brushing straight through to the ends. Bend forward as well so that the underneath locks at the back of your head will get a healthy brushing, too.

4. Apply a small amount of mousse or gel before you start your actual styling. This will help to hold the infrastructure of your chignon gently in place.

5. Separate the back of your hair into two loose ponytails. With one ponytail in each hand, twist them together into a single tight spiral. Secure the end of the spiral with a small elastic band.

6. Hold the tip of the ponytail spiral with one hand and place your other hand at the nape of your neck where the ponytail begins.

7. Raise the ponytail spiral several inches above the base of your skull and gently start twisting around the base until it begins to form a bun. This bun can be as tight or as loose as you want depending on the kind of look you're trying to achieve and how much hair you have to work with. Once you've made a full rotation around the base, gently release the hand that's holding the base since you will now need it to start anchoring the chignon into position.

8. Anchor the bun you've created with bobby pins that are close to the same shade as your hair color. This will make them less obtrusive.

9. Tuck the tip of the spiral back into the bun and secure with another pin. Cover any visible pins with wisps of hair.

10. Spritz the finished product with a little bit of hairspray and you'll be good to go.

Tips & Warnings

• The chignon can sit high or low on the back of your head depending on your preference. A chignon that sits higher, of course, will require more pins to hold it into place than one at the nape of the nack that isn't as challenging to the laws of gravity.
• For a decorative touch, insert color hairsticks to match your dress. A silk ribbon, silk flower, or small jeweled hair combs are an elegant addition, too. These can be purchased in shops that sell hair supplies. If you can't find hairsticks, chopsticks and even pencils (no sharp points) are a fun substitution.
• If you wash your hair a few hours before you try to put it into a chignon, it's not going to be as easy because the natural oils in your scalp won't have had time to regenerate. The result is that your chignon is likely to be a bit frizzy and flyaway.
• Go easy on that hairspray Too many spritzes will make your hair brittle instead of soft and natural looking.
• Regular rubber bands are too harsh to use on fragile hair. Always purchase small hair bands from a store since their light fabric coating will be much easier to remove.

Resources

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• Up-Do princess
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