Summer Hair 2013: All You Need To Know

The good news is that SS13’s hair forecast is looking decidedly low-key compared to some of the overly-elaborate coifs of season’s past

Calling all salon shirkers, hair-brush haters and high-maintenance-do disdainers, (try saying that after a few margaritas!). The good news is that SS13’s hair forecast is looking decidedly low-key compared to some of the overly-elaborate coifs of season’s past. With a heavy injection of nineties nostalgia, the overriding message, whether channelling glam grunge, or Jil Sander sleek, is a fuss-free, effortless attitude that means you don’t need a PHD in perfecting that perfect blow-dry. (Amen to that.)

Uncomplicated they may be, but the means used to achieve them are totally 2013 as unlike our nineties predecessors, we now have access to an inexhaustible range of products that have the technology to actually make our follicles healthier (and that even extends to the countless just-hopped-out-of-bed tresses).

So without further ado, here are my top 10 looks of the season (no entourage required);

1) Ashish Prepare to reacquaint yourself with the ultimate 90s accessory. We’re talking that boldly baggy hair band that adorned the tresses (and wrists) of every discerning fashionista worth her subscription to NME. Effortlessly resurrected by hairstylist Ali Pirzadeh at the Ashish show, the aim is to keep the hair looking nineties-nonchalant. To recreate, use a prep spray to give the hair that cool-girl lived-in texture before scooping into a high pony and fashioning into a messy top-knot. Rub a touch of wax to give definition to any flyaways before adding the piece de resistance (cue le scrunchie).

2) Alexander Wang Ok, ok, so perhaps the realities of walking around with a piece of duct tape stuck to your parting isn’t going to cut it on the tube (although it might get you a seat if accompanied by gentle muttering) but believe me, it looked damn cool on the runways. For real world, it’s simply a case of cracking out the straighteners, etching a perfect centre parting (geometry class may come in useful here) and blasting with hairspray to ensure an immaculately glossy finish.

3) Blugirl This swoonsome look is prettiness personified and relies on that perfect bed-head texture but you don’t need Kate Moss’ DNA sequence to achieve it. Simply saturate the hair with salt spray, and rough dry before pulling the front section back into a demi-pony (the more hap-hazard the better) and finish with a garland of flowers. Here pretty pretty….

4) Gucci Like the M&S dine-in meal for two of the beauty world, this do is actually far easier to create than it looks (honest..). Classic but with a graphic twist, hairstylist Luigi Murenu described it as a sleek, long-slung knot that was inspired by Japan. But how to achieve that razor sharp, samurai-esque shard of hair? 'I just matched hair pieces to the model’s own hair, drenched them with gel and flat-ironed them to set before slicing them at an angle to give the look structure and architecture.' Japan-easy.

5) Oscar de la Renta It may look as though you need a degree in backcombing to pull off this bodacious beehive but all you need is a bit of padding and a lot of attitude. Hair stylist extraordinaire Orlando Pita wanted it to retain a ‘young girl’ vibe so perfection is not necessary. Key to the look however were the brightly coloured extensions which were mussed into the voluminous chignon. Barbarella eat your heart out.

6) Holly Fulton Alas, I will never be an LA skater girl but at least I can partake in some Californian dreaming with this ‘matte and messy’ plait based on one of those achingly hip board chicks. Perfect on two day hair (hallelujah), simply tease the crown, fashion a large, messy plait at the back before finishing with an iddy biddy braid at the front.

7) Moschino Cheap & Chic I’ll admit it now – this look does take an inordinate amount of prep (we’re talking setting a whole mane of hair on a base of teeny tiny braids before flat ironing and releasing the mane) but the effect is well worth the effort. Better still, once in, nothing can dampen it’s power come rain or shine (frizz is goooood) and it’s guaranteed to bounce back in the morning (and the morning after that for that matter).

8) Tory Burch This is THE beach 'do that just gets better with age. Admittedly you do have to know the intricacies of a fishtail plait but once mastered, you’re good to go, and go and go (and it looks far more whimsical than a bog-standard braid).

9) Matthew Williamson It’s all in the details so they say and ‘they’ just happen to be one of our hottest UK designers (that’s Matthew Williamson, if you hadn’t twigged). Based on a ‘girl gone travelling in India’, Mr Williamson is all about the quintessential ‘cool girl’ but this season a micro plait elevated what could be an innocuous bun into a catwalk-worthy coif.

10) Berardi It’s funny how a little twist can make all the difference when it comes to hair – or in this case a big old twist. Super easy to recreate (simply take two sections of hair and twist around each other), the effect is disproportionately more impressive than the effort put in. Result!

Or, scrap all of the above and go for a big old hair turban a la Luisa Beccaria or Marc by Marc – the perfect antidote to a bad hair day.

Treat your hair to some summer lovin’ as you style:

Charles Worthington Salon At Home Ovenight Ultimate Hair Healer, £14.99. Bumble & Bumble Semisumo Pomade (for that covetable two day old hair), £21.50. Kerastase Ultimate Sublime Cleansing Oil-enriched Shampoo, £15.12 Pantene Pro V Deep Moisture Soufflé (for hair softer than a thrice baked soufflé), £4.49 Ojon’s Rare Blend Deep Conditioner, £29 Redken Heat Styling Duo Shield 07, £15.30