Whether you need to throw your hair up in a jiffy before you run out the door or prepare your locks for a rather special and polished occasion, it's worth popping this sneaky hairstyle in your repertoire to help you create a top-notch top knot. It'll up your elegance factor, all while you secretly stash a sock in your do.



TOOLS:

hairspray
brush
tail comb
fringe pins
hair tie
doughnut sponge or sock



INSTRUCTIONS:

Using a sock:

1. Tie your hair up into a high ponytail.



2. Coat your hands with hairspray, and distribute it evenly between the two.



3. Smooth your hair down along your head up towards your ponytail.



4. Smooth down your ponytail with your hair-sprayed hands too, over and over until it's nice and sleek.



5. Cut a hole in the toe of an unwanted sock (or you might be lucky and have a ready-made hole all ready to go!).



6. Place your hand through the sock, fingers facing forward into the open toe section.

7. Place your hand around your ponytail from near the base and pull it all the way through the sock.



8. Form a tube over the ponytail with the sock, leaving about 5 centimetres of ponytail hanging out of the end.



9. Tuck the end of the ponytail over the end of the sock and begin rolling the hair and sock down toward the base of the ponytail.



10. Spread your hair around the sock as you roll down, hiding the fabric away bit by bit.



11. The further down you roll, the more like a doughnut bun it will look. Roll past where the ends of your hair are poking out, and try to tuck them in as you roll. Make sure you keep rolling the sock doughnut bun to the base of your ponytail until it sits on your head.



12. Use your fringe pins to secure the back. Catch any unruly fly-away hairs in the pin and slide the pins under the bun, into the smoothed hair on the scalp.



13. Give your head a spritz of hairspray and smooth your do down again with a tail comb or your hands.



Using a doughnut sponge:

1. Pull your hair into a ponytail, smoothing your slicked-back hair with your hands and some hairspray. Place the doughnut sponge over the end of your ponytail, leaving the end poking through the top.



2. Tuck the top of the ponytail over the ring of the donut and back into the sponge.



3. Carefully roll the sponge down while spreading the hair coming through the top, in order to cover it.



4. Roll all the way down to the top of your head. If you have a buddy nearby, get them to check that you have completely covered the sponge with your hair – you don't want to give the game away. Then pin the bun into place with your fringe pins, sliding them into the hair smoothed against your scalp to secure.



5. Take the tail comb and tug the hair out from around the bun to form a neat doughnut shape.



6. Smooth your hair with your hands and spray with some hairspray to keep your snazzy style in place!



Pretty pics of models Annie and Maddy snapped by Kristoffer Paulsen. Tutorial by Dana Leviston and Jay McGee.