This Monday I was going to a birthday party and had absolutely no idea what to do with my hair. I’d tried my usual solution: making it really messy, but for once I just thought it looked messy. Then a bright idea popped into my head: the faux bob. As I have layered hair I did it in a way that would allow my shortest layers to hide any bobby pins and the ends of my hair, but if your hair is all one length I suggest you try this method. Here’s how I did my messy version:

You need:

A dry towel/a comb for teasing, hair spray, bobby pins/mini jaw clips

1. Start with dry hair, preferably hair with some sort of product in it already. Use a dry towel to mess up hair. You can, of course, use a comb and tease the hair, but the towel-trick can save you a lot of time if you’re in a hurry. Just rub it all over your head, and don’t panic when you remove the towel – you can brush it down a bit if it’s too big for your liking.

2. Flip head upside down, spray with hairspray and then – I just learnt this, actually, by watching this video – wait for 20 seconds to allow hair spray to dry. If you flip it back before the spray is dry, the volume will just collapse after a few minutes.

3. Divide your hair into two sections by parting it at the back (just the lengths, not from the top of your head).

4. Take small sections of hair (I divided each side of my head into about three sections, so I had six in total) and roll them from the bottom up to where you want your “bob” to end. Use a bobby pin/jaw clip in the same colour as your hair and fasten the little roll to your head. It doesn’t have to be a perfect roll as we’re going for a messy look, the important thing is that the bobby pins aren’t visible.

5. Repeat until all your lengths are tucked in. Try to shape your “bob” nicely, and make sure both sides are equally long.

6. Pull the top layers of your hair to loosen them. It doesn’t matter if some hang longer than the supposed length of your bob – people will know it’s not a real bob anyway.

7. Finish with a little hair spray, and may I suggest a pair of chandelier earrings? It looks delightfully feminine when they dangle against your  now bare neck.