Tutorial: Vintage Half-Up Hair for Day to Night
Easy to recreate and environmentally-friendlier than the original, we promise!
Time
You Will Need
We love a great throwback style (who doesn’t?), and this pretty, ’60s-era vintage half-up hair look definitely makes the list. The half-updo has been popping up on our Instagram feeds left and right, most recently it’s been paired scrunchies and hair clips. However, it never hurts to grab inspo from further back in the past.
This half-updo is both a stylish and practical day-to-night look (especially in muggier weather!), and with the beehive also being a buzzy micro-trend we’re loving this season, it just makes this hairstyle a clear yes all around.
Beehive Background
A quick background on the beehive: We first enjoyed this iconic look back when it initially shot to popularity in the 1960s. A definitive hairstyle of the mod era, it was a look created by a Chicago hairstylist as one best representative of the coming decade, as well as something that didn’t leave her with hat hair. The style entailed a lot of backcombing to create that bump… and a lot of hair spray to hold everything together. The result was a shellacked, somewhat high-maintenance hairstyle that was quite the production to recreate.
You’d think this highly elaborate look wouldn’t stand the test of time, with the popularity of an effortless style and modern life requiring us to be ready in a short amount of time. But vintage half-up hair, just like most success stories, has evolved to fit the times. Keep scrolling for an easy-to-wear version of the ’60s bumpy half-beehive:
Vintage Half-Updo Hair Tutorial
Start on clean, freshly washed hair.
With a beehive hairstyle, you need as much height and body as you can get—buildup and residue works against that, and can even cause hair to fall limp and flat. Make sure you’re working on clean, bouncy hair by washing hair with a volumizing system, such as TRESemmé Volume Pro Pure Foam Shampoo and TRESemmé Pro Pure Light Moisture Conditioner.
Apply a serum for vintage half-up hair.
A styling serum or hair oil, such as TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Shine Serum, helps to control frizz before heat-styling and provides locks with a smoother, shinier finish. Run through from lengths to ends.
TRESemmé
TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Shine Serum
Curl your hair.
Using a medium to large-barreled curling iron, twirl your hair around in sections to create loose, sexy waves on your ends.
Create a center part.
To start your vintage half-up hair, use the end of a fishtail or rat-tail comb to part your hair in the center.
Separate the front hairline.
Take a few pieces of hair at your forehead/fringe area and keep them separate from the rest of your hair. Proceed to brush the hair behind this line straight back with a fine-toothed comb.
Refresh with dry shampoo.
Spritz some dry shampoo on the crown line to refresh your scalp and sop up any grease or oil. This will help prep your locks for a fuller beehive. We like the oil-absorbent and mega-volumizing properties of Bed Head by TIGI Oh Bee Hive! Matte Dry Shampoo.
Tease your hair!
Backcomb the crown from ends to roots to create your beehive. This step is crucial when it comes to achieving the vintage half-up hair. For best results, work in short bursts from the midlength to your scalp.
Pin it in place.
To form your vintage half-up hair look, use a very light touch to gently smooth your beehive over and pin the ponytail in place.
Secure into the original knot.
Pin the loose fringe back onto your ponytail, tucking the seams into the main knot. This step helps conceal the hair tie and gives you that vintage effect to your hairstyle.
Finish with hairspray.
And, of course, no vintage hair up look would be complete without some good ol’ hairspray! Dispense a few pumps of TRESemmé Extra Hold Hair Spray onto your beehive for strong control without the crunch.
Done!
You’re all set! Accessorize with some winged liner, a mock turtleneck and graphic earrings for the full mod effect.
Loved this mod-inspired vintage half up hair look and looking for more cool throwbacks? Check out some grunge-inspired looks we love from the ’90s.
