Hair I love: the really rather clever ponytail

This is a style that’s equally worthy of a Greek goddess or a high street princess. Start by creating a deep side part with a tail comb, then use it to lightly tease the hair underneath the nape of the neck for extra volume and grip. Pull all your hair into a ponytail at the nape, secure it with a hair band, and then slip in a couple of large bobby pins near your ears to hold back any cheeky bits. To make it look as if you tied your hair in a knot, take a large chunk of hair from the tail and wrap it around the rest of the hair a couple of inches from the base, sticking the ends into the elastic. A messed up version of this was seen on the runway not too long ago – as in the Fall 11 collections at New York Fashion Week – on the models at Proenza Schouler. Super stylist Paul Hanlon explained the look he was going for to Allure magazine, saying: "She’s still fallen asleep on that bus, and it’s like she threw her hair up and forgot about it and we’ve caught it as it’s falling out." To achieve this look, he and his team clipped in 22-inch extensions to give the hair a long, even silhouette, then ran Fekkai Coiff Strong Hold Volume Mousse (one of my favourites, and available Down Under at Mecca Cosmetica) through the hair to blend the real and fake pieces together. After creating a middle part that was "clean but not perfect," he pulled the hair into a low ponytail that covered the ears, then loosely braided it. Using his fingers, he then roughed it up a little, undoing some of the braid, then securing the ends. To finish, on the third go-round of the elastic he didn't pull the hair through the whole way, so it formed a loose mini-bun that makes this look totally modern. Love it.