Cheryl Cole Style Hair

If you were lucky enough like me to have been to see Cheryl on her amazing Million Lights Tour this Autumn, you will (I am sure) have been in awe of her amazingly perfect locks!

For my first post in this blog, I am going to attempt to do my best to resemble that amazing style. Now, obviously it won't look identical because a) I don't look like Cheryl; and b) I am not a professional hair stylish like the super talented Lisa Laudat, who is the lady behind Cheryl's hair and make up. 

To help me know what to do, I have looked at many photos and watched lots of footage of Cheryl on tour, but also, recently Lisa Laudat did a Masterclass for L'Oreal and a lady called Ree did a blog about it. If you haven't seen it, I would definitly recommend it as it is where I learnt from. Find it here: http://www.reallyree.com/2012/11/elnett-styling-sprays-for-cheryl-cole.html

Ok.. Here's what I did:

First, here are the tools and products that I used:

The round brush I am using is from the Head Jog range – number 78, ionic ceramic; and the back comb brush, also from the Hed Jog range number 50.

The straightners are GHD and the curling wand is by Diva – Big Hot Wand. All perchased from Sally Salon Services (www.sallyexpress.com).

The hairdryer is by Nutriheat and I used the narrow end for this look.

  

Products:

Left to Right:

L’Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray Supreme Hold, Infinite Shine; L’Oreal Paris Studio Line Silk and Gloss Volume Mouse; L’Oreal Professionnel Paris Volume Lift Tecniart Force 3; L’Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Heat Styling Spray Volume; L’Oreal Elvive New Extraordinary Oil

Now, if you haven’t guessed already, L’Oreal is my favourite hair product range because they just seem to work for my hair so perfectly. They actually do what they say they do and they smell divine!

To begin, I washed my hair with a good Shampoo and applied conditioner from mid lengths to ends only (I use Aussie Shampoo, but pick one that is best for your hair type).

This is my ‘before’ shot……. Mmmm.. attractive!

1. I used L’Oreal Elvive New Extraordinary Oil on the very tips of my hair to help the ends. This oil is amazing! It finishes off the ends of your hair so nicely and smells heavenly!

2. Next, I sectioned my hair a layer at a time and sprayed L’Oreal Professionnel Paris Volume Lift Tecniart Force 3 at the roots on each layer.

It comes out a bit like a mouse and you have to use your fingers to rub it in to the hair. I did this for each layer of my hair, right to the top.

3. Next, I applied L’Oreal Paris Studio Line Silk and Gloss Volume Mouse to the lengths of my hair (about the size of my palm) making sure to work it all the way through.

As you can see my hair is naturally quite curly so I need to work quick before it dries too much!

4. Next I took the end off of my hair drier, flipped my head over and blow dried my hair roughly. Make sure you flip your head over to add extra volume!

I have to say, I quite liked it jut like this, but it’s not the look I am trying to get today. I will remember this one for one of my ‘can’t really be bothered’ days!

5. Now this is the bit that takes the time, but don’t rush it because it is the part that will give you the volume!

Section the hair and securely clip the rest back. Start on the bottom layer and work up towards the crown of your head. I sprayed L’Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Heat Styling Spray Volume on each section near the roots before blow drying to help add extra volume and hold.

When you blow dry your hair with the round brush, hold it like this to start with. Make sure you have the narrow end on your hair drier and then gently pull the hair upwards and blow dry close to the roots following the direction of the hair upwards towards the brush. When you get about half way along the length of the hair, go back to the start and repeat. Do this 4 or 5 times making sure you pull upwards and blow dry from underneath. Then, blow dry from the top moving the brush underneath the hair towards the ends. When you get to the ends, rotate the brush to blow dry the hair under just slightly.

You can already see the volume in this one section of hair. Now you repeat this method in small sections over the rest of your head!

*Warning* It get’s quite warm with the hair drier on for a long time, especially if you have thick hair like me, so you might want to open a window at this point!

6. When you do the back of your hair, try to keep you brush at the same angle as your head to get the best shape to the hair. A trick I have discovered is to hold my hair drier upside down so that I can blow dry the hair from underneath more comfortably. It is a bit fiddly, but not too bad once you get the hang of it.

7. You can see in the photo below that my hair is starting to get some shape and volume at the roots. Now I am near the crown, I started to blow dry section by section from the back, pulling it upwards and backwards to get Cheryl’s signature ‘bouffant’ look. I did this all the way to the very front.

8. Now it is all dried and I have given it as much volume as I can using the round brush, I used the Diva Big Hot Want to create curls.

9. I started by sectioning off the front section of my hair (in front of my ears) and clipping it up. I will sort this part out later.

10. *Please take care when using any curling wand as they get extremely hot! The Diva Big Hot Wand can reach 200 degrees and I found out what happens when you accidently touch it on your skin! The other day I burnt my hand quite badly, but it was my own fault because the Diva Big Hot Wand actually comes with a heat protection glove! Please use it! I wore it this time!

11. This time, start at the top of your head and take small sections of hair and spray a little L’Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Heat Styling Spray Volume near to the roots. Curl the hair around the wand and hold in place for 10-15 seconds. Gently release by sliding the wand out from the curl and pin the curl in place securely. Spray with a little L’Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray Supreme Hold to keep it’s shape whilst you do the rest of the head.

  

12. Repeat in small sections gradually working your way around and down the hair. As you move through the hair, alternate the direction of curl to give a much more natural end result.

13. Curl the front sections near to the face. I haven’t clipped mine up as I will be plaiting them later, but if you want them to last longer, clip them as the rest of the hair.

When you curl the very front sections of hair, make sure the direction of curl points away from the face. This will help to open up the overall look.

            

When you have finished, spray the whole head with hairspray and leave for a while to set.

14. Carefully remove the hair clips and run your fingers through the curls to release them a little from the hairspray. This will help them to fall more naturally.

     

15. Once you have let all the curls loose, it’s time to backcomb!

Now be careful with this – you don’t want to ruin your hair or make it look like you’ve just woken up!

Start at the crown and section part off. This will fall over the top to hide the back combing.

I parted a small section from the crown, sprayed a little hairspray on the front and back then I used the Hed Jog number 50 brush to carefully backcomb it. The picture above shows the section of hair standing on it’s own after backcombing! This shows you can make you hair as big as you want! I don’t want it quite this big, so will loosen it a bit in a minute.

Flip that section forwards and repeat for the next section underneath. You don’t have to go all the way down the you neck, I would say about half way would be enough to hold it up.

Flip the hair back and apply hair spray to hold it in place.

 

You can stop here, apply some more hairspray and enjoy your fab bouncy curls, but today I mentioned I was trying to get Chery’s A Million Lights Tour hairstyle, so I will continue…

Cheryl has beautiful long hair – much longer than mine – and this helps to pull her curls downwards and elongate them nicely. On each side she had 3 tight plaits that helped to show off the bouffant.

Here’s my attempt:

16. Next, the front section.

Lisa Laudat (Cheryl’s hair and makeup artist) suggests to use the width of your eyes as a guide to how much hair to pull back.

Use a comb to carefully collect a small section of hair at the front and pin it to the head using Kirby grips. To create the ‘poof’ at the front, as you pull the hair back, push it forwards a little too.

 

Again, you can stop here, if this is the look you want to achieve, but I am going to try and do the plaits on each side, so I will continue…

17. As before, section the front part of the hair off and clip back the rest. Split this section into three, clipping the top 2 back for now. Plait the hair along the side of the head and secure with a small elastic. If, like me, your plaits stuck out a little, use a hair grip to fasten it tight to the head. Repeat for the other 2 sections. Spray with hairspray.

18. Repeat this on the other side of the head and you’re done!

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post and I would love to hear your comments about how get on with this style. I love it and I know you will too!

Love and hugs

xx Sam xx

Photos of Cheryl Cole are from www.cherylcole.com/gallery/a-million-lights-tour