A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of having
Courtney Benedetti come to my house to style some different hairstyles that we can all do ourselves at home! I met
Courtney at my friend Eugenia's wedding and am blown away with how talented she is!
Courtney moved back from New York City to Pittsburgh. She grew up in Pittsburgh and went on to New York City where she worked at MTV, styled many
celebrities, as well as became the Hair Department Head at The Tonight Show. Impressive, right?!
Now that Courtney is in Pittsburgh, she focuses on weddings and bridal hair (
check her out on instagram!), but since Pittsburgh has such a big film presence, she works on the sets of shows and movies like Mindhunter and the new Mr. Rogers movie starring Tom Hanks. Not to mention she has the two cutest little girls!!
And to top it all off, Courtney will be doing my hair for my wedding weekend! I am so thrilled! Not only is she so great at what she does, but she is also SO nice and easy to be around which is something I think is really important when hiring someone for your special day.
Anyway, today we are chatting about hair that you can do yourself at home. The #1 thing I am always asked about is my hair and I personally get stuck in the same styling rut! I stick to my few styles that I know how to do but am always open to trying new styles!
That's where Courtney comes in. Most of the below styles stem from a simple ponytail that we can all do in just a few minutes.
The biggest tip that Courtney gave me was to work with your hair in sections! For example, Courtney took the top half of my hair and separated it. She put the bottom half into a ponytail and then just worked with the top half of the hair. That way the hair doesn't look so uniform and is easier to work with. To see these styles come to fruition, be sure to check out the highlight in my Instagram profile
'Hair x Courtney'. The videos help a lot to see how these styles are done.
This was one of my favorites! I think it looks so elegant and it was surprisingly quick to do! Courtney started with a ponytail but left out a 2-inch perimeter. She then took small sections along the hairline and draped and pinned. This left the front and back of my hair looking soft and effortless without losing the foundation of the style. Once my hairline was complete, Courtney separated my ponytail into two sections, twisted the first one and pinned it into place. Then she took the second section and twisted it and pinned it to fill in the style. A really great tip that Courtney shared is to use matte bobby pins since they have a more powder-coated finish they don’t slip as easily.
This one looks so intricate, doesn't it?! Courtney sectioned my hair first in half from ear to ear. She took the bottom section and put it into a low ponytail. Then with the remaining hair, she created three sections, two sides, and the top. Think temple to temple and then create a triangle that meets at the ponytail. She then took the top section and crossed over piece by piece on top of the ponytail. *If you don’t have thick hair like me, you can do the entire section at once, spit it in half and just cross over and pin on top of the ponytail. Don’t worry if you see bobby pins, that's what the side sections are for! Once the top section is done, it is time to blend the sides in and hide those bobby pins. Twist one side back and make sure it blends with the top section, wrap it around your ponytail and pin. Then repeat on the other side.
This one is SO fun looking, right? I personally think it looks intricate and a fresh take on a typical french braid. The way it is done is similar to a french braid but instead of working with three pieces of hair, you only have to work with two.
Starting with a ponytail in the bottom section again, she split the top of the hair into 3 sections, one center row (the twist) and the sides to blend the lines and to make it more flattering from the front. To create the “french twist” you start with a small section of hair (just like if you were about to braid), split it into two pieces of hair, cross it over and then add a slice of hair to each side and twist. Add hair to BOTH sides every time, and twist every time.
Once the twist section is done, temporarily secure the twist and work on the sides. Courtney draped both sides under the twist above my ponytail and tied it with a small rubber band on top of the main pony. Then, Courtney quite literally tied my hair into a knot around the ponytail to secure it but we also shared this cute way to secure it
with a bow! There is a great
video tutorial for this one on my instastories!
I loved how elegant this style looked but it was truly just two steps! You just pull your hair back into a low ponytail and as you are pulling the last portion of hair through the elastic, you stop and then wrap the hair around the ponytail and pin in the back. So so easy but this seriously looks like a style you could wear to a black-tie wedding!
These cute hair clips were so easy to place in my hair and instantly gave my typical wavy hair a new and refreshed look. I love how Courtney placed them right behind my ear. It tucked my hair back in a pretty way but I also loved having the hair pulled back from my face!
This was such a cute and easy hairstyle and I would have never thought to do it! Courtney pulled back just a section of hair at the top of my head and secured it with
this bow elastic. It instantly looked like something Bridgette Bardot would have sported!
Courtney found
this adorable gingham headband at Anthropologie and curled my hair into the most beautiful curls with the
t3 barrel iron. She placed the headband behind my ears but made sure to leave pieces out at the front to look tousled and effortless.
