Forget fishtail braids: 5 easy hairstyles you can actually master.

It may seem pointless to write a whole post on how-to perfect a messy ponytail when you can just do it from the couch in your trackies. But there’s a new breed of the Year 7 staple that is less I’m-too-hungover-to-be-bothered and more worthy of a red carpet appearance.

Since I conceived of this post long before I impulsively cut all my hair off – and I’m yet to convince the editorial team to be my hair guinea pigs – I’ve scoured the web for the best messy hair ponytail tutorials to banish the back-of-the-neck-hair-sweats this summer.

1. The Messy Side Ponytail.

Step one: apply a voluminising hair product to dry hair, and if you hair is oily use a dry shampoo first.

Step two: backcomb (if you don’t know how to backcomb check the video below) the top quarter of your hair. Pin the back-combed section with bobby pins in an X.

Step three: gather hair and tie into a pony. Wrap a piece of hair around the band to cover the elastic.

Step four: Rough up the ponytail with your fingers to match the texture at the top of your hair.

2. Low Slung Wrapped Ponytail.

1. Backcomb the top quarter of your hair and then gather at the nape of the neck. Tie into a ponytail and wrap the hair to cover the elastic band. Apply a voluminising spray.

3. Topsy Turvy ponytail.

This simple trick looks like it takes a lot of effort, but it’s super easy. First, tie hair into a loose low ponytail. Then spread the hair above your hair tie into two sections and push the ponytail through it. Pull it all the way through and loosen up the twisted sides. Then pull out pieces from the front and sides to make it less primary school and more chic. If you have no confidence in your ability to make this happen Scunci have a Topsy Tail tool for $9.95.

4. Curled ponytail.

One of the easiest ways to upgrade your ponytail is simply to curl it with a hair straightener. Divide into two or three sections depending on the thickness of your pony, and grab your curling iron or straightener. Easy!

 5. Sleek-parted.

A good one for greasy hair; create a deep side part, and then comb it into a smooth ponytail. To get the messy look rough up the pony with your fingers. Full tutorial here: Cup of Jo.

But wait there’s more, if you don’t know how to backcomb watch Paula Joye’s messy ponytail (and topknot) tutorial below:

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