some stylish chick

I love a good high pony. It can make you look fresher, more awake, younger, more polished and hide a multitude of sins like old colour, grown out roots and dirty hair, among other things.

I spent the day with the team from Liberated Hair in Mona Vale to see if I could pick up a few styling tricks. Lo and behold, I learned how to nail the perfect high pony. These are their top tips and product picks.

1. Dirty hair is good – whatever you do, don’t wash your hair right before trying a high pony. Or if you do, make sure you’ve got some texturiser and dry shampoo close at hand. I was rocking (read: not rocking at all, looking like a homeless person and terribly ashamed) second day hair which my stylist Courtney told me was perfect. She added some Nak Done and Dusted texturiser to the crown of my head for extra grip and grab.
2. Sneaky secret: it’s actually two ponies, not one – it looks like one ponytail, but most high ponytails are actually two, for two reasons: one, it works better for mid-length hair like mine to give the illusion of length and height, where the hair isn’t long enough to reach all the way from the crown of my head once to my shoulders once it’s up, and two, it helps to make the ponytail extra grippy. It’s actually pretty difficult to get all your hair into one ponytail and have it hold all day and all night, whereas two separate ones secured together are much more likely to hold. Courtney made it look like one ponytail by wrapping a section of my hair around both at the end. And the last sneaky secret?
3. Styling gel applied with a makeup brush smoothes baby hairs and adds the perfect finish – I have loads of little baby hairs around my hairline, as do most people. But how come Kim Kardashian’s ponytails always look so sleek? It’s gel, baby. And it’s applied with a natural hair makeup brush or a bristle brush to smooth those flyaways down and nestle the baby hairs into the rest of the slicked back flock.

These are Courtney’s top five products for the best high ponytail ever:

1. Nak Thermal Spray – sprayed over the hair prior to curling and as a finishing spray to add hold.
2. GHD Straightener – used to curl my hair prior to sweeping it up into a pony.
3. Nak Done & Dusted Texturising Powder – added to the crown of my head for extra grip prior to securing the ponytails.
4. Nak Amped Up Styling Gel – used with a boar hair bristle brush to smooth flyaways and baby hairs and give the perfect sleek finish.
5. Nak Shine Spray – to give a glossy finish.

Thanks to the team at Liberated Hair for such an enjoyable day, and for sharing your sneaky secrets with me.

p.s. they also did these gorrrrrgeous super-soft fingerwaves on me, which I just a.d.o.r.e.d.

I have a minor Disneyland obsession. I find a lot of millennials do. I watched a news report the other day that said that it made sense because the world right now is so uncertain, so unsafe, so… generally hazardous, hazy and unpredictable.

I’d love to live in a world where Disneyland and “escaping reality” were unnecessary. But I don’t. And I feel really safe whenever I go there. I’ve been five times in the past few years. And every time I go there, I get a t-shirt. And that t-shirt makes me feel just a little bit bulletproof. Don’t get my wrong, I’m not crazy, I don’t think that a tee actually makes me bulletproof, but it kinda feels like a weird combination of a nice, warm hug, and a bulletproof vest slash army hummer.

Ok, back to the topic at hand. I’m calling this route 999 because the tee I’m wearing is from the Haunted House at Disneyworld (yes, Florida, not California). And their claim to fame is: 999 happy haunts… but there’s always room for one more.

I paired the tee with a simple slashed jean from Cotton On, which I love, but admittedly is not made for a shorty like me. I chose the shots above because they don’t show the fact that the holes in the knees are in the wrong spot (like, halfway down my shins) and because you don’t really notice the fact that I’ve chopped them off to make them the right length.

The pinstripe blazer, which I adore, is from Perri Cutten. And the shoes, which I also adore (and have been wearing a lot lately), are from Witchery. And they’re both wayyyyy out of season. And I thrifted the shoes from the Red Cross. But I love them both. And that’s what really matters.

Blazer: Perri Cutten
Jeans: Cotton On
Shoes: Witchery
Necklaces: Virgin Mary from Mexico, (similar available from ChildOfWild.com, Long Lariat from Corelli Jewellery at Glebe Markets, Wishbone from Bryant Park Markets.

Ahhh high waisted pants. Or as I prefer to call them “short people crack”. For shorties like me, they are like catnip, because they elongate the body and extend the legs. I got this charcoal paperbag style mid-winter at H&M and I’ve been living in them ever since. I opted for a simple white shirt, which I’ve owned for almost a decade, from Aussie Designer Perri Cutten, and basic black peeptoe heels from Witchery.

I’m trying to get all my long-sleeved, long-legged outfits in before the spring temps get out of control in Sydney and it’s time to blast the air con, I reckon I’ve got another week or two before that happens, so expect to be inundated while the light is magical and fresh and it’s not too hot. I loved this look because it was a little bit corporate and a little bit fashun, which is the perfect combo for my freelancer life right now. It took me to meetings, but it was perfect for the laptop life on my balcony too (without me feeling like I needed to get into “something more comfortable.”)

The leather Stitch & Hide clutch was a gift from my Mum and its been on repeat for the past month or so, because it’s just the absolute perfect size for my wallet, phone, keys and shades. (Which is, just in case you didn’t know, the adult version of heads, shoulders, knees and toes! Hah!)

Shirt: Perri Cutten
Pants: H&M
Watch: Zibilly.com
Clutch: Stich & Hide