How-Tos > Hair > The Top Half Technique from Stephanie Brinkerhoff
Last updated: May 31, 2017

The Top Half Technique from Stephanie Brinkerhoff

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The Top Half Technique from Stephanie Brinkerhoff

During America’s Beauty Show, bridal updo expert, Stephanie Brinkerhoff, made her first live class debut on the BTC LIVE Stage. There, she created five entirely unique bridal looks for spring/summer in 90 minutes flat—talk about crunch time! However, Steph didn’t break a sweat worrying about finishing in time because she used the top half technique! Using this technique, Steph was able to get away with styling only the top of the hair, trimming her styling time in half. As she attests: “The result will be a full, romantic updo that looks like it took a lot longer than it did! Because of the amount of hair left in the top half of the hair, you are able to completely hide the bun and get away with not styling the bottom half. I use this technique all the time!” Here is how you can create a top half bridal look!

HOW-TO STEPS

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    1

    Section out the hair from the ears up and clip it aside for later. Put the bottom half of the hair in a low ponytail.

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    2

    Wrap the ponytail around itself to create a bun, securing with bobby pins. Don’t spend too much time on this as it will all be hidden.

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    3

    Let down the rest of the hair, except for the Mohawk section, and curl everything loosely away from the face using a flatiron or curling iron.

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    4

    When you are ready to curl the Mohawk section, overdirect the hair straight up as you curl. This will give the top layers a nice draped look that’s very soft looking once it’s pinned.

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    5

    After all of the top half of the hair is curled, gently sweep everything to the center in the back, bobby pinning the hair around the bun to hide it.

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    If the layers are too long, scrunch them up slightly and pin them around the bun so they don’t hang down too low in the back.

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    7

    Finished look. 

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    8

    Finished look. 

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    9

    Finished look. 

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