Natural Hair Looks On A Tight Schedule

Amelia Rami photographed by Tom Newton. Hair by Kendall Dorsey. Makeup by Marcelo Gutierrez. All clothing by Beaufille. Accessories by Rachel Comey.

by Into The Gloss

Curly hair rarely meshes well with a busy schedule. Every morning feels like a race with the clock to get those coils juuust right before you face the rest of your day. Sometimes you just take the hit and arrive a few minutes late to wherever you're going—hopefully with a chic milkbraid to show for it. Or you do arrive on time. It comes at a cost: fuzz to the moon, edges un-laid, and feeling frenzied as you scurry to the bathroom mirror to get your life in order. So it goes.

Or…maybe it doesn't have to. Kendall Dorsey is hairstylist who regularly caresses the scalps of women like (NBD) Nicki Minaj, Duckie Thot, and Teyana Taylor. Today, he is on ITG helping curly girls everywhere with a dossier full of cute, simple and—yep—speedy styles. If you’re in a hurry (who isn't, honestly) he's got some tips. Your life is about to be a lot easier:

by Into The Gloss

Amelia Rami photographed by Tom Newton. Hair by Kendall Dorsey. Makeup by Marcelo Gutierrez. All clothing by Beaufille. Accessories by Rachel Comey.

Make It Fresh

Pulling your hair into a high pony is easy enough—defined curls are what makes this a clear style. While your hair is still down, throw on the leave-in conditioner of your choice and lightly finger-detangle your hair to create distinct, open coils. Here, Kendall infused some hydration using Oribe’s Foundation Mist plus Milbon’s Thickening Mist. He sprayed Oribe’s Dry Texturizing Spray “for that extra bit of oomph, you know?” and used an elastic string to tie it in place. Done and done.

Make It Fun

You can pull these off. Everyone can pull these off. Space buns, twin buns, double buns...the only thing they require is symmetry. And commitment. Halving the left and right sides of your hair is easily done with a wide-toothed comb. After that, use an elastic tie at top of your head to build your bun’s foundation and add a second hair tie to hold your bun shape. It doesn’t matter if it’s round, messy, or totally abstract; just make sure what you do on the left is also what you do on the right.

Make It Glam

Have a Tracee Ellis Ross moment. Better yet, make it a Diana moment. For this “quick weave,” Kendall partitioned Amelia's brushed-out hair into three layers, and added three wefts of hair extensions using a bonding glue. It goes without saying that your extensions should look like your natural hair texture—luckily, HairSoFab has a full texture range to satisfy your well-intentioned diva yearnings.

Make It Romantic

This dreamy, Rapunzel-like hair look starts with Kanekalon hair—the OG of braid extensions worldwide. After applying Ecostyler gel to create low, slicked back pigtails, Kendall used about a quarter pack of Xpressions Kanekalon hair on each side, plaiting each braid down to hip length. While the length you go with does depend on the level of commitment you’re willing to give, Kendall says that you'll probably start to get used to longer and longer lengths. Quicker than you can spell Prague.

Don't forget your edges. Read here for more.