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Long Hair How To: Create the Styling Illusion of Short Hair

Inspired by all of the celebrities who have recently gone from LONG to SHORT? Or, just looking to spice up your look for a night out? MODERN Facebook fan Megan Sandy created this step-by-step video after being inspired by the Miley Cyrus media circus.

Alison Alhamed
Alison AlhamedEditor in Chief, MODERN SALON
Read Alison's Posts
November 4, 2013
2 min to read


Inspired by all of the celebrities who have recently gone from LONG to SHORT? Or, just looking to spice up your look for a night out? MODERN Facebook fan Megan Sandy created this step-by-step video after being inspired by the Miley Cyrus media circus. "From her scandalous 'Wrecking Ball' video to her new favorite way to pose for pics, she is on fire," Sandy says.

In this tutorial, learn how to take long hair into a style illusion!

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"This video is meant to be fun! I used to do music videos on YouTube before I started a hair channel, so I blended the two," Sandy says. "This is just meant to be fun and silly so don't be too serious when watching!"

PRODUCTS USED: KMS California Hair Play Messing Creme, Aquage Thickening Spray Gel, Sebastian Professional Hairspray Re-Shaper

Step 1. Make sure hair is unclean, the natural oils help slick it back.

Step 2. Use a sticky product with grip. Each step, make sure to put product on the hair to really make the bottom look slick. The slicker the bottom hair, the better, it looks like it's short from far away.

Step 3. Use a boar bristle brush and brush up the bottom hair--braid the excess hair to isolate. Once the back of the "poof" is backcombed, add that braid to the teasing so it is concealed.

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Step 4. Take the top section (which should resemble a horseshoe-shape when parted) and split it in half, front and back. Focus on the back section first and backcomb it just like in the video and shape. "Shaping is your best friend with this hair style," she says.

Step 5. To conceal all the hair and the ends, add the braid to the backcombed section and wrap the hair around fingers into a pincurl. A pincurl will create a rounded back, making it look more like that's short hair combed and placed, rather than a big bun just sitting there.

Step 6. Backcomb the front section and add it to the back.

Step 7. "Hair spray is your best friend! That and a sticky paste to create texture at the end are the best way to get the end result I had," she says.

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