How to Put Your Hair Up for Work
Work hair has a very specific job. It needs to look put together at 9 a.m., survive a commute, back-to-back meetings, and a jacket going on and off, and still look intentional at 6 p.m. It also needs to take about two minutes, because nobody has time for more than that on a Tuesday.
After years of keeping hair camera-ready through long days on set, here's how I think about it.
Choose a shape that survives sitting
High buns and claw clips are the first to fail at a desk. Every time you lean back in your chair, they press into the headrest, shift, and loosen. A low bun or twist at the nape stays out of the way and stays put. It's also the most classic, polished shape for most workplaces.
Three work styles that take under two minutes
The low twist. Gather your hair at the nape, twist it upward once, and fold it flat against your head. Push a Petite Power Pin down through the twist against your scalp, flip it, and push it through. Done. This is what I recommend to anyone who wants polished hair with almost no effort.
The low bun. Twist your hair into a rope, coil it around itself at the nape, and anchor it with one pin through the base. If your hair is long and heavy, use the Power Pin so it reaches all the way through the coil. I go deeper on this in hair pins for buns: the complete guide.
The half-up twist. For days you want your hair down but off your face, take the top section, twist it back, and pin it at the crown. It's polished enough for a presentation and soft enough for dinner after.
Why I steer people away from elastics and claw clips for work
An elastic worn in the same spot five days a week creates repeated tension at the same point on the hair, and it leaves a dent that's hard to hide if you want to take your hair down later. A claw clip is fast, but it's bulky against a chair and tends to slide by lunch. A French hair pin holds from inside the style, so there's no band pressing into the hair and no crease when you let it down.
Small things that make work hair look finished
Match the pin to your hair. A pin in your shade disappears, so the style looks clean instead of held together. Our pins come in nine real hair shades.
Keep a Hero Pin in your bag. Hero Pins are our refined bobby pin, and one in the right spot handles most midday touch-ups, especially for the layer that always escapes.
Smooth, don't slick. A quick pass with your palms and a tiny bit of balm or cream on the surface looks more current than gel.
And if you have an office holiday party coming up, any of these can go straight from your desk to the party with a few loosened pieces around the face. I'll be sharing more holiday hair over the next few weeks.
Read the full hairpin guide, see more hairpin hairstyles for second-day hair, or shop the Petite Power Pin.