Easy 2-Step Hairstyles That Stun! How To Style Your Locks Based on Hair Length

It might be hard to find inspiration — especially if you’ve keft your hair at a certain length for a long time. But it’s spring, and it’s time to break out! These simple, easy hairstyles will pretty up your ‘do for any springtime celebration — find the one for you.

Cropped hair? Go for silky-smooth.

“Styling ear-length strands so they’re sleek yet voluminous ensures the shorter cut looks polished,” says celebrity hairstylist Daniel Koye. Bonus: Bangs swept across the brow mask forehead furrows.

Step One: Spritz damp hair with a volumizing spray, like Not Your Mother’s Plump For Joy Thickening Hair Lifter (Buy from Ulta, $6.99) to prop strands up and off of the scalp.

Step Two: While blow-drying, use a paddle brush to sweep hair to one side, then to the other for added volume. Once hair is dry, create a deep side part and set with hair spray.

Bonus: In the coming days, use a scalp lotion to prevent itchy dandruff (which would otherwise force you to wash your hair sooner than you’d like — so you’d lose all that work). We love the Kamedis Scalp Lotion (Buy from Amazon, $17.15).

Pixie? Add in piece-y texture.

To take the super-short crop from everyday to extraordinary, Koye advises building in “spiky” texture. This lifts shorter hair up so it doesn’t fall flat against the head, while giving this easy hairstyle a modern edge.

Step One: Blow-dry one-inch sections of hair using a small round brush, brushing hair on the side down, and pulling hair on top up and out from the root.

Step Two: Once hair is dry, work a pea-size amount of pomade — like Public Goods Wax Pomade (Buy from Public Goods, $8.50) — through hair’s ends on top and smooth down any unruly strands along the sides.

Long hair? Twist it into a loose braid.

“A messy side braid reins in longer locks so they won’t overwhelm the face and allows the breeze to blow on the neck to avoid feeling overheated,” says Koye. And letting a few face-framing tendrils hang loose helps put a spotlight on gorgeous facial features.

Step One: Curl one-inch sections of hair with a one-inch curling iron. After all of hair is curled, gently brush through with fingers to break up curls.

Step Two: Create an off-center part, then leave out a few small sections of strands around the face. Pull the rest of hair to one side and loosely braid, securing with an elastic. Finish by tugging on pieces of hair throughout the braid to fan it out for a plumper look; set with hair spray.

Long bob? Place it in a half-up ‘halo’.

Pulling the front half of hair up into a high ponytail keeps the bulk of shoulder-sweeping tresses off of the face, says Koye. And it also pulls focus upward, giving features a youthful, lifted look.

Step One: Curl one-inch sections of hair with a one-inch curling iron. Let hair cool down, then gently comb through it with fingers.

Step two: Pull hair from ear to ear in front into a crown-placed ponytail; secure with an elastic. Wrap a two-inch section of hair from the tail around the elastic, then pin into place.

Short bob? Style in waves.

“Creating beachy waves provides movement and dimension to keep a blunt, neck-length bob from looking blah,” says Koye. “And because this type of wave has a lived-in texture, if the curls start to fall as the day goes on, it will look intentional.” Even better? Waves make this easy hairstyle appear two times thicker.

Step One: Wrap one-inch sections of hair around a one-inch curling iron, leaving the ends out (key to creating an effortless wave) and alternate the direction in which waves fall (one section toward the face and the other away from it) for waves that look less contrived.

Step Two: After hair is all curled, tousle with fingers and set with a sea salt spray, like Verb Sea Spray (Buy from Ulta, $20) for added grip.

Looking for more hairstyling tips? Check out these easy hairstyles for women over 50 and flattering ‘dos for women with glasses.

A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, Woman’s World.