6 Truly *Easy* Hairstyles You Can Do on Your Short Hair (2024)

So you took a cue from literally every celebrity on Instagram and chopped off all your hair. Congrats! That was fun for exactly one day! But now, WTF do you do? Unless you’re an actual hairstylist with magic fingers (why you here tho?), your short hair is pretty much relegated to two modes: down or half-up down. Wow, the choices.

But—prepare yourself—you don’t have to live this way? You can, actually, wear your bob or lob or pixie cut in something resembling an actual style, like a braided crown, a sleek topknot, or, yes, even a twisted updo. And to prove it, we created six incredibly gorgeous and surprisingly easy hairstyles to try on your own short hair ASAP.

Hey, if you love wearing your hair down, great! You cut it for a reason, so show the damn thing off by slicking down your layers and decking out your part with a little (or a lotta) somethin’ somethin’. On Amy, here, celeb hairstylist Justine Marjan first made a side part, then finger-raked dollops of strong-hold, high-shine hair gel (try SexyHair Hard Up Gel) through her pixie cut, smoothing the layers down with a fine-tooth comb.

Once the gel dried, Marjan literally painted Amy’s part blue using cake eyeliner (a block of pure pigment that gives you insanely opaque color). Just rub a wet eyeshadow brush over the cake and trace it down your part in a straight line until it’s fully saturated. I told you—crazy-easy.

Can’t see yourself Paint-by-Numbering your scalp? Tiptoe into the look by using a glitter gel instead (it’ll shimmer softly in a dark bar or straight-up sparkle in direct sunlight). Or mix it up by blasting your part with strong-hold hairspray and sticking a line of tiny stars down the middle.

If you’re thinking, LOL, my hair is way too short for this, then surprise, so is our model Rachel’s. Marjan actually used a magical combo of strong-hold gel and a hair dryer to essentially papier-mâché Rachel’s short layers into this ultra-sleek, gravity-defying topknot. Just be prepared to get very comfortable with that bottle of gel you haven’t touched since middle school (JK—throw that ish away ASAP and buy a non-flake version, like Oribe Rock Hard Gel, which Marjan used).

First, rake a generous layer of gel through your damp hair (excluding your bangs, if you’ve got ’em), then brush as much of your hair as you can into a ponytail on the crown of your head, twisting the ends into a bun before tying it off. Now for the cool part: See all those bottom layers that were too short for the topknot? Coat a layer of them with gel and brush them straight up and onto the rest of your hair until they stick (again, think of your papier-mâché days).

Blast the gelled section (everything you just brushed up) with a blow dryer for five to seven seconds to basically glue it all in place, then repeat with the rest of your layers until most of your hair is in the magical topknot illusion. To finish, run a flat iron over your bangs and neck-skimming layers or let your natural texture do its thing.

A headband by any other name is...still a headband. Le snooze. But an ultra-gorgeous, decked-out headband? That, my friends, is a f*ckin lewk. And lucky, lucky, you can have a literal buzz cut and zero hair skills yet still pull off this one.

For Nneoma’s short 4C hair, Marjan massaged in a layer of leave-in conditioner and oil to help keep her hair hydrated and stretched, then slipped on a skinny elastic headband (yep, the same ones from your gym class days), pushing it a few inches back from her hairline all the way around her head. After lightly picking out Nneoma’s hair, she slid on the v fancy headband, positioning it more like a tiara than a behind-the-ear headband.

If you weren’t #Blessed with coily hair—or if you’re just not into flashy accessories—try opting for a thinner metal headband and adding it to a low ponytail or messy bun to make it seem like you actually tried this morning.

Think of this hairstyle as the closest you’re going to get to a French twist while your hair is, uh, seven inches long. Instead of trying to twist your short layers into an ~elegant~ updo (good luck), fake it with three little buns instead. After making a side part, scoop back the top layer of your hair—you can leave out a few face-framing layers if you want Rachel’s exact look—then twist and bobby-pin it into a mini bun on the crown of your head.

Rake back the next few inches of hair, twisting and pinning it into another bun right below the first one. Then, gather the rest of your hair and pin it into a third bun beneath the second, letting your shortest layers hang free. Slide a clip into one side of your hair, blast the whole thing with a layer of shine spray followed by a layer of hairspray (hey, perfection is…sticky), and live your life.

Short hair and laziness go hand in hand—it’s kind of the ultimate no-maintenance style if you want it to be. But for those days when you feel like jazzing up your hair without fully messing with its texture, try this insanely fast and easy (no, really) center-part style.

After loading up your hair with hydration (try the classic LOC method—leave-in, oil, cream—to keep your hair ultra shiny and moisturized), create a center part with a fine-tooth comb or your fingers. With a little oil or cream still on your fingers, take three-inch sections of hair on each side of your part and flat-twist them back to the middle of your head, bobby-pinning them in place.

Then for the pièce de résistance, slide a cute clip through the center of your part (you may need to secure it with a bobby pin) for an unexpected touch of bling. *Chef’s kiss*

I know, I know—a braid on short hair?! Am I crazy?! Hear me out: The reason this braid works is because it snakes its way across your hairline, from one side of your head to the other, picking up longer layers as you weave. To recreate, make a deep side part and French-braid your hair, working your way along your forehead and down to your ear.

Once you reach your ear, take the braid and continue three-strand-braiding (i.e., “normal” braiding) it to the ends, then bobby-pin it across the back of your head, letting the ends hang loose and free. Don’t stress about it being perfect—the more texture and flyaways you have, the less cutesy it’ll look.

As for all your tiny layers popping out of the braid? That’s where the accessories come in. For Rachel’s short hair, Marjan cut three-inch strips of gold ribbon and knotted them around mini bobby pins to create these Golden Snitch–like sprigs. Then she slid the pins along the braid at random, securing any loose layers. If you don’t have any ribbon (or patience), try twisting some spin pins into your braid for an elevated feel.

Look 1: Anna October dress, Donni scarf, Monica Sordo rings; Look 2: Area blazer; Look 3: Christian Siriano top, Christian Siriano pants, Simone Rocha headpiece, Loren Stewart earrings; Look 4: Chanel hair clip, Nonie top, Nonie skirt, Alan Crocetti earrings; Look 5: Adeam trench coat, Loren Stewart earrings; Look 6: Son Jung Wan dress

Hair: Justine Marjan, Hair Assistant: Erickson Arrunategui, Makeup: Daniel Avilán, Makeup Assistant: Arpita Brahmbhatt, Nails: Kayo Higuchi, Nail Assistant: Demi Chen, Photographer: Ruben Chamorro, Models: MongChi (Amy) Chio, Rachel Trachtenburg, Nneoma Anosike, Fashion Stylist: Kathy Lee, Senior Beauty Editor: Chloe Metzger, Creative Director: Abby Silverman, Senior Visuals Editor: Raydene Salinas Hansen, Supervising Video Producer: Abbey Adkison, Cinematographer: Jennifer Cox, Video Production Assistant: Scott Kidwell, Visuals Editor/Production Assistant: Esther Faciane