Fancy 5-Minute Updos for Moms Who Don’t Have a Minute to Spare

Chris Appleton knows a thing or two about time-strapped mothers. The celebrity hairstylist works with some of the busiest celeb moms in the biz: Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez. But you don’t have to employ a glam squad to have access to his genius hair tricks. The Color Wow Creative Director shared two fancy updo how-tos that take five minutes to achieve. Yes, really. Lock yourself in the bathroom, grab those bobby pins, and get to work.

Faux Bob

1. Tease the top section of your hair at the roots for volume. No teasing brush? No problem. Appleton prefers Color Wow Style on Steroids ($24) for a boost and grip. “After spraying on each section, massage in the product with your hands,” he advises.

2. Create an anchor braid with a small section of hair in the middle of the nape of your neck. Then pin it along the nape.

3. Gather the rest of your hair in a low braid that starts at the nape of the neck, leaving front sections out.

4. Push the tail of the braid in and under, using the pins to secure to your anchor. The tail should be pointing up and in. “I prefer Japanese pins because they’re stronger than traditional bobby pins,” he says (Brit + Co Pick: Meta Grip Premium Bob Pins ($4))

5. Loosely curl the front pieces of your hair to avoid looking too done. Secure in place with hairspray.

French Chignon

1. Tease the top and side sections of your hair, spraying with a texturizer as needed. “You need to have volume and grip to help give the chignon shape and keep it in place,” Appleton advises.

2. Make a deep part and, using your fingers, create the shape that you want.

3. In the back, bring one side of the hair to the other and pin in place.

4. On the other side, wrap the hair, pinning in place as you go. “Make a U-turn with the pin, where you push in and pull back,” he says.

5. Pinch pieces around the frame of your face to loosen the strands. “This keeps it dreamy and modern and not old-looking,” Appleton shares.

6. Fill in any sparse spots (and cover gray hairs) along the part with Color Wow Root Cover Up ($35).

7. Add accessories (if you’d like).

There you go! Fancy in five-minutes flat.

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(Photos by Demi Ward)