While I prefer to wear updos for parties–they feels special and I don’t have to worry about my hair melting down halfway through the fete–I know that many women would rather wear their hair down.  I know that most men certainly prefer when we do.  So here are three ways to wear your hair down that feel festive enough for holiday events.

This bohemian-chic tutorial was found on beauty-tutorials.blogspot.com (I couldn’t determine the origin, so if you know it, leave it in the comments.).  If you look at the rest of the tutorial on Pinterest, you will see that this hairstyle involves curling your hair into loose waves and then creating a crown using two braids.  For tools, you’ll need clear elastics, wide mouth bobby pins and a light, curl-friendly hairspray.  

If you like hair tutorials, The Beauty Department is a great source for easy-to-understand instructional diagrams.  This tutorial is for Veronica Lake-style fingerwaves, but be forewarned, that this style takes a bit of time.  It also takes a really good curling iron, a ceramic iron won’t cut it here, nor will a flat iron.  For this, I like a metal barrel that maintains consistent temperature and has a quick release.  This Hot Tools curling iron is a good choice.    You’ll also need a heat-protecting spray to keep your locks from becoming crisp.

I like this bouffant style for a few reasons. First of all, it’s the kind of style that you could do pull together in the bathroom of your office in 20-minutes.  Secondly, it’s simple but sexy.  Lastly, I like that it works with curly or straight styles, and with hair of several lengths.  

This tutorial comes from bobbyglam.com, and has great step-by-step instructions.  For the easy version, all you need is a clip to separate hair, a comb and bobby pins.  For the Belle version, you’ll need those items plus texturizing spray and a teasing brush (I like my bouffants big.). And for the I-have-an-hour-to-work-on-my-hair-so-let’s-go-all-in version, you’ll need all of those items plus a straightener/curling iron and some intense hold hairspray like Aquanet (just don’t breathe it in).