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There are a thousand ways one can do a ponytail. But the sleek middle-part ponytail is a cult favorite that compliments almost any outfit, day or night. If you’re looking for an on-trend hairstyle that you can create easily at home, scroll on!
How to Create a Perfect Sleek Ponytail for Your Hair Type
While the sleek, middle-part pony is relatively easy to recreate at home, it’s not necessarily one size fits all. Short hair, long hair, curly hair, and straight hair will all have different methods for achieving the perfect sleek ponytail. Thankfully, the world of TikTok tutorials have helped us showcase the steps and products needed for the many hair types of the world. Everyone’s hair is different! So the type of tools you may need will be different from what we may need, what she may need, or what they may need. In an effort to get your feet off the ground and hands in your hair, here are the basics.
If You Have Smooth, Fine, and Thick Hair
As you can probably guess, you’ll want to start with a nice, clean middle part. We recommend using a rat tail comb to easily create a crisp middle part. Next, using your brush or comb to smooth as you go, pull your hair back into a ponytail. No matter your hair type, these first few steps will be similar or the same. But if you have a fine and smooth, yet thick and heavy mane, here is what’s specific to you.
When picking a smoothing product for around your part line, hairspray may be your best option. Finer hair like this can often start to separate or look greasy and crispy if you use a hair gel or mousse. TikTok user @ania_ddd makes a great choice here by opting for a tinted root spray to cover their weaker areas around the hairline. Also, the choice to use two ponytail holders is great for this hair texture. The additional ponytail beneath will help create more volume in the pony and help it stay tight despite heavy locks.
If You Have Fairly Average Hair
TikTok user @bethanyfosbery looks to have fairly average, medium density hair. The blonde balayage throughout their lengths means we can reasonably assume that there is some moisture needed to help tame frizz and lay things down. This is a great example of when you would go in with a hair gel, a mousse, or a combination of both.
Here we see Bethany applying a mousse first, followed by a gel, brushing through then pulling back into a ponytail. Bethany chooses to leave out a few strands around the hairline, but then goes in with some type of wax or edge control product, and a spoolie, to make sure her baby hair is laying down flat and extra sleek. If you don’t have a spoolie on hand, a toothbrush also works incredibly well for laying down edges.
If You Have Natural Textured Hair and Desire a Curly Pony
TikTok user @noemihannah starts this tutorial off with a middle part. We then see a mister being used to put a little moisture in the hair before applying a high control gel. If you are black, brown, mixed-race, or have naturally textured hair, adding water to your mane will help the gel absorb in better and more evenly because the water will help even out your hair’s porosity beforehand. Think of it like creating an even canvas to paint on, or an “even playing field.”
Once @noemihannah pulls their hair back into a pony, they decide to braid their own lengths and attach a few packs of curly hair wefts. After the wefts are secured around her braid, she takes a piece of hair from under her pony to wrap around the base of the ponytail, concealing the hair tie and any sign of the wefts. To finish off the look, some form of edge control is used (we don’t see this part) to lay each hair smoothly around the hairline.
If You Have Natural Textured Hair and Desire a Straight Pony
This tutorial starts right at the beginning of styling. We don’t see much of the prep work here, but we can reasonably assume that they straightened their existing hair first, or had it wrapped or blown out. TikTok user @beaudivacom uses the cult classic Got2b Glued Blasting Freeze Spray to lay the hair down around their part line and hairline. In this case, additional moisture products are likely not needed due to whatever prep work was done prior to the start of styling.
Once all the hair is in place and the ponytail is created, @beaudivacom wraps the length of the pony to protect their hair from the weft glue they are applying on top. This bonding glue will hold the wefts in place, creating a seamless, extra-long ponytail. The final details of this look include wrapping the base of the pony with hair to cover the wefts, as well as a bit of flat ironing and edge control to lay down anything at the hairline.
A sleek ponytail is perfect for when you're having a bad hair day or just want a sleek look. It also works great on clean hair or dirty hair, making it your go-to sleek style. Nail the clean girl aesthetic with a sleek low ponytail, or polish your night-out look with a sleek high ponytail.
